How Much Does it Cost to Move in 2024?

Let’s be honest. Moving is an expensive affair. While moving the home, you need to purge the whole belongings and require transiting it to the new home. Above all, what makes you tense is the cost that you need to bear through the whole process. So how much does it cost to move in 2024? 

Sure, relocating the home will have physical, economical, and psychological stress but the most important among them is economical. When you move the home long-distance, cross-country, or internationally, transporting your belongings from your current house to your new abode will encompass relocation costs. And multiple factors determine estimated moving costs.

Being moving experts, we’ve invested long hours to develop algorithms to predict moving cost estimates. Our guide also provides tips to avail the best moving company quotes and cut down moving expenditure.

What is the average moving cost in 2024?

While moving locally, the average cost will be approximately $1,251. That is the amount you need to spend if your destination is within a radius of 50 miles. And if you are moving long-distance, that is 1,000 miles or more, you can anticipate an average price of $4,895. You need to remember that we’ve prepared these estimates based on moving a 2 to 3 bedroom house with belongings that weigh approximately 7,500 pounds.

Here’s a table that speaks about approximate cost for moving a home

Distance	1 bedroom	2-3 bedrooms	4-5 bedrooms
<50 miles	$300 – $650	$750 – $1,300	$1,350 – $2,900
250 miles	$850 – $1,900	$1,700 – $3,500	$2,000 – $4,500
1,000 miles+	$900 – $2,700	$2,100 – $6,900	$5,500 – $10,900
2,500 miles+	$1,500 – $3,500	$3,900 – $7,500	$10,500+

*Ranges shown are very rough estimates based on historical pricing info. Some pricing and availability have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The actual cost of your move will vary. The best way to get accurate pricing is to request a free quote from a professional moving company.

What’s the average cost to hire a long-distance moving company?

The long-distance moving cost is calculated considering the shipment weight, distance to your home, and any extra service included. And that may be an average of $0.70 to have 1 pound of household goods moved to a place located 1,000 miles away. However, you need to remember that there’s no specific law regarding the long-distance moving cost and it is based on case to case basis.

Still, let’s take a look at normal moving costs when you are moving cross-country or above 1,000 miles.

Apartment Type	Volume of household items	Distance	Crew size	Average time pack and load the truck	Cost
Studio apartment	Approximately 1,800 lbs	1,000 miles	2	2-3 hours	$1,200
One-bedroom home	Approximately 2,200 – 3,200 lbs	1,000 miles	3	2-3 hours	$1,500– 2,200
Two-bedroom home	Approximately 5,000 – 6,000 lbs	1,000 miles	3	3-5 hours	$2,100–$4,200
Three-bedroom home	Approximately 9,000 lbs	1,000 miles	3-4	4-8 hours	$6,000-$6,900
Four-bedroom home	Approximately 11,000 lbs	1,000 miles	4-5	6-7 hours	$6,000-10,000
Five-bedroom home	Approximately 14,000 lbs	1,000 miles	6-7	6-7 hours	$11,200+

What are the average hourly wages for local movers?

Local movers charge on an hourly basis and the average moving cost to hire 2 laborers and a truck will be between $90 and $120 per hour. To move within a radius of 50 miles or locally, moving labor only (without the moving truck) will cost about $60 to $80 per hour.

There’s no one size fit for all when it comes to moving cost. The moving cost estimate for your home is based on your current home location, new destination, household belongings specific, moving date, and many more.

However, it’s always better to have a general idea of moving costs.

• For labor only: Expect to pay anywhere from $60 to $80 per hour.
• For a studio apartment: Expect to pay $150 to $200 total for two movers.
• For a two-bedroom apartment: Expect to pay $375 to $450 for 5- 6 hours.
• For a three-bedroom house: Expect to pay $800 to $900 for 8- 9 hours.

How much does it cost to pack your belongings?

Local movers may charge about $25-$35 per hour for the extra service of packing up your home. For long-distance moves, the moving company quote will include the packing cost, depending upon the size of your home, and the number and nature of the items.

How much does it cost to rent a portable storage container?

Moving containers are more of a portable storage unit that can deliver household belongings to your new house, loaded, and then shipped or stored local or long distance. Hiring a portable storage unit is more like a “DIY move” option and it does not include the labor or any packing services. However, local movers provide storage units as an additional service and may include them in the moving labor quote.

To move 50 miles, a portable container will cost around $400 to $700. For local moves, companies generally charge a fee every time you move the container. The typical move involves 3 container charges: a drop-off fee, a transfer fee, and a pick-up fee. If you plan on moving the container more than 3 times, costs can add up quickly.

If you want to move a portable container interstate, the average cost will range from $900 to $4,500+ based on the distance and size of the move. As usual, the more distance you want to cover, then it will be more expensive. If the company offering a portable container does not have an office at the nearby location at your destination, it can also ramp up the price. Ideally, you need to find a company that has nearby locations on both ends of your move.

Is it possible to give an exact moving cost?

It is a challenge to provide an exact moving cost as it is determined by different factors. Let’s take a look at the factors that play a significant role in deciding the moving cost.

What’s the volume of your household belongings? 

You need to take an estimate of the household belongings that you are taking to the new home. This includes everything starting from a kitchen spoon to pen drives to the refrigerator, bicycle, and books or piano, or aquarium. Make sure you have not missed out on anything as any item small or big can impact the total volume. The more your belongings, you will need to spend more.

Do you have heavy items or special items to be moved?

How many heavy items do you have at home? And is there a piano, guitar, or aquarium? Instead of leaving them behind, you can take professional assistance to move them to the new home. However, handling them requires specially trained laborers and you need to spend more as their cost.

What type of packing service do you require?

Packing every belonging intact is more of a burden and to shed the pain off the shoulders, most homeowners assign the packing task to a third company. This service is convenient and will certainly minimize stress, but it will also add a couple of hundred bucks to your bill.

Do you need to store your goods for a brief period?

Sometimes, you pack every item at home and wait for the date to come. So do you need a place to stock these items? A moving company can provide you that but you need to pay for it.

When is your moving date?

This is a point that most people miss out on while preparing the moving cost estimate. Relocating to the new home during the peak season is the trend. But you shouldn’t commit this mistake. Always move home in the offseason as you will get good discounts and offers during the off season. If cutting the moving cost is your goal, move the home during the offseason.

Why do you require a moving cost estimate?

When you plan a move, you need to have a budget. Preparing a proper estimate beforehand will help you remain financially responsible. This will help you understand what to expect to spend during the process and where should you spend and what you should not.

A moving cost estimate helps you begin preparations even before you start grabbing the moving box. Additionally, the knowledge of a ball-park range of your expenditure will help you formulate a plan to cut costs in multiple areas, wherever necessary.

How do you plan to move to?

This is an important factor in moving the home. There are three ways of moving the home

• Move the home yourself
• Hire a full-service moving company
• Hire a moving labor company

Let’s see each in detail.

Moving the home yourself

Doing it yourself or DIY is the process where you hire a truck and do every other aspect of moving yourself. This is the least expensive way of moving. You here don’t pay for any service other than for the truck. 

You decide the date, get the packing materials, and pack the household items to load the truck. Once you reach the new home, you unload them and unpack the boxes.

Let’s take a look at some of the average costs for the different steps of a self-service move:

Truck rentals: This cost varies based on the distance and the number of days you’re going to use the truck. The approximate costs may go up and you need to consider additional mileage fees, tolls, and a truck cleaning fee while preparing the moving cost estimate.

Truck rental insurance: This can be somewhere up to $150. However, there are some damages not covered by your insurance policy, for example – overhead damages.

Gas/diesel expenses: The fuel cost is not included in the truck rental. The fuel consumption of most truck rental vans is between 7 and 10 miles per gallon based on the size of the truck. If you hire a 26’ moving truck to your new home 1,500 miles away, an average of 200 gallons of fuel will be required at approximately $4 per gallon. 
Hotel expenses: If you are moving beyond 1,500 miles, you will stay at a hotel overnight, where the average cost will be $100 per night or more based on the place where you decide to stop by.

The pros and cons of DIY

The Pros

• It is more affordable 
• There’s a personal touch in moving
• You can decide when and how to move

The Cons

• There are chances of injury ads you don’t know how to move heavy objects
• Valuable items may get damaged as you don’t have experience in moving
• The quality of packing may be compromised

Hiring a full-service moving company

When you hire a full-service moving company, it handles every task involved, starting from scratch. The professional team arrives at the home evaluates the volume of the goods to be moved, provides you a moving company quote. 

On a moving day, the team will pack and load the truck and drive it to the new home. It will unload the stuff and unwrap it for you. The cost involves every aspect involved in moving. However, it is highly expensive.

Pros and cons of full-service moving services

The Pros

• Every process is professionally handled
• There’s no scope of injury or damage to products
• The household belongs will be insured against loss or damage
• The entire process is over within the scheduled time

The Cons

• It’s highly expensive
• There can be hidden costs
• There’s a risk of handling your valuable to an outsider
• There’s no personal touch in moving

Moving labor service

If the full-service moving company is expensive, you can hire a moving labor service, where you need to pay only for loading the truck and unloading it. You hire the truck your own and get it driven to the new home. If you need, packing services can be availed at an additional cost added to the moving labor quote.

Moving labor quotes are comparatively cheaper than full-service company cost. They are more convenient as the team of laborers will help you load the truck, giving it a professional touch. However, you need to pay extra for any additional service required.

The Pros

• Security of your belongings is ensured
• The task is done within the schedule
• Packing services are available at an additional cost

The Cons

• There are chances of hidden costs
• You need to hire a truck and provide packing materials
• Loading special items make moving labor service expensive

Can I negotiate with moving companies?

One of the best ways to get a good moving company quote is to negotiate over it. You need to approach different moving companies and gather as many moving quotes and make a detailed analysis of each. This will help you understand the services involved and how much each company is charging for one service.

When you have about 4 quotes, make a comparison and discuss with the company to include any wanted service and exclude anything you don’t require. See how much the difference in the moving company quote is.

How much can be the added cost involved?

If you are hiring a moving company, the quote will include every service and there’ll not be anything required extra. However, if you haven’t told them about the absence of an elevator or the long distance between your front door and the truck, the company may ask for an extra payment.

Should I pay for the storage?

Do you require storing the items for a brief or long period? And if the moving company has agreed to store it for you at its storage unit, you will require paying as per their rate.

Should I pay additionally for the insurance?

Research well about the insurance plans and analyze if the offer made by the moving company is cheaper and better than an outside agency. You need to choose the one that you feel is viable. Do not take insurance just because the moving company offered it to you as it would be added to the moving company quote.

What should I note while accepting a moving quote?

Before you accept a moving company quote or labor quote, you should see the history of the company and ensure it is fit to move your home intact.

Here are a few points to remember

• The company should be in the business for a minimum of 10 years
• There’s has not been a change in the name in past
• There’s a client feedback section on the website
• The feedbacks should be genuine
• The track record is clean
• It has trained laborers to handle special items
• The company is open to negotiations
• The company’s local office is not situated in some shady areas

Before you accept a moving labor quote or a moving company quote

• Compare multiple quotes and see the difference
• Ensure that the budget fits your pocket
• Make sure there are no hidden costs
• Confirm the quote is realistic

How can I cut down the moving cost?

You assume the moving company quote is expensive but requires cutting it down to relocate to the new home in an affordable way. That’s not a big deal as we have a few tips for you.

Tips to cut down the moving cost

• Plan early
• Sell off every household item you feel is not required at the new home
• Shop for the best moving or labor company 
• Gather maximum quotes to negotiate
• Be realistically related to the quote
• Move during the offseason
• Use second-hand packing boxes and cartons
• Decide to move it yourself

What are the moving company red flags?

When you enquire about moving labor quotes, you are lured with a colorful service option packed with attractive features but what you receive will be different. Some companies are involved in this dirty business of duping customers with fake promises like an unrealistically low quote, packing service for free even if it is not involved in your moving labor quote.

Here are a few red flags to be on the lookout for while you search for the right mover

• Receiving moving cost estimates over the phone
• Unrealistically low quotes
• Persuading you to sign incomplete documents
• Asking to wait for the final quote till the moving day
• Asking for advance payments

FAQs

How much does it cost to move a piano?

The cost to move a piano to your new home will be determined by a few factors which include:

• Distance to the new home
• Obstacles in moving, which include staircase or absence of an elevator
• Type of piano 
• Weight of the piano

However, on average, you may require to shell out about $150 for a local move and a maximum of $3,500 for an overseas move.

How much does it cost to move a car?

To move a car cross-country may cost somewhere between $600 and $2,000. The cost will be determined by the distance, type of car, and type of shipment. For example, if you ship on an open trailer, you need to spend less than shipping it on a closed trailer.

How much will it cost to move a 2,000 square foot home?

The average cost to move a home is $12 to $16 per square foot. If we calculate based on this figure, you may require coughing up $32,000 to move a 2,000 square foot home. But you need to remember that this does not include additional costs and for specific add-ons, it may get more expensive.

How much does it cost to move a 3 bedroom house?

If you are moving locally, the movers might charge on an hourly basis, with an average rate of about $100 per hour for two movers and a truck. A 3-bedroom house may require 3 to 4 movers which increase the hourly rate to around $150 to $170.

It will take about 6-8 hours to move a 3-bedroom house at about $900 to $1,300 for labor alone.

Long distance moving cost is calculated on the weight of the goods, the distance you will be moving, the cost of extra services and possibly additional insurance.

Here’s a table to give you an idea of a standard range.

Three bedroom house (8,000 pounds)	100 miles	500 miles	1,000 miles	3,000 miles
Standard cost	$2,400	$3,400	$4,600	$9,400
With packing services	$3,000	$4,000	$5,200	$10,000
With mover’s insurance	$3,200	$4,100	$5,300	$10,100
With insurance and packing services	$3,800	$4,800	$6,600	$10,800

What is the average cost to move a 4-bedroom house?

If you are moving locally, the movers might charge on an hourly basis, with an average rate of about $100 per hour for two movers and a truck. A 4-bedroom house may require 3 to 4 movers which increase the hourly rate to around $150 to $170.

It will take about 8-12 hours to move a 4-bedroom house at about $1,200 to $1,800 for labor alone.

Here’s a table to give you an idea of a standard range for long distance moving.

Four bedroom house (9,000 pounds)	100 miles	500 miles	1,000 miles	3,000 miles
Standard cost	$3,300	$4,700	$6,500	$13,700
With packing services	$4,200	$5,600	$7,500	$14,700
With mover’s insurance	$4,400	$5,800	$7,700	$14,900
With insurance and packing services	$5,300	$6,800	$8,600	$15,800

What is the average cost to move a 5 bedroom house?

A local movers charge on an hourly basis, a 5-bedroom house will require about four movers, with an hourly rate of about $150 to $170 an hour. The total cost will vary on the basis of the distance and added travel time, but a five bedroom house will usually take about 12 hours to move. This means, you will require shelling out about $1,800 to $2,000 for labor alone. 

Long distance moving cost is calculated on the weight of the goods, the distance you will be moving, the cost of extra services and possibly additional insurance.

Here’s a table to give you an idea of a standard range.

Five bedroom house (10,000 pounds)	100 miles	500 miles	1,000 miles	3,000 miles
Standard cost	$4,100	$6,100	$8,500	$18,100
With packing services	$5,400	$7,300	$9,700	$19,300
With mover’s insurance	$5,600	$7,600	$10,000	$19,600
With insurance and packing services	$6,900	$8,800	$11,200	$20,800

What should I consider before hiring a moving company?

Before you finalize a moving company, confirm its credentials. It should be a genuine name in the industry and need to have a clean track record. The moving company’s quote needs to be pocket-friendly and it should be ready for negotiations.

Are moving costs for a job tax-deductible?

It can be tax-deductible but under a few conditions. As per the IRS, “if you moved due to a change in your job or business location, or because you started a new job or business, you may be able to deduct your reasonable moving expenses but not any expenses for meals.” The IRS claims that you can deduct these moving expenses if: 1) Your move closely relates to the start of work. 2) You meet the distance test. 3) You meet the time test. To deduct these expenses, you must fill out and submit IRS Form 3903.