How much does it cost to move a house? Your 2026 cost breakdown

The national average for a local home move is around $1,250, and approximately $4,300 for a long-distance move, according to the American Moving and Storage Association (2024). Those averages hide a wide range. A studio apartment moving across town can land under $500, while a 4-bedroom home moving cross-country can clear $10,000. What you'll actually pay comes down to four things: how far you're going, how much stuff you're moving, which services you book, and when you move. Movers, truck, fuel, packing labor, supplies, insurance, and storage are the line items that build the final number.Below is what every move size and distance typically costs in 2026 — plus the costs most quotes leave out, and the levers that bring the total down.

2026 home moving cost averages at a glance

Home size	Local move (under 100 mi)	Long-distance (1,000+ mi)
Studio / 1-bedroom	$400–$1,500	$1,200–$4,500
2-bedroom	$1,200–$2,500	$3,500–$6,500
3-bedroom	$1,500–$4,000	$5,500–$9,000
4-bedroom	$2,500–$5,500	$7,500–$12,500
5+ bedroom	$4,500–$8,500+	$9,500–$15,000+

Ranges reflect industry averages from the American Moving and Storage Association and consumer pricing data published by Move.org (2024).

What drives the cost of a house move

Every quote you'll receive is built from the same five inputs. Understanding them is the difference between a fair price and an overpriced one.

Distance. Local moves under 100 miles are usually billed hourly or per-minute. Long-distance moves are billed by weight or volume plus mileage. The break point is roughly 100 miles — past that, you cross into a different pricing model entirely.

Home size and volume. Movers estimate the weight of your belongings, usually around 1,000 pounds per fully furnished room. A 1-bedroom apartment runs roughly 2,500–3,500 lbs; a 4-bedroom house can clear 12,000 lbs. More weight means more truck space, more labor, more fuel.

Services chosen. A labor-only move (you rent the truck, they load it) costs a fraction of full service. Full-service moves bundle packing, loading, transport, unloading, and unpacking. Each layer adds $500–$2,200 on top.

Timing. Peak moving season runs May through September, and roughly 70% of all U.S. moves happen during summer, per the National Association of Realtors. Lugg's own 2025 booking data lines up: August was the busiest month on the platform, accounting for 10% of all home-related bookings — 52% higher than the slowest month, February. Moving in June can cost 20–30% more than moving in February with traditional movers, who charge differently based on season.

Specialty items. Pianos, hot tubs, pool tables, safes, and large aquariums add $150–$500+ each. Most movers charge per heavy item, not per pound, because the labor and equipment requirements are different from standard household goods.

How much does a local home move cost?

What counts as "local" varies by service. Traditional movers usually draw the line at 100 miles; Lugg considers up to 150 miles a local move. A local move costs around $1,250 on average in 2026, with most quotes landing between $400 and $5,500 depending on home size, access, and any add-on services.

Traditional local movers charge by the hour — typically $90–$150+ per hour for two movers, scaling up with the number of movers booked. Most quotes include a truck fee, fuel surcharge, and a minimum (usually 2 to 4 hours).

On-demand options have changed the math for many moves. Lugg is an on-demand moving and delivery service that lets you book a truck and movers on the same day, charges by the minute instead of by the hour (no 2-hour minimum), and includes the truck and equipment in one upfront price — useful for everything from a same-day couch delivery to a full-home move.

"What really amazed me was the price. Multiple people were genuinely surprised when they found out how little my entire move ended up costing compared to what they expected." — Dan, Riverside → San Diego (Trustpilot)

Local cost expectations by size:

Home size	Typical local cost	Crew & time
Studio / 1-bedroom apartment	$400–$1,500	2 movers, 2–4 hours
2-bedroom apartment or small house	$1,200–$2,500	2–3 movers, 4–6 hours
3-bedroom home	$1,500–$4,000	3–4 movers, 6–8 hours
4-bedroom home	$2,500–$5,500	4 movers, 8–10 hours
5+ bedroom home	$4,500–$8,500+	4+ movers, full-day or two-day

How much does a long-distance home move cost?

A long-distance home move costs approximately $4,300 on average — built around 7,400 lbs of belongings moving 1,225 miles. Real-world quotes range from $2,500 to $15,000+ depending on size and distance.

Long-distance pricing works differently from local. Interstate moves are billed two ways. The most common is by weight plus mileage: the truck is weighed empty, then loaded, then weighed again, and you pay per 100 lbs ("hundredweight") plus mileage. Less common is by volume plus mileage, where you're charged by cubic feet of truck space used plus distance.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires long distance movers to provide a written estimate before the move. Binding estimates lock the price; non-binding estimates can shift if the actual weight or services differ from the estimate.

Long-distance ranges by home size:

Home size	Typical long-distance cost
1-bedroom apartment	$1,200–$4,500
2-bedroom apartment or small house	$3,500–$6,500
3-bedroom home	$5,500–$9,000
4-bedroom home	$7,500–$12,500
5+ bedroom home	$9,500–$15,000+

Cross-country moves (coast-to-coast) sit at the top of these ranges. A 3-bedroom move from New York to California typically lands $8,000–$12,000 for full service.

The hidden costs of moving a house

The headline quote rarely captures the full bill. These are the costs that quietly add up:

Packing supplies. Boxes, tape, paper, bubble wrap, and mattress covers run $100–$400 for a typical 2-bedroom move. Free boxes from grocery stores or liquor shops help, but specialty boxes (wardrobe, dish pack, mirror) you'll likely need to buy.

Packing labor. Hiring movers to pack for you adds $500–$1,200 for a 2-bedroom and up to $2,500+ for a 4-bedroom. Most charge per packer per hour.

Truck or container rental (DIY). U-Haul advertises rates from $19.95 per day, but real totals balloon fast — mileage ($0.99–$1.39/mi), insurance ($14–$30/day), fuel ($50–$300+), and equipment fees stack on top. A real-world 100-mile move in a 15-foot U-Haul typically lands $300–$700, and a 1,000-mile one-way rental clears $1,500. Here's a deeper comparison of hiring movers vs. renting a U-Haul for a similar move.

Moving insurance / valuation coverage. Most moving services include basic coverage by default, though the federal minimum (60¢ per pound) won't replace much if something actually breaks. Upgraded full-replacement coverage typically adds 1–2% on top. Confirm what's included before you book — some on-demand platforms bundle damage protection into the upfront price.

Storage in between. PODS and similar containers run $150–$400/month plus delivery. A traditional storage unit is $50–$300/month depending on size and city.

Tips. Standard is $20–$40 per mover per move. For a 3-mover, 8-hour job, that's $60–$120 in tips on top of the labor bill. Here's a deeper breakdown of how much to tip your movers.

Cleaning, time off work, and lost-deposit fees on rentals. Each easily adds $200+. None of them appear in the moving quote.

"Move a house" — when people mean it literally

Two cost ranges sit outside the standard home-moving framework:

Mobile or manufactured home moves. Relocating a single-wide mobile home costs $5,000–$8,000, and a double-wide runs $10,000–$15,000+, depending on distance, condition, and whether utilities need to be re-set. Most contractors charge per mile ($5–$15) plus setup at the destination. Specialized contractors handle these — traditional movers usually don't.

Structural house relocation. Yes, people physically move houses. Lifting a single-story home off its foundation and trucking it to a new lot costs $15,000–$50,000+. Long-distance structural moves can clear $200,000. This is the kind of project that requires permits, route surveys, utility coordination, and a contractor that specializes in building relocation.

Neither is what most people mean when they Google "how much does it cost to move a house" — but if you landed here for either, those are the real numbers.

How to lower the cost of moving

A handful of levers move the needle most.

Move off-season. Mid-October through April is the cheapest window. Demand is lower, movers are negotiable, and you skip summer surge pricing entirely. The best time to move breaks down month-by-month price differences in detail.

Avoid weekends and the first or last week of the month. Tuesday through Thursday in the middle of a month is the cheapest stretch — sometimes 20% less than the same move on a Saturday.

Choose a service without surge pricing. If your dates aren't flexible, the other lever is to pick a moving service that doesn't raise rates during peak demand. Most traditional movers charge more in summer, on weekends, and at the start and end of every month; some on-demand platforms hold prices flat year-round regardless of when you book. According to Lugg moving data from 2025, median pricing held essentially flat across the week — $147 on weekends versus $145 on weekdays.

Declutter aggressively before you book. Every cubic foot you don't move is a cubic foot you don't pay to move. A weekend of donating, selling, and tossing can shave hundreds off a long-distance quote. These downsizing tips walk through the room-by-room cuts that have the biggest cost impact.

Match the service to the move size. Hiring a full-service interstate van line to move a studio across town is wildly overpaid. For smaller jobs and short distances, moving across town without renting a truck often beats traditional movers and DIY rentals on total cost. For full-home jobs over 100 miles, traditional movers still come out ahead. The right pick depends on the scale of the move.

Right-size the truck. Booking a 26-foot truck when a 15-foot would do means you're paying for the upgrade plus the extra fuel. Here's how big of a moving truck you actually need by home size.

The bottom line on what a house move really costs

Most local home moves land between $1,000 and $5,000; long-distance moves land between $4,000 and $12,000. The real number depends on how far you're going, how much you own, what services you hire out, and when you book. Get a written estimate, declutter before you book, and avoid summer Saturdays if you can.

For local and same-day moves, Lugg keeps the math simple: per-minute billing instead of hourly minimums, prices that hold flat across weekends and peak season, and one upfront estimate that bundles the truck, the movers, and the equipment together — book a Lugg in 60 seconds.