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Moving Cost Calculator — Local & Long-Distance Estimates

Estimate your moving costs for a local or long-distance move. Choose home size, distance, and DIY vs full-service — get a realistic low/expected/high budget range including packing, supplies, storage, and specialty items. Free.

Local moves are priced by crew-hours (typically $150–$220/hour for 2–3 movers and a truck), while long-distance moves are priced by weight and distance. A 2-bedroom local move averages $800–$1,200 full-service; the same home moved 500+ km can run $2,000–$5,000. This estimator builds a budget range from your home size, distance, and service level, then adds packing service, supplies, storage, and specialty-item charges — so you can compare a DIY truck rental against hybrid and full-service quotes with realistic numbers.

Inputs

First 50 km included in the base rate

Results

Estimated Total

$1,100

Low Estimate

$880

High Estimate

$1,430

Base Move Cost

$950

Long-Distance Charge

$0

Extras (packing, storage…)

$150

Understanding This Calculator

Learn how movers actually price a move — by home size, distance, and service level — and how to build a realistic budget range rather than a single number.

How the math works

The estimate builds up from typical North American mover pricing:

  1. Base cost by home size (studio ≈ $450 up to 4-bedroom ≈ $2,000 for a full-service local move), multiplied by service level: DIY ≈ 35% of full-service (truck rental, fuel, your labour), hybrid ≈ 65% (you pack, movers load and drive), full-service = 100%.
  2. Distance charge: the first 50 km is included; beyond that a per-km rate applies that scales with home size and service level.
  3. Extras: professional packing (+25% of the base), supplies, storage per month, and specialty items like pianos or safes (+$350).

Because real quotes vary, the result is shown as a band from about −20% to +30% around the estimate.

Worked example

A 2-bedroom, full-service move of 500 km with packing and supplies:

  1. Base = $950 × 1.0 = $950
  2. Distance = (500 − 50) km × $1.70/km = $765
  3. Packing = 25% × 950 ≈ $238; supplies ≈ $150
  4. Estimate ≈ $2,100, with a realistic range of about $1,680–$2,730

The same move done DIY (truck rental at 35%) drops to roughly $600 before fuel-heavy extras — the service-level choice moves the bill more than any other input.

How to read the result

Use the band, not the midpoint: budget near the high end and be pleasantly surprised. This is a planning heuristic — real prices swing with season (summer and month-end cost more), access (stairs, elevators, long carries), and local labour rates.

  • Get three written quotes with in-home or video surveys; phone-only quotes routinely grow on moving day.
  • Check the mover's insurance: basic released-value coverage (about $0.60/lb) is nearly worthless for electronics and furniture.
  • Beware quotes far below the band — deposit scams and hostage-load operators advertise exactly that way.

Frequently Asked Questions