How Much Do Long-Distance Movers Cost? Fair Prices, the Extras, and the Rules That Protect You

0:00A $3,700 quote and a $26,000 bill

How much do long-distance movers cost? Here's what a quote can turn into.

In July 2025, an eighty-three-year-old woman moved from Palm Desert, California, to the Seattle area. According to the Seattle TV station that covered it, her invoice showed a quote of thirty-seven hundred dollars. She says it grew to about six thousand when she added boxes. Then the truck was loaded, and the bill came to more than twenty-six thousand. She says the driver threatened to leave her things on the street, so she handed over a ten-thousand-dollar check. The station reported that her bank refunded her. Her belongings, she says, are a lost cause.

In the next ten minutes, you'll see how movers set a price, fair ranges from our calculator, the extras, the delivery-day rule, and how to judge a quote.

I'm Daniel, from Majestic Moving Companies. Our team has more than thirty-five years in the moving industry. Let's get into it.

0:54Pounds, miles, extras: how movers price you

How do long-distance movers charge? Mostly by weight, not by the hour. On a move between states, your price comes down to pounds, miles and extras: how much your things weigh, how far they go, and any added services.

The trucking part is called the line-haul charge. Extras, like packing or carrying a piano, are priced on top.

So weight is the number to watch. Our calculator estimates a two-bedroom home at about forty-five hundred to sixty-three hundred pounds. A home with four bedrooms or more starts around eleven thousand.

On a non-binding estimate, federal rules say the final bill follows the actual weight, measured on a certified scale. For most shipments, the truck is weighed empty and full, and the difference is your shipment. Every bill based on weight has to include copies of the weight tickets. Ask for them.

And if a mover quotes you in cubic feet, it has to explain in writing how it converts that to pounds.

So read every quote for its weight first. If a quote shows no weight at all, it's hard to check the price.

1:55What movers cost, from 1 bedroom to 4

So how much do long-distance movers cost? Here are fair-price ranges from our calculator, for a move of about eight hundred road miles, between October and April, when you pack your own boxes.

A one-bedroom apartment: about twenty-seven fifty to forty-three hundred dollars. A two-bedroom: thirty-six hundred to fifty-six hundred. A three-bedroom house: about five thousand to seventy-nine hundred. Four bedrooms or more: roughly eight thousand to twelve and a half thousand.

Now cross the whole country. New York to Los Angeles is about twenty-eight hundred road miles. A one-bedroom runs about forty-four hundred to sixty-nine hundred dollars. A three-bedroom house, about eighty-one fifty to twelve thousand seven hundred.

Notice what moves the number most. In our calculator, going three and a half times as far raises the price about sixty percent. Going from one bedroom to three nearly doubles it.

So when you ask for quotes, describe your home fully, room by room. The garage, the basement and the storage unit all count.

Want real numbers for your move? Get free moving quotes at majesticmovingcompanies.com. The form takes about thirty seconds, and we match you with professional movers who cover your route. Want a gut check first? Our free calculator shows a fair price range. So when a quote comes in way under it, you'll know it's not a deal. It's a warning.

3:15Summer and packing: one move, 4 prices

Here's one move, priced four ways, so you can see what each choice costs. A three-bedroom house going about fifteen hundred road miles, in our calculator.

Pack it yourself and move between October and April: about sixty-one fifty to ninety-six hundred dollars. Move the same house between May and September: seventy-two fifty to about eleven thousand three hundred. Our calculator adds about eighteen percent for summer.

Now let the movers pack everything. Off-season, that's about eighty-three hundred to thirteen thousand. Summer with full packing: ninety-eight hundred to about fifteen thousand three hundred. Full packing adds about thirty-five percent.

So the most expensive version costs more than one and a half times the cheapest one. Same house. Same miles.

If your dates are flexible, ask each mover to price both an October date and a July date. And consider packing the books, clothes and linens yourself, then paying the crew for the fragile things only.

The calendar and the packing tape can be worth thousands.

4:12Stairs, long carries, shuttles: the extras

What can push a long-distance bill up, even when the weight is right? The extras at each end of the move.

Stairs can carry their own fee. Federal rules call it a flight charge. Elevators and long carries, when the crew has to haul everything a long way from the truck, cost extra too. So can moving a piano.

Here's a rule that protects you. The mover has to work out those charges before the bill of lading is prepared. If it never asked you about them, it has to deliver your things anyway and bill you after thirty days.

Then there's the street the big truck can't get down. If the mover needs a smaller shuttle truck or extra crew to reach your door, federal rules call that an impracticable operation. It can be charged even if you didn't ask for it. At delivery, the mover can collect up to fifteen percent of the other charges for it, and bill the rest later. On a six-thousand-dollar move, that's up to nine hundred dollars at the door.

So tell every estimator about the stairs, the elevator, the walk from the curb, and the street out front. Then get each extra priced in writing.

An extra you mention early is a line on a quote, not a fight at the door.

5:17Binding or non-binding: the 110% rule

Every estimate for a move between states carries one of two labels: binding, or non-binding. That label decides what you owe on delivery day.

A binding estimate locks the total for everything written on it. The mover is allowed to charge you for preparing one. A non-binding estimate is free, and your final bill follows the actual weight. If the shipment weighs less, you pay less.

Say your non-binding estimate is sixty-four hundred dollars. On delivery day, the mover must release your shipment when you pay up to a hundred and ten percent of it. That's seven thousand and forty dollars, plus any extra services you ordered after signing, and certain access charges. Anything more gets billed after thirty days.

What if you add things on moving day? Before loading, the mover has three choices. Keep the binding price, write a new binding estimate that you sign, or agree with you in writing to treat it as non-binding. Once the truck is loaded with no new estimate signed, the original binding price stands.

So never accept a price change by phone or text. Get a new estimate, signed, before loading starts.

One word at the top of a page can be worth thousands.

6:25Lowball quotes: almost 40% under the range

Three movers quote your move, and one comes in thousands below the others. That's rarely a better price. More often, it's a different plan.

The FMCSA, the federal agency that oversees interstate movers, lists deliberately low-balling an estimate, to ask for more money later, as a kind of moving fraud. Its red flags include a mover that says it will set the price after loading, or claims you have more belongings than estimated.

In October 2025, a federal court in New Jersey sentenced two moving companies. According to federal investigators, once the companies had customers' belongings, they demanded far higher fees than the contracts said, and wouldn't move or release the goods until people paid. The court ordered more than two point two million dollars in restitution.

Here's a gut check. For a two-bedroom going about eight hundred road miles, off-season, packing yourself, our calculator's fair range is thirty-six hundred to fifty-six hundred dollars. A quote of twenty-two hundred is almost forty percent under the bottom of that range.

So ask the low bidder for a binding estimate, in writing, based on a survey of your home. If it won't give you one, you have your answer.

7:36Deposits: when 60% up front is a red flag

How much should a mover want before moving day? Federal rules don't cap deposits. But the FMCSA lists a mover that demands cash or a large deposit as a red flag. The Federal Trade Commission says not to hire one.

In 2026, a Missouri couple booked a move to the Tampa area. According to the Kansas City TV station that reported it, they got an estimate of about eighty-five hundred dollars over the phone and paid a fifty-one-hundred-dollar deposit. That's sixty percent, up front. They say that once their things were on the truck, the total came to more than twenty-four thousand. They signed a check for eighteen thousand, then stopped payment. The station reported the company wanted a fifteen-thousand-dollar wire before delivery, and the couple didn't know where their belongings were.

Two federal rules help here. When a mover gives you an estimate, it has to tell you which forms of payment it takes at delivery. And if a broker books your move, its deposit and refund policy has to be in your agreement.

So keep any deposit small, pay it by credit card, and never wire money to a mover.

A big deposit is your leverage, handed over before the truck shows up.

8:43How to compare 3 moving quotes

You have three moving quotes, and the totals are thousands apart. Here's how to compare them fairly.

First, make sure every quote covers the same move. The Federal Trade Commission says to check that each estimate lists all your property. And for a move between states, the estimate has to be based on a survey of your things, in person or by video, unless you waive it in writing.

Second, find the estimated weight. If one mover expects four thousand pounds and another expects seven thousand, the cheap quote may simply be counting less of your stuff.

Third, read the label. Say quote A is non-binding at forty-eight hundred dollars, and quote B is binding at fifty-one hundred. At the door, A can reach fifty-two hundred and eighty, and more can be billed later. B stays at fifty-one hundred for the job as written.

Fourth, check what's included: packing, stairs, long carries, and coverage. The estimate has to include the cost of full value protection, the coverage you get unless you sign it away. Our New York to Florida video explains that coverage.

Last, check each total against a fair range. Our free calculator gives you one in under a minute.

The cheapest quote isn't always the right one. The clearest one usually is.

9:56The short version

So here's the short version. Know your fair range before quotes arrive. Tell every estimator about stairs, elevators and the walk from the truck. Know whether your estimate is binding, and what you'll owe at the door. Treat a rock-bottom quote or a big deposit as a warning. Compare quotes line by line, not by the bottom number.

If you want help, go to majesticmovingcompanies.com. Get free quotes from professional movers who cover your route. It takes about thirty seconds, or you can chat with Robert, our moving assistant. And while you're there, there's a lot more to help you plan: guides on moving costs, delivery windows, car shipping and more.

I'm Daniel. Safe travels, wherever you're headed.