Moving Cost Calculator

The model, printed in full (last reviewed October 2026)

This calculator does not hide its ingredients, because an estimate you cannot audit is a sales tool. Household weight is estimated from home size using the standard planning bands in the input above (a furnished 3-bedroom house runs about 6,000 pounds; your mileage will vary with how much of it is books). Full-service mid-model price = weight x ($0.35 per pound + $0.0006 per pound per mile), a structure in the spirit of the federal estimating rules in 49 CFR Part 375, with the band set at 0.8x to 1.3x to cover packing levels, stairs, and season. Container = a size-based base ($1,999 at 3-bedroom) plus $0.55 per mile. DIY = the truck's daily rate for the size (from $19.95 at the small end) times rental days (two, plus one per 500 miles), plus diesel at $0.42 per mile from EIA prices. Labor only = weight / 800 mover-hours per end, two ends, at a $52 loaded per-mover hourly rate anchored to BLS wage data for movers and packers. Sixty percent of moves happen May through September and peak-season prices run 20 to 30% above winter; the model prices the shoulder, so add that premium for a July Saturday.

The worked example: a 3-bedroom house, 1,200 miles

Cross-checks, cited as cross-checks and not as our numbers: moveBuddha's published long-distance range runs $2,509 to $11,641 across home sizes, and This Old House's survey average for a long-distance move is about $3,020. Our full-service band for the example sits inside the first and above the second, which is where a 3-bedroom at 1,200 miles should sit in both. For a local move the distance term nearly vanishes: a 2-bedroom across town (40 miles) models at about $1,496 full-service, which matches what local movers actually charge for a crew, a truck, and half a day.

Where estimates go wrong in the wild

Three failure modes account for most moving-day price shocks, and the model is built to expose all three. Weight surprise: full-service prices ultimately settle on actual weight, so a household that is 30% heavier than its band pays roughly 30% more; the defense is an in-home or video survey and a not-to-exceed estimate. Accessorials: stairs, long carries, shuttle trucks on streets a trailer cannot enter, and storage-in-transit are real charges that appear on nobody's web estimate; ask for the tariff sheet, not the brochure. Season and day: the same move can price 20 to 30% apart between a Tuesday in February and the last Saturday of June, because trucks and crews are the constraint, not your furniture. If your dates are flexible, the calendar is the largest discount available in this industry, larger than any negotiation.

What to do with this number: get three written estimates, compare each against the model's band rather than against each other, and read how to verify a mover before signing any of them. An estimate far below the band is not a bargain; it is the opening move of the pattern in avoid moving scams.

Binding, non-binding, and not-to-exceed: the three species of estimate

Federal rules sort written estimates into three kinds, and the kind matters more than the number. A binding estimate is a guaranteed price for the listed items and services; the carrier cannot charge more at delivery even if the shipment weighs more, and cannot charge less attention to the flip side, extra services you request on the day are billed separately at tariff rates. A non-binding estimate is the carrier's honest guess; the final charge follows actual weight and services, with the 110% rule (you cannot be required to pay more than 110% of the estimate to get your goods released) as your protection. A binding not-to-exceed combines them in your favor: you pay the estimate or the actual-weight price, whichever is lower. It is the estimate to ask for by name, and a carrier's willingness to write one after a proper survey is itself a quality signal worth more than a small price difference.

Valuation: the line item that is not insurance

Every interstate estimate carries a valuation choice, and the default is the bad one. Released value, the free option, compensates damage at 60 cents per pound per item. Full-value protection, typically a few hundred dollars on a household shipment depending on its declared value and deductible, obliges the carrier to repair, replace, or pay current market value. Neither is technically insurance; both are liability terms, and the difference only becomes visible in a claims letter. On this page's worked example, full-value protection on a $45,000 declared household runs roughly the cost of one hour of the crew's time. It is the cheapest line in the move relative to what it governs.

Storage, shuttles, and the other honest adders

Three charges surprise households because they are legitimate, itemized, and never in the headline quote. Storage in transit prices by the hundredweight per period: if your destination is not ready, the shipment waits in the carrier's warehouse at a tariffed rate, and a month of storage on this page's example household can add four figures before the second delivery attempt. Shuttle service applies when a tractor-trailer cannot reach your door, in dense urban cores, gated communities, and mountain roads; a smaller truck ferries the load the last stretch, priced per hundredweight. Stairs, elevators, and long carries are smaller, per-flight and per-distance charges that a survey should catch and a phone estimate cannot. None of these are scams; all three are in the tariff the carrier is required to make available. The estimate conversation that protects you is boring and specific: which of these could apply to my two addresses, and what does the tariff say each costs?