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Moving Cost Calculator
Set your route and home size to get an estimated range immediately. Every input below maps to a documented factor in the pricing model, so you can watch the effect of moving in July instead of October, or adding packing to a 4-bedroom shipment.
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Pricing model pricing-v1.0 · last recalculated
How much does a move cost?
Across 2,300 published long-distance corridors, a 3-bedroom full-service move models a midpoint of $7,050, with most corridors falling between $4,550 and $9,550. Your own number moves mainly with shipment weight, distance and the service level you buy, not with the mover you pick.
Scope
What this calculator does and does not do
The calculator prices a modelled household goods shipment. It reads six things: the distance between your origin and destination, the home size profile you select, the local labor cost index at each end, the month you plan to move, the service level (full-service carrier, container or rental truck), and the optional services you switch on — packing, storage in transit and specialty item handling. Every one of those inputs has a documented coefficient. Nothing else in the interface affects the number.
What a real in-home or video survey changes is inventory precision. A surveyor counts your actual boxes, measures the sectional that will not clear the stairwell and notes that the truck cannot park within 75 feet of the door. Those observations convert our assumed shipment weight into a tariff weight and add accessorial charges — long carry, shuttle service, stair carry, hoisting, crating. That is the gap between an estimate and a binding quote, and it is usually the single largest reason a real number lands above a calculator number.
What the model structurally cannot know: your carrier's current capacity on your lane, whether your dates fall on a weekend at month end, how many cartons you will pack yourself before the crew arrives, whether your building requires certificates of insurance or elevator reservations, and whether your shipment will be consolidated with others. It also cannot know the condition of your access at either end. We publish the full list of known limits, with the reasoning, on accuracy and limitations.
Finally, the calculator does not shop for you. It produces the number you should already know before a salesperson quotes one, so you can tell a high bid from a fair one.
Model
How the number is built
Interstate household goods pricing is a transported-weight model, and ours mirrors that structure rather than inventing one. Four components make the total.
Line haul is shipment weight multiplied by distance multiplied by a rate that steps down as the haul gets longer. The rate table runs from $1.05 per 1,000 lbs per mile under 150 miles to $0.35 above 2,500 miles, through bands at 400, 800, 1,200, 1,800 and 2,500 miles. That taper is why a 2,400-mile move does not cost three times an 800-mile move of the same household.
Origin and destination service is crew time: loading, protecting, unloading and basic reassembly. It is a fixed component plus $96 per 1,000 lbs, then adjusted by a market factor weighted 60 percent to the origin index and 40 percent to the destination index, because the loading crew is the larger labor block.
Transport and fuel covers equipment, the fuel surcharge and en-route handling: a base amount plus $0.22 per mile, capped at 3,200 miles.
Optional services price separately. Full packing is materials plus labor at $88 per 1,000 lbs; partial packing runs $34 per 1,000 lbs. Storage in transit adds warehouse handling in and out plus a typical 30-day period. Specialty handling covers crating or extra crew for pianos, safes, oversized art and gym equipment.
Two multipliers sit on top. Season applies 12 percent in June through August, 5 percent in May and September, and 2 percent in late December. Method rescales the core: a container shipment prices at 62 percent of the full-service core because you supply the loading labor, and a rental truck at 38 percent because you supply the driving too. A full-service interstate move is then floored at a minimum charge. The published derivation of each coefficient is on pricing methodology.
Measured sensitivity
What changes your number the most
This ranking is not editorial judgement. Each input was swept across its full range while the others were held at the corpus baseline — a 1,530-mile 3-bedroom move in an average labor market, midpoint $7,000 — and the rows are ordered by the dollar swing the sweep produced.
| Rank | Input | Lowest setting | Highest setting | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Home size (shipment weight) | Studio · $2,400 | 5+ Bedroom · $12,550 | $10,150 (145%) |
| 2 | Distance | 150 miles · $2,250 | 3,000 miles · $10,550 | $8,300 (119%) |
| 3 | Moving method | Rental truck · $2,750 | Full-service carrier · $7,000 | $4,250 (61%) |
| 4 | Packing service | You pack · $7,000 | Full packing · $7,900 | $900 (13%) |
| 5 | Month of the move | January · $7,000 | July · $7,850 | $850 (12%) |
| 6 | Local labor market | Low-cost labor market · $6,850 | High-cost labor market · $7,300 | $450 (6%) |
| 7 | Storage in transit | No storage · $7,000 | Storage in transit · $7,400 | $400 (6%) |
| 8 | Specialty item handling | No specialty items · $7,000 | Specialty items · $7,400 | $400 (6%) |
Read it as a priority list. Home size (shipment weight) produces a $10,150 swing on this baseline, and distance a $8,300 swing; everything below them is a rounding error by comparison. Practically: decide what you are shipping and at what service level before you compare carriers, because those two decisions set the band that any honest quote has to sit inside.
Questions
Moving cost calculator questions
How much does a long-distance move cost?
The median modelled midpoint across 2,300 published corridors is $7,050 for a 3-bedroom full-service move, with the middle of the distribution running $4,550 to $9,550. Smaller shipments and container service land well below that; large homes on cross-country corridors land above it.
Is this calculator free and does it require my contact details?
Yes, it is free, and no. The range appears as soon as you set route, home size and services. Contact details are only requested if you separately choose to ask for real quotes, and the estimate does not change based on whether you do.
How accurate is a moving cost calculator?
A calculator prices a modelled shipment, not your shipment. Expect it to be close on typical households and wrong on unusual ones: heavy hobby inventory, long carries, shuttle requirements or a fifth-floor walk-up all sit outside the inputs. Treat the range as a negotiating baseline, then confirm with a survey.
Why is the output a range rather than one price?
The model returns a midpoint and a band around it because carriers price identical shipments differently by capacity, day of week and lane balance. The band published here is roughly minus 13 percent to plus 16 percent of the midpoint — at the $7,000 baseline that is a spread of about $2,050.
Which input should I change first if the number is too high?
Measured on the model itself, home size (shipment weight) moves the output most ($10,150 across its full range), followed by distance ($8,300). Reducing what you ship and changing service level beat shopping for a cheaper carrier.
Does the calculator include packing, storage and specialty items?
Yes, each is a separate priced component you can switch on. It does not include auto transport, appliance disconnection, extended storage past the first month, full-value protection upgrades, permits or tips — those are quoted by the carrier once your inventory and addresses are confirmed.
Go deeper
Price your specific situation
The calculator is general by design. These pages hold the same model applied to a fixed profile, with the assumptions written out.
- By home size: studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom.
- By distance: 250 miles, 500 miles, 1,000 miles, 2,000 miles, 3,000 miles.
- By place: browse every priced corridor from the moving cost hub, or read the moving cost guides.