The short answer
The same 2-bedroom household models at $1,450 to $1,975 as an hourly local job and $3,250 to $4,350 moved 1,000 miles interstate. The gap is not a surcharge: it is the line-haul charge, which exists in one pricing system and does not exist at all in the other. A local bill is crew hours; a long-distance bill is weight carried over distance, with crew time added at each end.
The second difference is legal rather than arithmetic. An interstate household-goods move is governed by federal rules that require a written estimate and give you the right to observe the weighing. A move that begins and ends inside one state is not covered by those rules; it falls to state law, which varies enormously and in several states barely regulates household movers at all.
Moving Cost Advisor model data
The same 2 bedroom household under both pricing regimes
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Job | How it is priced | Modeled cost | Governing rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local, one metro | Hourly: crew × rate × hours | $1,450–$1,975 | State rules only |
| Interstate, 250 miles | Weight × distance, plus origin and destination service | $1,800–$2,400 | 49 CFR Part 375 |
| Interstate, 1,000 miles | Weight × distance, plus origin and destination service | $3,250–$4,350 | 49 CFR Part 375 |
| Interstate, 2,500 miles | Weight × distance, plus origin and destination service | $5,350–$7,100 | 49 CFR Part 375 |
Two models, not one model at two distances. The local row is hourly output; the interstate rows are weight-over-distance output. The regulatory column is the reason the comparison matters beyond price: the federal estimate, weighing and 110% protections attach to interstate transport, not to a move that begins and ends inside one state.
Moving Cost Advisor model data
Modeled local moving cost by home size at a 1.00 labor index
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Home size | Crew | Crew rate | Billable hours | Modeled cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 2 movers | $120/hour | 4.5–8 hours | $550–$950 |
| 1 Bedroom | 2–3 movers | $120–$180/hour | 6–9.5 hours | $725–$1,700 |
| 2 Bedroom | 3 movers | $180/hour | 8–11 hours | $1,450–$1,975 |
| 3 Bedroom | 3–4 movers | $180–$240/hour | 11–14.5 hours | $1,975–$3,475 |
| 4 Bedroom | 4 movers | $240/hour | 13–18 hours | $3,125–$4,325 |
| 5+ Bedroom | 4–6 movers | $240–$360/hour | 21.5–28 hours | $5,150–$10,075 |
MCA hourly model output (local-pricing-v1.0). Crew sizes and loading hours are the published home-size assumptions; the unload is modeled at 70% of the load, one travel hour is added, and the job never bills below 3 hours. The base rate of $60 per mover per hour is a declared estimating assumption, not a rate card from any company.
Where the switch actually happens
The regime changes at the state line, not at a mileage threshold. A 300-mile move inside Texas is priced and regulated as an in-state job; a 20-mile move from Kansas City, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri crosses a state line and is an interstate household-goods move under federal rules.
This surprises people, and it produces two counterintuitive cases. A long haul entirely inside a large state can be billed hourly, or by an in-state tariff, with no federal estimate requirement attached. A trivially short hop across a metro that straddles a border is an interstate move, with all the federal machinery that implies.
Companies handle the middle ground differently. Many price anything beyond a couple of hours of driving as a flat or weight-based job even when it stays in-state, because an hourly crew cannot absorb four hours of driving without the clock becoming the whole bill. When you are near the boundary, ask which pricing system the quote is written in, not how far the move is.
Our own model splits the same way: the hourly model prices in-metro work, and the interstate model prices corridors. We publish both rather than blending them, because blending them would produce a number that describes neither job.
What the price is made of on each side
A local bill has one real variable: hours. A long-distance bill has two, weight and distance, with crew time appearing only as the service at each end. That is why access decides a local move's price and inventory decides a long-distance one's.
On an hourly job, every difficulty is converted into time. Stairs, a long carry, an elevator, a poorly packed kitchen — each of them slows a crew, and slowing a crew is the entire mechanism by which a local move gets expensive. Weight is almost irrelevant: a heavy but compact load can be faster than a light, awkward one.
On a long-distance job the mechanism inverts. Weight is decisive because it is the multiplier on the line-haul rate, and access matters far less because origin and destination service is a smaller share of a bill dominated by transport. The single most valuable thing you can do to a long-distance quote is remove weight; the single most valuable thing you can do to a local quote is remove friction.
That also changes what a decluttering weekend is worth. Shedding 1,500 pounds materially moves a long-distance estimate. On a local job, the same purge helps only insofar as it shortens the load.
- Local: hours are the product; access and packing readiness set the price.
- Long distance: weight and distance are the product; inventory discipline sets the price.
- Local: a bigger crew can lower the total. Long distance: crew size barely touches it.
- Local: mileage inside the metro is close to free. Long distance: mileage is most of the bill.
The protections you have on one side and not the other
On an interstate move, federal rules require a written estimate and give you the right to observe the weighing and request a reweigh. On an in-state move, none of that is federal. Your protection is whatever your state requires of household movers, which in some states is very little.
49 CFR Part 375 — Transportation of Household GoodsThis is the part of the comparison that never appears in a price table, and it is arguably worth more than the price difference. The federal framework exists because interstate household moves historically produced hostage-load disputes and estimate-to-invoice blowouts; the written-estimate and weighing rules are the direct response to that.
In-state, the equivalent rules are set by the state, and they range from a licensing and tariff regime with real enforcement to essentially nothing. Before you sign an hourly job, find out whether your state licenses household movers at all, and get the hourly rate, crew size, travel convention and minimum in writing yourself. On an hourly move that written scope is your only real protection against a slow day.
One thing carries across both: an estimate is a projection and an invoice is a measurement. Federal rules constrain how far apart those two are allowed to drift on an interstate move. On an hourly local job, nothing constrains it except the scope you agreed to in advance.
Choosing which quote you are even asking for
If your move stays inside one metro, ask for hourly quotes and compare crew, rate and estimated hours. If it crosses a state line, ask for a written binding or not-to-exceed estimate after a survey, and compare on weight. Asking the wrong side for the wrong quote is how the comparison goes wrong.
A local company asked to price a 900-mile move will often quote it hourly plus mileage, and the result is usually worse than a carrier's weight-based price on the same corridor. A long-distance carrier asked to price a cross-town move will usually price it hourly anyway, because that is the only sane way to bill it.
The honest summary is that these are two products sold by overlapping sets of companies. Our hourly page prices the first and the corridor pages price the second, and the numbers are not meant to be added together or averaged.
Deciding which regime your move is in
- 01Determine whether the move crosses a state line. That, not mileage, sets the rulebook.
- 02In-state and inside one metro: get hourly quotes with crew size, rate, travel convention and minimum in writing.
- 03In-state but long: ask whether the quote is hourly or weight-based, and get both if the company offers both.
- 04Interstate: insist on a written estimate after a video or in-home survey, and ask whether it is binding, not-to-exceed, or non-binding.
- 05Compare each quote against the modeled range for the matching regime, not against the other regime's number.
Regulatory and external sources
What the rules say
The federal household-goods regulations in 49 CFR Part 375 apply to the interstate transportation of household goods, and require a written estimate before the move.
49 CFR Part 375 — Transportation of Household GoodsConsumers on an interstate move have the right to observe the weighing of their shipment and to request a reweigh before final charges are determined.
FMCSA — Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
Limits of this analysis
- Our hourly and interstate models are separate and are not calibrated against each other; the comparison shows two model outputs, not one continuous curve.
- State regulation of intrastate household moves varies widely and is not modeled here at all.
- The hourly figures assume one metro and clear access; a long in-state move priced hourly is outside what the model describes.
- No figure on this page is a quote, and neither model prices materials, trip charges or specialty handling.
Put this into a number
Use the moving cost calculator to see how these mechanics change your own estimate, or read the pricing methodology for the exact inputs we apply.
Related, and deliberately separate
What Movers Cost Per Hour, and What the Hour Is Actually Buying
Covers: what an hourly moving rate consists of and how to compare two of them.
Federal Moving Rules: What 49 CFR Part 375 Requires
Covers: what federal regulations require of an interstate household goods carrier.
Moving Cost Per Mile
Covers: the per-mile framing of moving cost and its limits.
Questions
How many miles counts as a long-distance move?
There is no federal mileage threshold. The rulebook changes when the move crosses a state line, which is why a 20-mile move between two states is an interstate household-goods move and a 300-mile move inside one state is not. Companies often switch to weight-based pricing somewhere past a few hours of driving, but that is a commercial convention.
Is a local move always cheaper?
For the same household, usually, because an hourly bill never pays for line-haul mileage. Our model puts a 2-bedroom local job at $1,450 to $1,975 against $3,250 to $4,350 for the same load moved 1,000 miles. A very long in-state move priced hourly can close that gap, since the clock keeps running while the truck drives.
Do federal moving rules apply to in-state moves?
No. 49 CFR Part 375 governs interstate transportation of household goods. An intrastate move is regulated by that state, and the requirements vary from a licensing and tariff regime to almost nothing. The written estimate and reweigh rights you would have on an interstate move may not exist on an in-state one.
Should I get a weight-based quote or an hourly quote?
Ask for the one that matches the job. Inside a metro, hourly quotes are comparable to each other once you convert crew and hours into a total. Across a state line, insist on a written estimate after a survey and compare on weight, because that is what the carrier will actually bill against.
Does home size matter more on a local or a long-distance move?
It matters in both, through different mechanisms. Locally it drives crew size and hours; long distance it drives shipment weight, which multiplies against the line-haul rate. The practical difference is that shedding weight helps a long-distance price directly, while locally it only helps if it shortens the load.