Moving in Charleston, SC

Moving in Charleston — Charleston Tri-County, SC

Looking for movers in Charleston, SC? Low Country Moving Specialists, a locally owned moving company, moves households into, out of and within Charleston when the move starts and ends in Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester counties; the City sits in Charleston and Berkeley counties. Our published rates: $135 to $225 an hour for a crew with our truck, $115 to $195 for a labor-only crew, by crew size, two-hour minimum; additional fees may apply.

Updated October 2026 · 9 min read · Serving the Charleston tri-county

The short version:

• City limits decide the rules. City of Charleston street, parking and trash rules apply inside city limits, the peninsula included; not every West Ashley address is inside them.
• Inside city limits, blocking a parking space, a lane or a sidewalk takes a permit, issued by the City as a Street Blocking Permit.
• Trucks over 20 feet long get one hour stopped or parked on a city street, except for the time needed to load or unload.
• West Ashley trash depends on the address: it may be City crews, Trident Waste or the St. Andrews Public Service District; confirm your hauler.
• What our Charleston movers cost: $135 to $225 an hour with our truck, $115 to $195 for labor only, by crew size, two-hour minimum; additional fees may apply.

1. Moving in Charleston: start with the city limits

The City of Charleston, the municipality, sits in Charleston and Berkeley counties, according to the Census Bureau’s place file. It’s home to about 154,000 people in about 68,000 households, and about 44% of its occupied housing units are renter-occupied (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates). ACS figures are estimates with margins of error.

Comparing moving companies in Charleston? First check which side of the city line each address sits on; part of West Ashley lies outside city limits.

2. Inside City of Charleston limits, the peninsula included

Blocking the street takes a permit

City code requires a Traffic and Transportation permit to obstruct the right-of-way, which it defines to include blocking an on-street parking space, a travel lane, a street or a sidewalk. The City issues these as Street Blocking Permits through its online portal; questions go to T&T Permits at 843-724-7378. The permit article covers the City’s corporate limits. Once a permit is approved, the City asks the holder to notify residents at least three days before its start date.

Big trucks and loading zones

City code limits any truck or other vehicle longer than 20 feet to one hour stopped, standing or parked at any point on a street, except for the time needed to load or unload. Marked commercial loading zones, during their posted hours, are only for vehicles with commercial markings and a commercial license plate, for 30 minutes at most, and commercial vehicles may not block travel lanes to load or unload.

Permit parking districts and visitor passes

City code sets up ten residential permit parking districts, named for the French Quarter, Charlestowne, Harleston Village, Radcliffeborough, Ansonborough, Garden District, Gadsden Green, Cannonborough/Elliotsborough, Eastside and Hampton Park Terrace neighborhoods; in each, posted signs limit parking to a set time for anyone without that district’s permit. Moving into one? A residential parking permit costs $15 per vehicle for a homeowner and $10 for a renter, two at most per residential unit (843-724-7375). Homeowners and renters can also buy one-day visitor passes, in limited numbers, but neither the City’s page nor its code says a visitor pass covers a moving truck.

Meters on the peninsula

On October 15, 2026, the City announced that on-street parking on the peninsula is moving to ParkMobile, with meters phased out gradually starting on the eastern side and significant completion expected by the second quarter of 2027.

Clearing out first: dumpsters

A dumpster on a City right-of-way needs its own Traffic and Transportation dumpster permit and barricades with flashing lights at each end, and the code bars placing one on the right-of-way at all if it can sit on private property.

Bulk trash, boxes and the County’s convenience centers

Where City crews collect, furniture and other bulk items go in their own pile at the curb no earlier than two days before your scheduled pickup, with water heaters drained and refrigerator and freezer doors removed or secured. The City’s trash page points residents to Mapnet for their collection day. Cardboard and other items left outside the green garbage cart aren’t collected; the City points overflow to a Charleston County convenience center.

Since November 1, 2024, Charleston County’s convenience centers have required moving vans, box trucks and double-axle trailers to book an appointment in advance, at (843) 720-7111. They require proof of Charleston County residency and bar commercial businesses and contractors; cardboard must be flattened, and packaging such as styrofoam and bubble wrap isn’t accepted.

Water and sewer

Charleston Water System lists Charleston and West Ashley in its retail water service area, but confirm the provider for each address. CWS opens accounts online, by phone at (843) 727-6800 or at its offices; expect at least one business day to activate water service. It charges its own $35 origination fee on each new water and each new sewer account.

3. Moving in West Ashley

Not a town, and not all inside city limits

West Ashley isn’t a town of its own: the City’s 2014 West Ashley Strategic Plan calls it “a large area within the City of Charleston” whose “boundaries are indistinct.” Nor is all of it inside city limits: Charleston Water System names “unincorporated areas in West Ashley” separately from the City of Charleston. So the City rules above apply at a West Ashley address only inside city limits; outside them, City ordinances don’t apply, and the rules may come from Charleston County, a public service district, SCDOT or your utility instead.

ZIP-code areas 29407 and 29414 cover most of West Ashley, though they’re a stand-in, not its boundary, and don’t follow the city line. Together they’re home to about 81,000 people in about 36,000 households, and about 40% of their occupied housing units are renter-occupied (ACS 2020–2024; ZIP-area figures carry wider margins of error).

Trash: City crews, Trident Waste or the St. Andrews PSD

Who collects your trash depends on the address. The City’s trash page lists a contractor, Trident Waste, for “outer West Ashley,” separately from City crews, and some West Ashley neighborhoods get garbage service from the St. Andrews Public Service District, a special purpose district created in 1949. Charleston County, which doesn’t collect garbage itself, lists the City (843-724-7311) and the St. Andrews PSD (843-556-6310) as separate contacts, so confirm your hauler before move-out day.

If the district serves your home, its garbage rules say its cart “should remain at the property to which it was delivered,” and it asks anyone moving to call 843-556-6310 “so personnel can pick up the cart.” Its rules also say to break down cardboard and put it inside the SAPSD blue cart or your Charleston County recycling cart.

Bees Ferry: the County’s convenience center

Charleston County’s Bees Ferry Convenience Center, at 1344 Bees Ferry Rd., takes items from residents only; its posted hours run 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and the convenience-center rules above apply there, appointment included. The Bees Ferry Road Landfill on the same road is a separate County facility with its own rules.

Routes from Mount Pleasant

We’re based in Mount Pleasant. From downtown, traffic reaches Mount Pleasant over the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge on US 17, which spans the Cooper River. For West Ashley, I-526 is the corridor: SCDOT’s I-526 Lowcountry Corridor WEST segment runs from Paul Cantrell Boulevard in West Ashley to Virginia Avenue in North Charleston, and its EAST segment from Virginia Avenue to U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. The City is also building the Ashley River Crossing, a bicycle and pedestrian bridge that will connect West Ashley and downtown.

4. Our moving services in Charleston

Movers and packers for the whole job, or a crew for a truck you rented: we book three kinds of crews, each with two to six movers.

Full Moving Service

Our Full Moving Service pairs a packing crew with a moving crew for your household goods. You book the two separately, each for its own hours, and they can’t be scheduled on the same day. The moving crew’s rate covers the crew, our truck and the equipment (dollies, furniture pads and straps), and basic disassembly is part of the job.

Truck + Labor Crew

If you’d rather pack yourself, a Truck + Labor Crew brings our truck and a crew to load your home and unload it at the other end, at the same hourly rates as a Full Moving Service’s moving crew, without packing or unpacking.

Moving Labor Only

Rented your own truck or a portable container? A Moving Labor Only crew loads or unloads it: we load your rental truck here, and you drive it. The same crews handle packing and unpacking labor and inside labor, such as a move inside one building; our labor-only guide explains where a crew’s responsibility ends.

Packing and unpacking

With Full Moving Service, the packing crew comes on a different day from the moving crew. Packing is also available as labor through a Moving Labor Only crew; a Truck + Labor Crew doesn’t pack. Packing supplies and specialty items such as pianos, gun safes, exercise equipment and motorized beds carry an additional charge, and we quote upright pianos by phone.

Planning a business move? Start with our office move guide.

5. What Charleston movers cost: our published rates

Crew size sets the hourly rate; the size of your home and its access (stairs, elevators, walk distance, parking) set how many hours the job takes.

The with-truck rates apply to a Truck + Labor Crew and to the moving crew of a Full Moving Service; a Full Moving Service’s packing crew is booked from our Moving Labor Only crews at the labor-only rates. Every crew carries a two-hour minimum, billed even if the job finishes sooner. Additional fees may apply. On a Full Moving Service, if packing supplies are used, their fee is added after the job is complete. We often need 7 to 10 days’ notice to schedule a move. More in our guide to what a local move costs in Charleston; current Full Moving Service and Labor Only rates are printed on our service rates page.

6. A licensed moving company in Charleston, rated by customers

Our South Carolina Public Service Commission Class E certificate covers moves between points in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. We’re a locally owned moving company operating in the Charleston tri-county area, our crews are background-checked and trained, and our estimates come in writing. Customers rate us 4.7 stars on more than 480 Google reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do movers cost in Charleston, SC? Our published rates run $135 to $225 an hour for a crew with our truck (a Truck + Labor Crew, or a Full Moving Service’s moving crew) and $115 to $195 for a labor-only crew (Moving Labor Only, or a Full Moving Service’s packing crew), by crew size; a 2-man moving crew is $135 an hour with our truck or $115 for labor only. Every crew has a two-hour minimum, and additional fees may apply.

Does a moving truck need a street-blocking permit in Charleston? If it will block an on-street parking space, a travel lane, the street or a sidewalk inside City of Charleston limits, yes: City code requires a Traffic and Transportation permit, issued as a Street Blocking Permit (T&T Permits, 843-724-7378).

Is there a time limit for a moving truck on a Charleston street? For a truck longer than 20 feet, yes: City code allows one hour at most stopped or parked at any point on a street, except for the time needed to load or unload. A marked commercial loading zone, during its posted hours, gives a commercially marked and plated vehicle 30 minutes at most.

Can I hire local movers in West Ashley, Charleston SC? Yes. Our crews move households into, out of and within West Ashley when the move starts and ends in Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester counties. First check whether the address is inside City of Charleston limits, since not all of West Ashley is, and who collects its trash.

What do I do with moving boxes and old furniture in Charleston? Where City crews collect, put bulk items in their own pile at the curb no earlier than two days before pickup, and keep cardboard inside the green cart. Overflow can go to a Charleston County convenience center, by advance appointment if it comes in a moving van or box truck.

Can I book a moving company in Charleston, SC online? Yes. You can book Full Moving Service, a Truck + Labor Crew or Moving Labor Only online through our booking page, choosing the crew size; a Full Moving Service books its packing crew and its moving crew separately, for different days. We often need 7 to 10 days’ notice, and every crew has a two-hour minimum.

Ready to Move in Charleston?

Moving into, out of or within Charleston, inside the tri-county? Get a free, no-obligation estimate, in-home or virtual, and we’ll size the crew, flag the access issues and put the estimate in writing.

Call (843) 737-1279 or contact your local mover. Or book online through our booking page.

See our current service rates or browse more moving tips. Moving elsewhere in the tri-county? See what a move involves in North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner.

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This page summarizes City of Charleston, Charleston County, Charleston Water System, St. Andrews Public Service District, SCDOT, Town of Mount Pleasant and U.S. Census Bureau information as we read it on October 20 and 22, 2026, and is not legal advice. Rules and fees change; confirm them with the City, the County or your provider before move day.