A full-service long-distance move can start around $1,400–$1,900 for a studio moving 500 miles and reach $6,100–$8,100 for a three-bedroom home moving 2,500 miles. Distance and shipment size create the base; access, timing, packing, storage, and specialty work determine the written price.
This guide is the national budgeting article in Moveline’s cost collection. It compares the same four home sizes at four distances, then shows how to add the costs that a transportation estimate may not include.
Long-distance moving prices by distance and home size
Moveline ran sixteen full-service scenarios for September 15, 2026. The model used standard household weights—about 1,800 pounds for a studio, 2,700 for one bedroom, 5,000 for two bedrooms, and 8,000 for three bedrooms—with no city-specific surcharge. Results were rounded and expanded into the ranges below.
Use the closest distance row to understand scale, then use the exact addresses in the Moveline calculator. A 1,000-mile city-center apartment move can require more local labor than a longer house-to-house move with easy truck access.
What the full-service ranges include
The examples represent a professional mover supplying a truck and crew to load, transport, and unload a household shipment. They are useful starting points, not reservations or written estimates from a selected company.
The seven factors that change the price
1. Shipment size. More furniture and boxes require more truck space, weight, and crew time. A detailed inventory is more useful than a bedroom count once estimates begin.
2. Distance. Linehaul, driver time, fuel, and road costs grow with mileage. The route may also require tolls or different equipment.
3. Origin access. Traffic, legal parking, loading rules, stairs, elevator reservations, narrow streets, and the walk from truck to door affect local labor.
4. Destination access. A steep driveway, gated community, high-rise delivery, rural road, or lack of truck space can require more time or a smaller shuttle vehicle.
5. Date and capacity. Weekends, month-end dates, summer demand, and a short booking window can limit available trucks and crews.
6. Added services. Professional packing, fragile crating, storage, appliance work, specialty items, and unpacking belong in the estimate when requested.
7. Delivery terms. A dedicated truck, consolidated shipment, narrow delivery window, or storage-in-transit plan changes both service and price.
A lower transportation price can create more household work
Containers and rental trucks can reduce the amount paid to a professional mover, but the household assumes packing, loading, driving or scheduling, fuel, hotels, tolls, protection, unloading, and possible equipment or labor rental. Compare the complete cost and the days of work, not one advertised line.
Moveline’s service comparison separates those responsibilities. Choose the service first, because full-service, container, and truck prices describe different jobs.
Build the complete moving budget
Moveline draws practical experience from an agent network responsible for over one million U.S. moves annually. That breadth of moving activity shows the same budgeting lesson across routes: households make better choices when transportation, travel, housing overlap, storage, and arrival costs are visible in one total.
Replace the range with comparable written estimates
For an interstate household move, give several registered movers the same inventory, addresses, dates, building rules, access photos, and service list. Confirm whether each estimate is binding or non-binding, who the actual carrier is, the pickup and delivery windows, the valuation choice, and the payment schedule.
FMCSA’s consumer resources explain interstate estimate and registration requirements. A well-explained estimate that matches the physical move is more useful than the lowest number with missing services.
How the external cost guide influenced this article
NerdWallet’s consumer guide separates price by move type and explains the cost factors before offering saving ideas. Moveline follows that reader-friendly order here, while the dollar table comes from Moveline’s own controlled distance-and-home-size scenarios.
