Moving Cost Calculator
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Moving cost factors explained
Use the sections below to understand what affects your moving quote — from distance and home size to packing, storage, timing, and access conditions. Every section stays available so you can dig in where it matters and skim the rest.
Moving Cost Calculator Guide
How moving costs are calculated
The four numbers every quote starts with
Every honest moving quote is built from four numbers: weight (or cubic feet for some van lines), distance, labor hours, and the calendar date. A dispatcher plugs those into a published tariff and the price falls out. If a sales rep gives you a flat figure without asking for at least three of the four, you are looking at a guess, not a quote.
Weight matters most on long hauls. Distance matters most on local moves where the truck is metered by the hour rather than the mile. The date pulls everything around it: a Saturday in mid-June can cost 30% more than a Tuesday in February for the same inventory.
Local moves: hourly rates and crew size
Inside a 50-mile radius most movers bill by the hour. A two-mover crew with a 26-foot truck currently runs $95 to $145 per hour in most metro markets. A three-mover crew runs $135 to $190. Adding the fourth mover usually drops the total because the job finishes faster, even though the hourly line goes up.
Travel time is almost always billed. A common structure is one hour of travel added to the on-site time, or door-to-door billing from the warehouse. Read which one is in the contract before you sign. The difference on a short job can be a hundred dollars.
Interstate moves: linehaul, fuel, and accessorials
Crossing a state line moves you under FMCSA jurisdiction and onto a published tariff. The linehaul charge is weight times mileage, looked up in a rate book. Fuel surcharge rides on top, recalculated weekly against the EIA national diesel index. Then come accessorials: long carry, stairs, shuttle truck, piano handling, appliance servicing, and packing materials.
On a 1,200-mile lane, linehaul is usually 60 to 70 percent of the bill. Accessorials can add another 15 to 25 percent if your access is awkward at either end.
Why two movers can quote the same job 40% apart
Three reasons: different inventories (one rep counted 14 boxes, the other 22), different tariffs (regional carriers may publish lower per-pound rates but bill more aggressively on accessorials), and different risk pricing (a binding-not-to-exceed quote will always be higher than a non-binding one because the mover is absorbing the upside risk).
Average moving costs by home size
Use the table below as a sanity check on any quote you receive. Wide ranges are the honest ones. A mover quoting at the bottom of the band on a complicated job is either cutting something out or planning to add it back as an accessorial later.
| Home size | Local move | Interstate move |
|---|---|---|
| Studio / 1 bedroom | $400–$1,100 | $1,800–$3,800 |
| 2 bedroom | $700–$2,200 | $3,000–$7,000 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,200–$3,400 | $4,400–$10,800 |
| 4+ bedroom | $1,900–$5,500 | $6,000–$15,000 |
| Office, small (under 2,500 sq ft) | $1,400–$4,200 | $5,000–$12,500 |
Studio and 1-bedroom moves
A studio is the one home size where DIY almost always wins on price and a hired crew wins on time. A two-mover local job for a studio typically finishes in three to five hours. Cross-country, you are usually better off on a consolidated load with a van line.
2- and 3-bedroom moves
This is the bulk of the residential market and the size where comparing three written moving quotes pays off the most. Interstate at this size is where binding-not-to-exceed estimates start earning their keep, because there is enough inventory that a 10% miscount means real money.
4-bedroom and larger
Above 4 bedrooms you are in custom-quote territory. Most reputable carriers will insist on either an in-home survey or a full video walk-through. Expect packing services to be priced separately, often $400 to $1,800 for materials and $60 to $90 per packer hour.
Office and commercial moves
Commercial pricing is its own world. A small office under 2,500 square feet usually lands between $1,400 and $4,200 locally, but anything with server racks or modular furniture should be quoted on-site.
Local vs. long-distance moving costs
Local hourly billing
Local jobs (under 50 miles) bill as crew-hours plus travel. Three movers, a 26-foot truck, and a tariff in the $135–$190/hour range cover most metropolitan markets in 2026.
Long-distance tariff billing
Interstate jobs bill on weight × distance against an FMCSA-filed tariff, with fuel surcharge recalculated weekly. The same household that runs $1,500 locally can run $5,000–$8,000 on a 1,500 mile interstate lane. Browse popular long-distance routes for representative pricing on common lanes.
What affects your final moving quote
Non-binding estimates
The mover's best guess. The final bill is calculated from actual weight or volume on moving day, and federal rules cap the delivery-day demand at 110% of the estimate. Fine when your inventory is small and stable, risky when it is not.
Binding estimates
A binding estimate locks the price for the inventory listed. Add a single box on moving day and the mover can either honor the original price or reissue the quote.
Binding-not-to-exceed estimates
The customer-friendly version. The price is capped at the binding figure, but if the actual weight comes in lower the bill drops with it. Almost always worth requesting on interstate moves.
How to ask for the right one
Use this exact phrasing: "Please send a binding-not-to-exceed estimate based on a video survey." Two-thirds of reps will quote that without pushback.
How distance impacts pricing
On a 1,200-mile lane, linehaul is usually 60 to 70 percent of the bill. Doubling the distance roughly doubles linehaul but does not double labor — origin and destination loading hours stay flat. That's why a 2,400-mile move costs less than 2× a 1,200-mile move on the same inventory.
Lane direction matters too. Lanes into the Northeast and out of California consistently price higher because of carrier imbalance: trucks return half-empty, and the loaded direction subsidizes the deadhead.
Packing, storage, and extra service fees
Line items you should always see
A real written estimate breaks out linehaul, fuel surcharge, valuation coverage, packing labor (if applicable), packing materials (if applicable), and any known accessorials.
Common accessorial charges
Long carry kicks in when the truck cannot park within 75 feet of the door. Stair carry is per flight above the first. Shuttle service is required when a 53-foot trailer cannot reach your address; expect $300 to $900 each end.
Fees movers add later if you don't ask now
Bulky-item handling for treadmills, gun safes, marble tables, and pianos is the most common surprise. Disassembly and reassembly of furniture is sometimes included and sometimes billed at $40 to $75 per hour per mover.
How to compare mover estimates
Normalize the inputs
Two quotes with different weight estimates are not comparable. Ask each company to send the inventory sheet behind the number.
Compare line by line, not bottom line
Linehaul against linehaul. Fuel surcharge against fuel surcharge. Valuation coverage against valuation coverage. A $4,200 binding-not-to-exceed quote is a better deal than a $3,900 non-binding one for most people.
Verify FMCSA registration and complaint history
Plug the USDOT number into the SAFER tool. A carrier with one complaint per truck per year is normal; ten per truck per year is not. Cross-check against our verified mover directory.
Red flags in a moving quote
- No USDOT number on the website or quote document.
- A demand for a deposit larger than 20% of the estimate, or any cash-only deposit.
- A quote sent without an itemized inventory attached.
- A company that operates under multiple business names on different review sites.
- Pricing structured purely by cubic feet on an interstate move; weight is the federal standard.
- Reviews that are uniformly five stars and dated within the same two-week window.
- A rep who pressures you to sign that day to "lock in" a rate.
- No physical address, or an address that returns a residential property in Google Street View.
Ways to reduce moving costs
Move on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the middle of the month, ideally between October and April. That single decision routinely saves 20 to 30 percent versus a Saturday in June. Pack non-fragile items yourself and hire the crew for fragile-only packing. Source your own boxes from a warehouse store or neighborhood reuse group; mover-supplied boxes typically run three to four times retail.
Shed weight before the estimator arrives, not after. Donating two carloads to a thrift store can drop a 7,000-pound interstate move to 6,200 pounds, which on most tariffs is worth $300 to $500. Compare three written estimates from our verified mover directory rather than two; the third quote is usually where leverage shows up.
Tipping and crew etiquette
Tipping is customary, not required. The 2026 norm is $20 to $40 per mover for a half-day local job and $50 to $100 per mover for a full day or interstate load. Tip the driver and the crew separately on long-haul moves.
When to book movers for the best price
Peak season (May–September)
Roughly 60% of US household moves happen in this window. Rates run 15 to 25 percent above the off-peak baseline, and the best crews are booked four to six weeks out.
Weekday vs weekend pricing
Saturdays carry a premium of roughly 10 to 15 percent at most local carriers. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest weekdays.
End-of-month and end-of-year demand
Lease cycles drive a sharp spike in the last three days and first two days of every month. December is the cheapest month overall; January is the second cheapest.
State-by-state moving cost differences
Local labor cost, traffic, fuel surcharge structure, and state regulation all shift the baseline. The table below shows representative 2026 ranges for a 2-bedroom job starting in each state. Browse the full set of regional pages on our popular routes hub to see specific lanes.
| State | Local (2BR) | Interstate (2BR) | Why it's different |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $650–$2,800 | $3,400–$8,200 | High labor cost and fuel surcharges; LA traffic adds hours. |
| Texas | $420–$2,100 | $2,900–$6,800 | Long in-state distances mean even local jobs can run all day. |
| New York | $700–$3,200 | $3,600–$8,400 | NYC parking permits and walk-up stair fees push the high end. |
| Florida | $450–$2,200 | $3,000–$7,100 | Hurricane season storage demand spikes June through October. |
| Illinois | $500–$2,300 | $3,100–$7,000 | Chicago high-rise COIs and elevator reservations add planning time. |
| Pennsylvania | $430–$2,000 | $2,800–$6,500 | Older row-house staircases slow load times and raise hourly totals. |
| Georgia | $420–$1,950 | $2,800–$6,400 | Atlanta intown labor is tight; outer counties cheaper by 15–20%. |
| North Carolina | $400–$1,900 | $2,700–$6,200 | Lower wage floor keeps hourly rates well under coastal averages. |
| Washington | $600–$2,500 | $3,200–$7,500 | Seattle labor cost and ferry crossings affect island moves. |
| Colorado | $520–$2,300 | $3,000–$7,000 | Front Range altitude and weight surcharges on Rockies routes. |
| Massachusetts | $620–$2,700 | $3,400–$7,800 | Boston narrow-street truck restrictions and shuttle fees. |
| Arizona | $430–$1,950 | $2,800–$6,500 | Heat-policy crew breaks in summer extend job duration. |
| Nevada | $450–$2,000 | $2,900–$6,700 | Las Vegas weekend demand from convention turnover raises rates. |
| Oregon | $540–$2,300 | $3,100–$7,200 | Portland traffic plus rain-day reschedules add friction in winter. |
| Tennessee | $400–$1,850 | $2,700–$6,300 | Nashville inbound demand pushes outbound truck capacity tight. |
Real costs from real moves in 2026
1-bedroom local in Atlanta
Midtown 1-bedroom to a Decatur duplex, 8.4 miles. Three movers, 26-foot truck, no packing, Tuesday in March. Quoted at 4 hours plus 1 hour travel at $135/hour, with a $90 fuel surcharge: $765. Browse Atlanta movers for similar quotes.
3-bedroom interstate from Austin to Denver
Family of four, 7,800 pounds, 970 miles. Binding-not-to-exceed estimate from a national van line: $5,180. A regional carrier's $4,420 non-binding came in at $5,860 on actual weight. See Texas-to-Colorado route data.
Studio long-haul to a 4th-floor walk-up
Chicago to Brooklyn, 790 miles. Quote of $1,840 from a consolidator. Final bill: $2,610 after long-carry, three flights of stair carry, and a shuttle fee. Lesson: photograph both ends before the survey. Chicago movers and NYC movers both quote this lane.