How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Moving Company? Here's a Breakdown

Whether you're moving locally, across the country, or to an international destination, transporting your belongings from one place to another is a huge undertaking, so it's no surprise that most people pay for a bit of help. Although the numbers vary slightly from poll to poll, as many as 76 percent of people would hire some kind of service for a move, whether that's renting a truck, using moving containers, or hiring professional movers.

The cost of those moves varies as much as the things that people move with them. Ultimately, the cost of hiring a moving company depends on several factors. The most significant variables are the number of belongings you're transporting and the distance you're traveling. Add-on services, like full-service packing and loading and automobile transport, are also major factors. Minor but still important variables include your location, the time of year, and additional fees like taxes and tolls.

Understanding how moving companies calculate their prices can help you budget wisely for your own move. To give you an idea of what to expect, here's our breakdown of how much it costs to hire a moving company and the variables that will affect your final bill.

How Much Does a Moving Company Cost?

It's unsurprising to learn that the bigger your move, the more it will cost. A local move of a typical two- or three-bedroom home costs roughly between $800 and $3,000 on average. Long-distance and international moves often involve several more variables, so costs vary widely and can be anywhere from around $1,000 to over $15,000.

Average Cost Based on Home Size

Average Cost Based on Type of Move

Hiring the Best Moving Companies

*Quote for a 1- to 2-bedroom move across 500 miles

**Quote for a 2- to 3-bedroom move across 1,500 miles

Allied Van Lines

Allied Van Lines provides all the custom services a premium mover could offer, and more. The company offers the majority of its services à la carte, so you can choose only the ones you want and pay only for what you need. Allied's extensive options include full-service packing, moving supplies, automobile transport, and cleanup services. The company also takes a unique approach to storage.

While moving companies typically offer storage during your move, most cap the service at 30 days, requiring you to pay for long-term storage beyond that time. If that won't work for you, you'll be glad to know that Allied offers 90 days of moving storage.

Allied has agents in all 50 states and 130 countries. Local moves are typically done by third-party affiliates. You don't need to place a deposit to book an intrastate, long-distance, or international move, and you can cancel up until the day of your move without incurring any penalty. Allied provides accurate quotes, and while that's great for planning your budget, getting a quote from Allied can be a more involved process than it is with other companies. Instant online quotes aren't available, so you'll need to have a video or in-person meeting to get pricing for your move.

Atlas Van Lines

Atlas Van Lines performs full- and partial-service local, intrastate, long-distance, and international moves. The company has locations in all 50 states and 17 countries, plus over 1,500 partnerships worldwide, so there are few places you could move to that Atlas doesn't serve.

Atlas utilizes third-party affiliate companies to provide local moves, while its SimpliCity container moving program is specially designed for small long-distance moves, offering expedited shipping, flat-rate pricing, and full-service packing options. Intrastate and long-distance moves are fully customizable and include a long list of add-on options, such as full-service packing, expert handling and crating of fragile items, automobile transport, and storage. For international moves, Atlas puts you in touch with company representatives who can assist with foreign customs requirements and paperwork.

Atlas doesn't require a deposit, but its cancellation policy is somewhat restrictive, granting you only three days after signing the contract to cancel before a fee will apply. After you've filled out an online application and spoken with a rep, the company can provide your choice of a binding or nonbinding quote.

North American Van Lines

Available in all 50 states and over 180 countries, North American Van Lines provides fully customizable local, intrastate, long-distance, and international moves. The company sets itself apart by offering three estimate types: binding, nonbinding, and not-to-exceed, which ensures your price won't increase but could, in fact, decrease. After you complete the instant estimate form online, North American's system will return a range of prices you can expect to pay, and a representative will contact you for specifics to further tailor your final quote.

North American performs small long-distance moves through its BlueExpress container moving program. It offers full-service small moves and guarantees your delivery date, promising to reduce your invoice for each day your container is late. The company hires local third-party affiliate companies to provide local moves regardless of size.

Military personnel, veterans, seniors, and students all qualify for North American's discounts, and no one is required to put down a deposit to book their move. However, you should be sure of your moving plans before hiring the company, as you'll have just three days after signing your work order to cancel without penalty.

Mayflower

Mayflower is available in 150 countries around the globe. Although you won't find local offices in Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, or West Virginia, the company provides nationwide interstate, long-distance, and international moving services. It also offers a vast selection of full-service and add-on options to customize your move, including automobile transport, crating of fragile items, furniture assembly, and post-move cleaning, to name a few. You can choose from three full-service packages or add individual services as necessary.

Mayflower's Snapmoves service is designed for long-distance moves between apartments, condos, or single-bedroom homes. It provides full-service packing, simplified pricing, full-value insurance, and furniture disassembly, reassembly, and placement in one convenient package.

All Mayflower customers can get a personal move coordinator, while international moves also include customs clearance assistance and a personalized moving plan. You won't need a deposit to book your move with Mayflower, and you can cancel without facing a cancellation fee right up until 24 hours before the movers arrive.

PODS

PODS is an acronym for Portable on Demand Storage, but the company provides far more than simple storage. With locations in 46 states, Canada, the U.K., and Australia, PODS offers mostly DIY local, intrastate, long-distance, and even some limited international moving services. If you move with PODS, the company will deliver moving containers to your door. Containers come in three sizes: 8, 12, and 16 feet.

After you've loaded your possessions into the containers, the company will pick them up, store them if necessary, and then transport them to your destination. Upon arrival, you can unload your things at your leisure, depending on how long you pay to have the containers.

Although PODS itself only transports and stores the containers, it can connect you with trusted third parties if you want someone to perform full-service packing, transport an automobile, or handle specialty items. PODS requires a deposit to secure your container delivery, but it accepts cancellations up until 4 p.m. on the day before your container arrives. It also offers discounts to military personnel and veterans.

How to Save on Moving Costs

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American moves 11.7 times over the course of their life, and most people can expect to spend several thousand dollars on moving costs during their lifetime. That's a considerable amount, but there are several ways to save on moving costs.

Downsize

One of the most effective ways to cut moving costs is to reduce the amount of stuff you have to move. Sort through your possessions and decide which are must-haves and which you could sell, donate, or throw out. Investigate the cost of moving heavy furniture versus selling the old stuff and purchasing new pieces for your new home.

Consider DIY moving

While sitting back and watching someone else pack, load, and move your stuff might be nice, the luxury comes with a hefty price tag. To save a bundle, consider renting a truck or moving container and performing the labor yourself. Most moving companies offer partial packing services that are cheaper than full-service moves but will still spare you some of the hard work.

Avoid the busy season

Most people move between May and September. Due to the realities of supply and demand, moving companies charge more during those months. If your moving date is flexible, waiting for the off-season can shave money off your invoice.

Find inexpensive moving supplies

Most moving companies sell moving supplies. While the cost of a few moving boxes won't break the bank, paying for a bunch of them, along with packing tape, padding, and other extras, can add up. You might be able to nearly eliminate your supply costs by asking neighbors, family, friends, and local retailers for spare boxes.

Ship books

Many of us have book collections that, as anyone who has moved before knows, are heavy. Companies typically factor shipment weight into the cost of intrastate and long-distance moves, so in most cases, it will be less expensive to ship your books with a parcel shipping company than to load them onto a moving truck.

Start your move early

Although the simple act of starting your move early has no monetary value, making a plan as soon as you know that you'll be moving can help save you money. By starting early, you'll have time to shop around for the best prices, acquire inexpensive moving supplies, downsize, and create other cash-saving plans.

Get multiple quotes

Whenever you hire a service provider, it pays to shop around. Getting price quotes from two, three, or more moving companies will help you find the cheapest option. Be sure to provide each contender for your business with the same accurate information so you can make an informed hiring decision.