Everyone makes New Year's resolutions about gym memberships and better eating habits, but the people who resolve to move in January are the ones making the smartest financial decision of their year. January is consistently the cheapest, least competitive, and most logistically favorable month to relocate in Los Angeles — and almost nobody takes advantage of it because the holidays left them too exhausted to think about packing boxes.
At SOS Moving, our January calendar looks completely different from our summer schedule. Where July and August are booked solid two to three weeks out, January moves can often be scheduled with just a few days' notice. Crews are available, trucks aren't double-booked, and the roads are clear. If you have any flexibility in your moving timeline, here's why pushing your move into January pays off in ways that go far beyond the price tag.
The Price Difference Is Real
Moving rates in Los Angeles follow a predictable seasonal curve. Summer — June through August — is peak season, with prices running fifteen to twenty-five percent higher than the annual average. December stays elevated because of holiday logistics and end-of-year lease transitions. Then January arrives, and the entire market drops.
The savings come from basic supply and demand. Fewer people want to move in January, which means moving companies have open slots they need to fill. At SOS Moving, our weekday rates start at $119 per hour for two movers year-round, but the real savings in January come from availability. You're far more likely to get your preferred date, your preferred start time, and a crew that isn't rushing to squeeze your move between two other jobs.
Truck rental companies follow the same pattern. A 26-foot U-Haul that costs $150 per day in July drops to $60 to $80 in January. If you're doing a hybrid move — renting a truck but hiring labor — that pricing gap alone saves you $70 to $90 per day. Packing supplies also go on sale in January as retailers clear out inventory that didn't sell during the fall moving rush.
The compounding effect is significant. A three-bedroom move that costs $2,500 in July might run $1,800 to $2,000 in January — same crew, same truck, same service level. The only difference is the calendar date. Over several hours of moving time, a lower hourly rate plus shorter drive times plus easier scheduling adds up to hundreds in savings.
January Availability Changes Everything
Price isn't even the biggest advantage of January moving. Availability is.
During peak season, booking a specific moving date requires two to three weeks' advance notice. Want a Saturday in July? You might need to book a month ahead. Your preferred morning start time? Probably taken. The crew you liked from a friend's recommendation? Already assigned to another job.
In January, you call on Monday and move on Wednesday. You pick the 8 AM start time. You request a three-person crew and get exactly that. The entire experience feels different because your moving company isn't operating at capacity — they're giving your move their full attention rather than squeezing it into a packed schedule.
This availability extends to everything adjacent to your move. Elevator reservations in apartment buildings that require two-week advance booking in summer? Available same-week in January. Storage units that have waitlists during peak season? Open inventory in January. Even utility connection appointments — internet installation, gas hookups — have shorter wait times because the volume of new move-in requests drops dramatically.
The apartment rental market itself shifts in your favor. Landlords with January vacancies are more motivated to negotiate. You're more likely to get a concession on rent, a waived application fee, or a flexible move-in date when the alternative is an empty unit generating zero revenue during the slowest leasing month of the year.
Traffic and Road Conditions
Los Angeles traffic has a January personality that makes moving significantly easier. The holiday tourists are gone. Schools are back in session with predictable morning and afternoon patterns. The general post-holiday slowdown means fewer cars on the road during midday hours when most moves happen.
The 405, the 10, and the 101 — the three freeways that dominate most LA moves — are measurably less congested in January compared to summer months. A cross-town move from Sherman Oaks to Culver City that takes ninety minutes of drive time in August might take fifty minutes in January. For an hourly-rate move, that forty-minute difference translates directly into cost savings.
Street parking is also easier. Summer weekends in neighborhoods like Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, and Venice are parking nightmares with beach traffic competing for every curb spot. In January, those same streets have open spaces that make truck positioning simple and fast.
The one weather consideration is rain. January is historically LA's wettest month, and a rainy moving day adds complexity — wet floors, slower loading, extra plastic wrapping. But LA rain is sporadic rather than constant. Most January weeks include four to five completely dry days, and a flexible schedule lets you shift your move by a day or two to land on a dry window. The savings and availability advantages more than offset the minor weather variable.
The Fresh Start Factor
There's a psychological component to January moving that people underestimate until they experience it. Starting the year in a new home — with new surroundings, a new commute, a new neighborhood — creates momentum that a mid-year move doesn't quite match.
January is already a time of transition. You're adjusting to a new calendar, new goals, new routines. Adding a new living space to that mix feels natural rather than disruptive. The "fresh start effect" that psychologists have documented — the tendency to pursue goals more vigorously after temporal landmarks — works in your favor when you combine a New Year's resolution with a physical change of environment.
Practically speaking, January moves also align well with life transitions. Job changes that start in Q1 are common. Lease renewals often cycle in December and January. Post-holiday breakups and relationship changes create a wave of people who suddenly need a different living situation. If any of these apply to you, leaning into January rather than waiting until spring puts you ahead of the curve.
The unpacking motivation is higher too. In summer, the temptation to leave boxes unpacked and go to the beach is real. In January, with shorter days and cooler evenings, you're more likely to spend your first weekend setting up your new place properly rather than leaving a wall of boxes in the spare room for three months.
Ready for a fresh start? January moves with SOS Moving come with full availability, flexible scheduling, and the same white-glove service at our best rates. Call 909-443-0004 or get your free estimate to lock in your New Year move.
How to Plan a January Move
Planning a January move is easier than any other month, but a few steps make it even smoother.
Start your apartment search in mid-December. Listings that sit through the holidays often come with motivated landlords willing to negotiate on price, move-in date, or deposit terms. By the time you're ready to sign, January inventory is fully available and you'll have more options than someone searching in the spring rush.
Book your movers in the first week of January. Even though availability is high, the best crews get taken first. A quick call to SOS Moving at 909-443-0004 locks in your preferred date and start time. For January moves, we can often accommodate scheduling changes with just 48 hours' notice — flexibility that disappears entirely during peak season.
Pack between Christmas and New Year's. The dead zone between December 26 and January 1 is the perfect packing window. Most people are off work, social obligations are minimal, and the post-holiday cleanup mentality aligns perfectly with sorting, packing, and decluttering before your move. Use this time to tackle the kitchen — the most time-consuming room to pack — and you'll enter January with half the work already done.
Handle address changes and utility transfers in the last week of December. Post offices, utility companies, and government agencies are all less busy during the holiday week. What takes thirty minutes on hold in September takes five minutes in late December. Update your address with USPS, schedule your internet installation, and arrange gas and electric transfers while the phone queues are short.
January Moving Myths
A few misconceptions stop people from taking advantage of January moving, and none of them hold up to scrutiny.
The first myth is that nobody moves in January so something must be wrong with it. The reality is that people don't move in January because holiday exhaustion and post-holiday budgets make them delay — not because January is a bad time to move. The conditions are objectively better for moving than almost any other month.
The second myth is that rain makes January moving impossible. LA gets an average of 3.5 inches of rain in January, spread across roughly seven to eight rainy days. That leaves twenty-three to twenty-four dry days. The odds are heavily in your favor, and even on rainy days, professional crews with proper equipment handle wet-weather moves routinely.
The third myth is that landlords don't list apartments in January. Vacancy rates actually create more listings, not fewer. Units that didn't lease in November or December hit the market with adjusted prices in January. New construction developments often open in Q1 with move-in specials. The January rental market is smaller but more negotiable than the spring and summer market.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much cheaper is moving in January vs summer? Most LA moves cost fifteen to twenty-five percent less in January compared to June through August. The savings come from lower demand, better availability, and reduced drive times due to lighter traffic.
Can I negotiate moving rates in January? Moving companies are less likely to negotiate hourly rates, which are typically fixed. However, January flexibility means you can schedule midweek moves at standard rates instead of paying weekend premiums — saving $16 per hour at SOS Moving by choosing Monday through Thursday over Friday through Sunday.
What if it rains on my January moving day? Professional movers handle rain with plastic sheeting, shrink wrap, and adjusted loading techniques. If you want to avoid rain entirely, check the five-day forecast and reschedule if needed — January availability makes last-minute changes easy.
Is January a good time to find apartments in LA? Yes. January vacancy rates are higher, landlords are more motivated to fill units, and competition from other renters is lower. You're more likely to negotiate rent concessions, waived fees, or flexible move-in dates in January than during spring or summer leasing season.
Should I move right after New Year's or wait until mid-January? The first week of January is the absolute cheapest and most available period. By mid-January, some demand returns as people finalize post-holiday plans. If maximum savings and flexibility are your priority, book the first or second week of January.
Get Started with Your January Move
SOS Moving makes January moves effortless with full crew availability, flexible scheduling, and transparent pricing that stays the same year-round — meaning you get peak-season quality at off-season convenience. Call 909-443-0004or request your free estimate to start your new year in a new home.
