The Best Nationwide Movers Near You: Average Moving Costs

When you’re moving hundreds or thousands of miles across the country, you shouldn’t be thinking about organizing a Do-It-Yourself move.

Instead, you should definitely be thinking about finding one of the best nationwide moving companies near you and booking their quality moving services.

Moving over great distances is just too risky without using professional assistance of any sort. Your money, your time, and your nerves will be on the line, so do yourself a favor and avoid any overwhelming doses of stress that can easily prove to be detrimental to your health.

Learn how to find the best nationwide movers near you. These detailed steps will help you secure a reputable and trustworthy cross-country moving company for your relocation needs.

Also, you will learn how much nationwide movers cost on average and will get good advice on how to cut moving costs when moving across the country.

But first things first – here are the steps to finding the best nationwide movers in your area.

How to find the best nationwide movers near you

The good news is that finding one of the best nationwide movers near you is easier than you think.

You’ll only need to follow a few straightforward steps to secure the high-quality services of a national moving company. In other words, you’ll need to do your homework right so that the pros you hire prove to be the right relocation partner for you.

When moving across the country, the stress is real – not only are you worried about the well-being of your prized possessions (the greater the distance, the higher the chance of something bad happening to them) but you’ll also be rather nervous about the final cost of your long-distance move (interstate moves are much more expensive than local ones).

Therefore, to best handle the extreme stress of moving, you’re going to need to find and hire top-rated nationwide movers that are

• properly licensed,
• adequately insured,
• highly reputable,
• notably competent,
• remarkably experienced, and
• generally affordable.

You may think that that’s too much to ask from a professional moving company but such excellent nationwide movers do exist – simply follow the steps below to book one for yourself.

Step 1. Get recommendations

Ask friends, co-workers, and even neighbors about recommendations for good nationwide movers.

Statistically speaking, the average American moves house every 5 years, so it’s very likely that someone you know and trust will have moved in recent times and may be able to recommend you a trustworthy professional mover.

If your tactic works out, then you will save yourself a lot of valuable time – time you would have otherwise spent hunting down the best nationwide moving companies in your area.

Step 2. Make the initial contact

If you do happen to get a reliable recommendation for national movers, then you should definitely contact that cross-country moving company and ask them for cost estimation.

If you fail to get any good recommendations though, then the next step is to use our Moving Cost Calculator to get in touch with top-rated nationwide movers near you.

You will only be contacted by pre-screened moving companies that can accommodate your house move on the date that you specified in the moving quote form.

Step 3. Request in-home inspections

Ask the nationwide moving and storage companies to visit your home for accurate cost calculation. Such in-home surveys are super important for 3 major reasons:

1. the moving company representatives will take a closer look at what you intend to move and will quote you a much more precise price,
2. the moving experts will assess any potential risks on Moving day when it comes to large furniture, narrow hallways, small doorways, sharp corners, multiple flights of stairs, and so on, and
3. you will have the chance to ask the reps face-to-face any serious (cost-related) questions about the upcoming move.

After the on-site surveys, you will receive accurate cost quotes in writing. Make sure you request binding cost estimates.

Step 4. Read nationwide moving companies reviews

The moment you have several good moving quotes in your hands is the exact moment when you’re expected to compare the nationwide moving companies and pick the right one for you.

The first thing you should compare how reputable the national movers are. In reality, their reputation in the form of customer reviews will give you a good idea about what to expect from the professional movers in terms of the quality of their services.

Click here to find out what customers had to say about the services and overall level of professionalism of the nationwide moving companies you’re comparing.

Customer testimonials and overall performance ratings from 1 to 5 stars will help you decide which relocation partner to choose.

You can rest assured that the best-rated national moving companies know how important reputation is for their business.

Step 5. Check the USDOT number of nationwide movers

One thing you should know when looking for nationwide movers is that all interstate moving companies must have valid USDOT numbers.

Those numbers are issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation and guarantee that the cross-country movers that have such numbers are duly registered with and licensed by the Department.

The good news is that the USDOT identifier is a sure sign that the nationwide moving companies comply with strict federal regulations about safety and trustworthiness.

Visit the official webpage of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to check whether the national moving companies you’re comparing have valid USDOT numbers that prove their legitimate status.

Step 6. Check the professionalism of nationwide moving companies

Your aim should not be to use just any nationwide movers to protect and transport your stuff to the new home – your aim should be to find the best nationwide moving companies in the area where you live.

Now, it’s never easy to trust complete strangers to handle your valuable possessions, but after careful research and meticulous comparison, you should be able to secure the services of a trustworthy cross-country mover.

The last step before your final decision should be to check the degree of reliability and level of professionalism of the interstate moving companies.

Check if the cross-country movers are BBB-accredited, meaning that they have met the high standards of trust maintained by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Follow the steps above to find one of the best nationwide moving companies for your upcoming house move. You shouldn’t settle for less – after all, moving across the country is a risky business, and expensive too, so you must be 100% sure that you’re professional movers that you can really trust.

How to Choose a Moving Company in 31.5 Steps

How much do nationwide movers cost?

The right house moving strategy is to have your moving cost estimated pretty early in the process so that you can adjust your budget accordingly.

As described above, the best way to know the moving price in advance is to request proper cost calculation by the best-rated nationwide moving companies.

And yet, it’s important to know what to expect price-wise from cross-country movers even before you get in touch with them.

In fact, knowing the average moving cost of long-distance movers will help you in a couple of ways:

1. you will be able to protect yourself and your move against any unlikely yet possible moving scams, and
2. you will definitely be able to lower the moving price by using a number of effective cost-reduction techniques – see below for more details.

How much do nationwide moving companies cost on average?

Keep in mind that while local moving companies charge by the hour, nationwide movers charge a flat fee based on several price factors such as move distance, shipment weight, and extra services.

If you happen to be moving to a new home that’s located approximately 500 miles from where you are now (for the sake of convenience), here’s how much nationwide moving companies will charge you on average:

Home Size	Distance	Average Moving Cost
1-bedroom	500 miles	$1,598 – $3,213
2-bedroom	500 miles	$2,083 – $4,352
3-bedroom	500 miles	$3,250 – $5,375
4-bedroom	500 miles	$3,788 – $6,783

If you happen to be moving to a new place that’s located roughly 1,000 miles from your current home (again for the sake of convenience), here’s the average cost of nationwide moving companies:

Home Size	Distance	Average Moving Cost
1-bedroom	1,000 miles	$2,363 – $4,930
2-bedroom	1,000 miles	$2,363 – $4,930
3-bedroom	1,000 miles	$3,570 – $6,163
4-bedroom	1,000 miles	$4,208 – $6,885

Also, if you are moving to a new place that’s approximately 2,000 miles away from your current home, here’s how much nationwide movers will cost on average:

Home Size	Distance	Average Moving Cost
1-bedroom	2,000 miles	$2,576 – $4,998
2-bedroom	2,000 miles	$3,460 – $6,146
3-bedroom	2,000 miles	$4,693 – $7,523
4-bedroom	2,000 miles	$6,481 – $10,625

The good news is that once you get familiar with the factors that affect the moving price, you will have much better control over it since you should be able to influence those price factors both directly and indirectly.

Here’s the question that you should be asking yourself throughout your moving preparation: Why should I spend more money on my move when I can spend (much) less?

• Distance. There’s a big difference whether the move difference between the two homes is 20 miles, 200 miles, or 2,000 miles, right? The greater the distance, the more money you should be ready to pay due to the higher transportation costs.

• Shipment weight. The more items you want to take with you, the higher the moving cost will be due to the increased overall weight. The great news here is that, unlike the move distance that remains a constant value no matter what you do, you’ll have direct control over how many things you choose to move to the new home.

• Extra services. The moving cost can increase substantially if you request an add-on service from your nationwide movers such as furniture disassembly, packing, or temporary storage. Again, the good thing here is that you can choose to complete the most common extra moving service (packing) and thus save big money in the process.

• Specialty items. Moving any specialty items will incur extra charges from the national moving company due to the fact that the move difficulty increases in direct ratio to the specialty items you wish to move. For example, the cost of moving a piano long distance can be anywhere between $1,000 and $2,000.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers?

What to know when hiring nationwide movers

Securing the quality services of one of the top nationwide moving companies will be hugely beneficial for you. The pro movers will surely take the heavy load off your shoulders and will minimize the notorious stress of moving to a new home.

Here are the top 5 things you should know when using reputable nationwide movers:

1. What nationwide movers won’t move

Your nationwide movers won’t agree to transport household goods that are considered too hazardous for humans or other items alike, or too fragile to endure the house move.

• Dangerous substances: flammable, corrosive, or explosive materials are forbidden for transportation so you need to give them away or properly dispose of them before moving day;

• Perishables: foods that can easily go bad and damage your or the moving company’s property are not allowed inside the moving truck;

• Pets and plants: unfortunately, you will have to find an alternative way to transport your pet animals and household plants (potted flowers) to your new home.

• Valuables: make sure you keep any valuable items with you during the entire moving process. Regardless of whether their value is monetary or sentimental, do not commit the common mistake of entrusting your most precious possessions to movers.

What Movers Won’t Move

2. Take only the items you like and need

Before you start the packing process, think about whether you do need to transport all your household items from your current home to your new apartment or house.

Remember that besides the distance of the move, the other criterion that determines the final moving price is the weight of the things to be relocated. Simply put, each additional household item will cost you additional money in transportation costs.

Therefore, the best way to lower your moving costs is to make a complete inventory of your household and then sort the stuff carefully into 3 separate piles:

1. things you do need and like (to be taken with you),
2. things you neither need nor like (to be sold or given away), and
3. worthless things or broken items beyond repair (to be thrown away for recycling).

How to Declutter Your Home Before Moving

3. Pack by yourself to save BIG

Full-service nationwide movers will offer you a full array of additional moving services to make your house move much easier. Needless to say, each extra service will cost you more money.

It can be a pretty stress-free relocation experience to leave everything to your nationwide moving company but your budget may not always be agreeable with that luxury.

So, to save plenty of dollars on your long-distance move, do consider packing your things on your own (whenever possible).

As long as you have enough time, you don’t really need professional packing services to box up your clothes, your shoes, or your books, do you?

You can even manage the tougher task of packing up most of your fragile items such as kitchen plates, glasses, electronic equipment, artwork pieces, lamps, jewelry, and more.

As a bonus to your efforts to move cheaply, you should be able to find most of the packing supplies you need without actually paying for them.

Packing Timeline: What to Pack When for Moving

4. Be ready to negotiate with your nationwide movers

The nationwide moving quotes you receive will contain the moving company rate + the cost of all extra services that you have requested or that are needed to complete the long-distance move.

Luckily, you may be able to bring down that final price by asking the national movers for current discounts, ongoing promotions, or package deals that you can take advantage of. It never hurts to ask and the worst thing that can happen is to get NO as an answer.

Another tactic you can use to pay less in the end is to try to negotiate with your nationwide movers.

Get in touch with them and tell them that you’d love to use their services but one of their competitors has offered you a better deal. Quote the lower bid and see if the cross-country movers will be willing to match its price or even go lower to secure you as a customer.

How to Negotiate With Movers

5. Know how much to tip nationwide movers

If you feel pretty nervous about tipping your long-distance movers, then don’t. The thing is that you don’t have to tip movers if you’re not happy with their work.

It’s simple, really: if you’re really satisfied with how your professional movers handled the move from start to finish, then you should consider tipping each worker individually to show your gratitude for a job well done.

However, if your moving crew did a bad job overall, damaged some of your items, or were rude and disrespectful, then don’t even think about rewarding their “efforts” by tipping them.

So, how much to tip nationwide movers?

For an OK job (satisfactory), consider tipping each worker around $40 for the day. For a great job (well above your expectations), reward the genuine effort of each mover by tipping them $50-$60 for the day.

Of course, you can always choose to be more generous if 1) your nationwide movers did an outstanding job packing and moving your prized possessions, and 2) you can afford it.

How Much to Tip Movers