Moving a household more than 1,000 miles costs about $4,300 on average, based on a standard 7,400-pound shipment — a benchmark figure long tracked by the American Moving and Storage Association and still cited by industry movers like Nelson Westerberg. Yet fewer Americans are making that trip than at any point on record: just 2.1% of the population moved across state lines in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, down from 2.3% the year before. Long-distance moving in 2026 is a smaller, pricier, more concentrated business than it was a decade ago.
Quick answer: A typical long-distance move (1,000+ miles, roughly 7,400 lbs) costs around $4,300, versus about $2,300 for an equivalent move within the same city. Only 2.1% of Americans relocated to a different state in 2024 — the lowest share on record — even as the dollar value of the moves that do happen keeps climbing.
What Actually Counts as “Long-Distance”
The moving industry defines long-distance primarily by state lines and weight-and-distance pricing rather than a fixed mileage cutoff. Interstate moves — crossing a state border — are priced by shipment weight and distance rather than a flat hourly local-move rate, which is why the same household’s belongings can cost roughly double to move 1,000+ miles compared to a same-city relocation, even before accounting for fuel, tolls, and multi-day transit.
The Benchmark Cost: $4,300 for a 1,000+ Mile Move
The AMSA benchmark — now maintained under the American Trucking Associations’ Moving & Storage Conference, per its industry economic impact reporting — pegs a same-city move at approximately $2,300 and a 1,000+ mile interstate move at approximately $4,300, both based on a standard 7,400-pound shipment. Actual quotes vary well beyond that midpoint depending on home size, packing services, valuation coverage, and seasonal demand, but the benchmark remains the most widely cited reference point across the industry precisely because it holds shipment weight constant, isolating distance as the variable.
Interstate Moving Is at a Record Low
The other half of the story is participation, not price. Per the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, just 2.1% of Americans moved to a different state in 2024, down from 2.3% in 2023 — both figures well below the historical norm and part of a longer decline from roughly 14% of Americans moving annually (any distance) a decade ago to just 11.2% today. Interstate moves specifically are shrinking faster than in-state moves, which fell more modestly from 9.1% to 8.9% over the same year.
That’s a meaningful shift for an industry built on long-distance, higher-margin jobs: the segment carriers depend on most for revenue is the one declining fastest in raw participation.
Why Long-Distance Movers Are a Different Population Now
The households still making 1,000-mile moves in 2026 skew toward a narrower set of motivations than the broader moving population of a decade ago. The mortgage rate “lock-in effect” — Federal Reserve research attributes roughly 44% of the post-2022 decline in homeowner mobility to homeowners unwilling to trade a sub-3% mortgage for a current-rate loan — disproportionately suppresses exactly the kind of long-distance, discretionary relocation that used to make up a larger share of interstate volume. A separate National Bureau of Economic Research study found higher rates cut mobility among mortgage holders by about 16% in 2022 and 2023 alone, and the typical homeowner who sells today to buy a similarly priced home elsewhere would see their monthly housing payment jump by roughly $1,000, simply from giving up a locked-in low rate.
What remains of the long-distance moving population, then, is more concentrated among renters without that lock-in constraint, employees required to relocate for a new role, and retirees making a one-time move to a retirement destination — populations less price-sensitive than the “let’s try a new city” mover who was more common when moving costs and mortgage rates were both lower. That shift in who is moving, more than any change in the underlying cost of diesel or labor, explains why long-distance moving can simultaneously feel more expensive to the people doing it and generate flat-to-growing industry revenue overall.
The Corporate Long-Distance Segment Is Growing Faster Than Consumer Moves
That divide shows up clearly in the data: IBISWorld’s Employee Relocation Services industry — the business of managing employer-sponsored moves — has grown at roughly 3.8% revenue CAGR since 2021, compared to about 2.1% for general Moving Services. Long-distance corporate relocation, funded by an employer rather than the household itself, is proving more resilient to the affordability pressure suppressing self-funded interstate moves.
Where Long-Distance Moves Are Actually Going
Long-distance movers aren’t spreading evenly across the map. United Van Lines’ 2025 National Movers Study and Census Bureau migration data both point to the same cluster of net-gaining states — Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee posted the largest population gains from domestic migration in 2024 — while New Jersey, New York, California, and North Dakota remain the only states crossing United’s “high outbound” threshold. But even these long-running patterns are decelerating: Atlanta flipped from a net migration gain to a net loss, and both Texas and Florida are now classified “balanced” rather than high-inbound in United’s percentage-based rankings, a shift from their historical dominance of the long-distance destination market.
Peak Season Still Drives Long-Distance Pricing
Even as overall volume shrinks, the long-distance segment remains highly seasonal. Summer — roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day — continues to concentrate the majority of interstate household moves, driven by families timing relocations around the school year and warmer weather making cross-country transit more predictable. That concentration means carriers price the same 1,000-mile, 7,400-pound shipment differently depending on when it ships, with summer dates commanding a premium over the exact same route booked in January or February. For a shrinking pool of long-distance movers, timing a move outside peak season remains one of the few cost levers still within a household’s control.
One quick way to use this data: if you’re budgeting a long-distance move, use the $2,300 same-city vs. $4,300 interstate benchmark as a floor, not an estimate — actual quotes commonly run well above it once packing, valuation coverage, and peak-season demand are factored in, and carriers price by weight and distance rather than a flat rate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Long-Distance Moving in 2026
Q: How much does a long-distance move cost in 2026?
A: The industry benchmark, based on a standard 7,400-pound shipment moving 1,000+ miles, is approximately $4,300 — compared to about $2,300 for an equivalent same-city move. Actual quotes vary by home size, services, and season.
Q: What percentage of Americans make a long-distance move each year?
A: Just 2.1% of Americans moved to a different state in 2024, according to Census Bureau data — down from 2.3% in 2023 and part of a long-term decline in interstate mobility.
Q: Why is long-distance moving getting more expensive even as fewer people do it?
A: The households still making long-distance moves skew toward less price-sensitive segments — employer-funded relocations, retirees, and renters unaffected by the mortgage lock-in effect — while routine, discretionary long-distance moves have declined the most.
Q: Is corporate relocation growing faster than personal long-distance moves?
A: Yes. IBISWorld data shows the Employee Relocation Services industry growing at roughly 3.8% annual revenue CAGR since 2021, compared to about 2.1% for the broader Moving Services industry that includes self-funded household moves.
Q: Which states get the most long-distance movers in 2026?
A: Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee posted the largest net domestic migration gains in the latest Census Bureau data, though growth in traditional magnets like Texas and Florida has slowed enough that major carrier studies now classify both as “balanced” rather than high-inbound.
The state of long-distance moving in 2026: smaller in volume than it has ever been on record, more expensive per move, and increasingly limited to the people who genuinely need to relocate rather than those simply choosing to.
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