Movers in Illinois charge about $100 to $155 per hour for a two-person crew on local jobs, and a two-bedroom interstate move from Illinois is estimated at $2,800 to $6,700. Intrastate movers in Illinois are licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission, while any company moving household goods across state lines must hold FMCSA operating authority. Peak demand runs April to September, when quotes sit at the top of those ranges. BestMovers.info compares 182 licensed carriers serving Illinois, with pricing data as of May 2026.
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Illinois regulates intrastate household-goods movers through the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) under 92 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1425. Every legitimate IL intrastate mover holds an active ICC MC license and files a tariff with the state. Verify licensing through the ICC "Find a Mover" tool before booking.
Illinois has been a net outbound state in the IRS migration data for over a decade. That's actually good for consumers leaving the state — outbound interstate lanes from Chicago to FL, TX, AZ, and the Carolinas are 8–12% cheaper than equivalent inbound lanes because backhaul capacity is plentiful.
Chicago dominates the in-state market. The metro accounts for roughly 75% of IL moving volume, and Chicago's high-rise downtown plus dense walk-up neighborhoods (Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Lakeview) create real building-access cost dynamics — though less extreme than NYC.
Top-tier van lines and well-rated regional/national carriers both compete here. For 2BR+ loads going more than 1,000 miles, binding-not-to-exceed pricing from a household-name van line is worth a 5–8% premium over a broker.
Mid-sized ICC-licensed regional carriers with a real warehouse address and 5+ years on the road consistently beat van-line pricing on local jobs. Crews of 3 are usually the right value tier for a 2BR with elevator.
December through February in IL is structurally cheaper than peak summer. Container services (PODS, U-Pack) are competitive on outbound lanes to the Sun Belt where backhaul is high.
High-rise COI requirements and freight elevator windows add scheduling overhead — confirm 48-hour COI capability before booking.
Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Wicker Park have heavy walk-up stock; crew sizing matters more than hourly rate.
Suburban Chicago has a deeper bench of mid-sized carriers and 10–15% lower effective hourly cost than downtown.
Smaller markets but very price-competitive; effective hourly cost runs 15–20% below Chicago metro.
Verify any IL intrastate mover's ICC MC license through the ICC "Find a Mover" tool. The ICC publishes carrier tariff filings, complaint records, and revoked-authority bulletins. For interstate moves, cross-check the carrier's USDOT and MC numbers in FMCSA SAFER.
Illinois is one of the few major U.S. markets where the licensing floor is actually enforced. The ICC's Transportation Division routinely revokes intrastate authority for unlicensed operations, and the state's tariff-filing requirement creates a paper trail that consumer-protection lawyers can actually use. Practically, that means the licensed market is meaningfully safer than in TX or FL, but you still need to confirm the ICC license — "trust but verify" applies in every state.
Outbound from Illinois is a strong consumer position right now. Net outbound migration has been negative for over a decade, which means trucks leave the state full and often return half-empty. Carriers price the imbalance into the lane: a 2BR from Chicago to Phoenix can cost noticeably less than the same 2BR going the other direction. If you're relocating to the Sun Belt, request quotes from at least one carrier with hub operations at your destination — backhaul-friendly carriers usually price 8–12% below carriers without destination presence.
Local-hourly economics inside IL are reasonable. Diesel pricing is near the national average, the labor floor is mid-range (BLS May 2024 OEWS puts IL roughly 8% above the national mean for SOC 53-7062), and Chicago's deep pool of registered carriers keeps competition real. Two binding quotes from licensed regional carriers plus one benchmark quote from a national van line is the right shopping pattern for any move larger than a studio.
Winter is a real value window in Illinois — and it's underused because most consumers don't think to schedule moves in January. The trade-off is real: a snow event can delay loading, and salt and slush damage to floors and carpets is a non-trivial risk. Reputable carriers carry floor protection and will reschedule a true weather day at no cost. If your situation is flexible, a January or February mid-week move can save you 15–20% versus the same crew on a Saturday in June.
The Midwest calendar sets Illinois pricing: April–September is peak, November–March is the discount window, and the gap between them is 15% to 25% on an identical job.
Two crew members at standard rates run roughly $128/hr in most of the state, with downtown high-rise jobs and gated communities pulling toward the upper end. A typical 2-bedroom interstate move out of Illinois settles around $4,750, though distance and packing services swing that meaningfully.
Local quirks worth pricing in: winter pickups that can slip a day after snowstorms, and a strong August student-move surge. None of these are dealbreakers, but they show up in the final bill if you don't ask about them upfront.
Verification in Illinois runs through the Illinois Commerce Commission. A mover operating inside Illinois must hold a Household Goods License issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The authorisation is a Household Goods License. Interstate carriers additionally need active FMCSA authority, which you can check on SAFER by USDOT number.
Confirm valuation coverage in writing. Released-value protection pays 60 cents per pound, which is not insurance on anything worth moving.
Illinois runs its heaviest volume April–September, and its 3 covered metros feed most of that demand out of and around Springfield. Population sits near 12.5 million, which is what sets how deep the local crew pool actually is in November–March.
The Illinois shortlist is filtered before it is listed. A company is listed here when it is headquartered in Illinois or its record shows coverage of the state, and when we can describe it from sourced fields: federal registration, operating authority, founding year, and service coverage. We publish no numeric score and rank nobody first.
Which company suits your move is a question of scope and date, not of a score: BestMovers.info publishes no numeric score, star rating or ranked order. The pricing model behind the estimates on this page is dated May 2026.
Two movers, ground-floor access, standard packing. Peak season in Illinois is April–September.
| Home size | Local move | Interstate move |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $300–$775 | $1,540–$4,020 |
| 1 Bedroom | $400–$930 | $2,100–$5,226 |
| 2 Bedroom | $600–$1,395 | $2,800–$6,700 |
| 3 Bedroom | $800–$1,860 | $4,060–$10,385 |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,100–$2,480 | $5,460–$14,405 |
| 5+ Bedroom | $1,400–$3,100 | $6,720–$18,090 |
The FMCSA motor carrier census lists 1,700 registrants carrying household goods whose physical address is in Illinois, and 1,046 of those are classified by FMCSA as interstate operations. That figure counts companies whose federal registration lists a Illinois address, which is not the same as the number of companies that will serve a move in Illinois. An interstate move into or out of Illinois can be performed by a carrier registered in any state.
FMCSA motor carrier census, Company Census FileData as of 2026-08-10
IRS tax return data for filing years 2022 to 2023 records 149,114 returns moving out of Illinois to another state, and 119,608 moving in, a net loss of 29,506 returns. A return approximates a household rather than a person. The same filings cover 239,060 individuals leaving and 183,451 arriving.
The states receiving the most Illinois households were Florida (14,834 returns), Indiana (12,570 returns) and Texas (12,078 returns).
Arrivals came mainly from Indiana (10,141 returns), Florida (9,299 returns) and California (9,063 returns). These figures count all filers who changed address, not only those who hired a moving company.
IRS SOI state-to-state outflow fileIRS SOI state-to-state inflow fileData as of tax filing years 2022 to 2023
Illinois Commerce Commission regulates household goods movers operating inside Illinois. Movers are licensed under Illinois Commercial Transportation Law, 625 ILCS 5/18c-1101 et seq., with household goods rules at 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1457 and tariff rules at 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1225. Moves crossing the Illinois state line fall under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration instead, a separate authorisation with separate requirements.
Source: Illinois Commerce Commission
A mover doing work inside Illinois must hold the Household Goods License, issued by Illinois Commerce Commission. It exists specifically for household goods movers, whatever its title. The requirement sits in Illinois Commercial Transportation Law, 625 ILCS 5/18c-1101 et seq., with household goods rules at 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1457 and tariff rules at 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1225. An interstate carrier holding only a federal USDOT number is not authorised for Illinois intrastate work by that number alone.
Source: Agency licensing page
Search the company by name or licence number in the Illinois Commerce Commission public licence lookup, and confirm the record shows an active status. For a move leaving Illinois, check the company's USDOT record in FMCSA SAFER as well. Holding one authorisation does not imply the other.
Illinois licence lookupVerify by phone: 217-782-6448FMCSA SAFER
Illinois requires each mover to file its own rates rather than setting a ceiling. The mechanism is Tariff filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission under 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1225, so the rates are public and enforceable against the mover that filed them, but Illinois does not cap them. Rates on a move that leaves Illinois are not set by the state.
Source: Illinois Commerce Commission
Complaints about a move inside Illinois go to Illinois Commerce Commission through Illinois Commerce Commission complaint form, Household goods movers complaints line 217-782-6448. A complaint about a move that crossed the Illinois state line goes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration through the National Consumer Complaint Database instead.
Illinois complaint channelFMCSA National Consumer Complaint Database
Moves crossing a state line are authorised by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under a USDOT number and interstate household goods operating authority. A Illinois state licence does not cover that work, and the federal record is the one to check: confirm the USDOT number is active and authorised for household goods before paying a deposit.
Last verified against agency pages: 2026-08-09
A move that leaves Illinois is an interstate move and falls under federal authority, so the company needs active operating authority for household goods rather than only an Illinois licence. A move that stays inside Illinois is different: it is regulated by Illinois Commerce Commission, and the company needs Household Goods License. Check which kind of move you are booking before you compare quotes, because the two are verified in different places.
Illinois publishes a lookup, so you can confirm a licence yourself before you book. Illinois licence lookup
The out of state checklist sets out what changes when the move crosses a line, and the moving checklist sets out the weeks before it.
Labor-only is the entry point in Illinois: you supply the truck, the crew supplies the muscle. Two movers for a small apartment usually total $300 to $620, since the $100 to $155 hourly band still applies.
Choose full service when the inventory is large, the access is bad, or the destination is out of state. The cost sits at two to three times labor-only and includes the truck, padding, and fuel that labor-only leaves to you.
The container route splits the difference. Providers such as PODS, U-Pack, and 1-800-PACK-RAT drop a unit at the curb. You load on your schedule, the company drives. On a Illinois interstate move the container route is usually cheaper than a full-service van line, because you are supplying the loading labor the carrier would otherwise charge for. Bestmovers.info holds no container rates, so price the provider quote for your own lane and dates. The catch is the delivery window, which is set by the provider rather than promised to you, and limited recourse for damage during loading, since you packed it.
These companies have a verified headquarters or documented company location in Illinois. Placement is based on documented location information, not a numeric ranking.
Long-running Chicago-area mover with full-service interstate operations. Reliable choice for Midwest-to-South relocations.
Aaron Bros Moving System is headquartered in Illinois according to its published company location.
Chicago local mover with strong building-COI experience in Loop and Lake Shore Drive high-rises. Hourly pricing is competitive against franchise operators.
City Movers is headquartered in Illinois according to its published company location.
Chicago-area mover with full-service interstate operations and strong customer satisfaction. Reliable Midwest-to-South lane operations.
Elite Moving & Storage is headquartered in Illinois according to its published company location.
Federal Companies dates its business in East Peoria, Illinois to 1913 and today runs household moving, warehousing and logistics through separate legal entities rather than one carrier. Federal Logistics LLC files the transport registration, and the Normal, Champaign, Lindenhurst and St Louis moving businesses are each registered in their own name with their own household goods cargo entry. The historic Federal Warehouse Company registration is inactive and last filed in 2008, so it is shown here as a legacy entity rather than as the group's current federal identity. The brand is an Allied Van Lines agent, which means long-distance shipments travel inside that network under Allied's own separate registration.
Federal Companies is headquartered in Illinois according to its published company location.
Golan's Moving & Storage files from the Chicago area in Illinois as a single federal registrant, with no franchise network and no sibling registrations located in the records reviewed. No federal safety rating is on file, which is neither a positive nor a negative signal. On founding, the company's own material states a relative duration — roughly three decades of service — rather than a year. A relative duration changes with the passage of time and does not establish a specific founding year, so no exact year is stored or published for this company, in fact tables, in page metadata or in structured data. The first-party relative claim is recorded as what it is, with attribution, and it is not converted into a date.
Golan's Moving & Storage is headquartered in Illinois according to its published company location.
These companies publish broad nationwide moving service and are shown separately from companies based in Illinois.
American Van Lines states first-party that it staffs moves with W2 employees rather than day labour. It requires a deposit to hold a move date, so ask what portion is refundable and by when before you pay it. We publish no BBB grade and hold no complaint dataset, so nothing here rates the company's service.
American Van Lines publishes broad nationwide moving service on its own site. It is shown separately from companies based in this area and its presence here is not evidence of a local office.
Mayflower Transit is the second large UniGroup brand alongside United Van Lines and runs full-service interstate moves through an agent network under its own federal registration.
Mayflower Transit publishes broad nationwide moving service on its own site. It is shown separately from companies based in this area and its presence here is not evidence of a local office.
North American Van Lines is part of SIRVA and moves interstate household goods through an agent-affiliate network. The federal registration shown here belongs to the van line, not to the local agent that loads the truck.
North American Van Lines publishes broad nationwide moving service on its own site. It is shown separately from companies based in this area and its presence here is not evidence of a local office.
United Van Lines is the largest brand under UniGroup and publishes the annual National Movers Study. It offers shipment tracking and a published claims process; we hold no dataset that compares its claims outcomes with other carriers.
United Van Lines publishes broad nationwide moving service on its own site. It is shown separately from companies based in this area and its presence here is not evidence of a local office.
Wheaton World Wide Moving shares a parent company with Bekins and moves interstate household goods through an agent network under its own federal registration.
Wheaton World Wide Moving publishes broad nationwide moving service on its own site. It is shown separately from companies based in this area and its presence here is not evidence of a local office.
Eight weeks out: get three written quotes. Two should be in-home or video surveys. One online quote is fine for comparison only — it will rarely be the binding number.
Six weeks out: book the carrier. Ask for binding-not-to-exceed pricing in writing. Confirm valuation coverage (released vs. full-value protection — there is a real difference if a TV gets dropped).
Four weeks out: order packing supplies if you're self-packing. Boxes go on sale at U-Haul and Home Depot in late winter and late summer.
Two weeks out: confirm parking, building COIs, and elevator reservations at both ends. Illinois buildings vary wildly here — some need 72 hours notice, some 30 days.
One week out: pack a personal essentials box (medications, chargers, three days of clothes, toilet paper, coffee, scissors, the lease/closing folder) and keep it with you, not on the truck.
Move day: walk the truck before driver pulls away. Sign the Bill of Lading only after the inventory list matches. First week in the new place, file any damage claim within nine months — that's the federal interstate window.
Illinois pricing varies city by city. Downtown cores with high-rise residential typically run 10–20% above the state median because of COI requirements, freight elevator wait time, and tighter parking. Suburban single-family moves usually land near the median. Rural pickups outside metro service areas often add a per-mile travel fee from the nearest depot.
Intrastate household-goods movers in Illinois are licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission. A mover operating inside Illinois must hold a Household Goods License issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The authorisation is a Household Goods License.
Illinois Commerce CommissionResearched and written by Grant Holloway · Reviewed by Amanda Brooks · Last reviewed August 2026
How we evaluate moving companies: we verify federal registration and operating authority against FMCSA records, record carrier or broker classification, note state licensing where a state regulator publishes it, and state the limits of what we could source. No numeric score, star rating or ranked order is produced from those checks. Read full methodology