2026 LA Outbound Moving Cost Index

Full-service mover cost ranges for 21 routes out of Los Angeles, one-way truck rental and container pricing for 9, and route distances — compiled from published carrier tariffs, rate tables, and rental pricing. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.

15×spread in full-service cost: from $800 (LA → San Diego) to $18,000 (LA → New York)
$430cheapest one-way truck rental in the set (LA → Phoenix); the same truck runs up to $5,878 to Boston
5 statesin the index charge zero state income tax (WA, NV, TX, TN, FL) vs California's 13.3% top rate

Table 1 — Full-service movers, by route

Published range for professional full-service moves; low end reflects studio/small 1-bedroom loads, high end large households. Sorted by distance where the underlying sources state one.

RouteDistanceFull-service range
LA → San Diego≈120 mi$800 – $1,200
LA → Phoenix≈380 mi$1,350 – $8,300
LA → San Francisco≈382 mi$945 – $8,650
LA → Salt Lake City≈700 mi$1,500 – $4,000
LA → Boise≈841 mi$2,130 – $9,500
LA → Portland≈964 mi$2,290 – $6,530
LA → Seattle≈1,140 mi$2,500 – $6,000
LA → Dallas≈1,450 mi$1,170 – $8,600
LA → Houston≈1,548 mi$2,650 – $11,700
LA → Nashville≈2,000 mi$3,000 – $8,000
LA → Charlotte≈2,419 mi$3,100 – $14,000
LA → Raleigh≈2,480 mi$3,290 – $9,400
LA → Orlando≈2,500 mi$3,000 – $10,270
LA → Tampa≈2,526 mi$1,600 – $14,900
LA → New York≈2,800 mi$3,000 – $18,000
LA → Boston≈2,984 mi$3,220 – $15,900
LA → Chicago—$3,460 – $9,890
LA → Denver—$1,920 – $5,480
LA → Las Vegas—$1,500 – $8,000
LA → Miami—$2,500 – $5,000
LA → San Antonio—$2,730 – $10,600

Table 2 — DIY options: one-way truck rental & moving containers

Routes where sources publish both a one-way truck rental range and (for most) a moving-container range. Truck rental excludes fuel — budget roughly 10–12 mpg loaded.

RouteOne-way truck rentalMoving container
LA → Phoenix$430 – $940$1,120 – $2,590
LA → San Francisco$450 – $980$1,470 – $2,600
LA → Boise$700 – $1,530$1,400 – $3,380
LA → San Antonio$990 – $2,400$1,690 – $4,110
LA → Houston$1,090 – $2,550$1,790 – $6,330
LA → Dallas$1,090 – $2,980—
LA → Charlotte$1,700 – $4,690$2,190 – $8,230
LA → Tampa$1,760 – $4,960$1,560 – $7,940
LA → Boston$2,010 – $5,880$2,420 – $8,900
The tax angle: five destination states in this index — Washington, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida — charge no state income tax, against California's top marginal rate of 13.3%. Arizona tops out at 4.5%, and North Carolina's flat rate is 3.99% in 2026 (scheduled to fall to 3.14% by 2030). For higher earners, the tax delta can repay the entire cost of the move in the first year.
Transit windows are wide: door-to-door delivery on professional long-haul moves ranges from 2–7 days (LA → Boise) to 7–20+ days (LA → Tampa, LA → Charlotte). Movers quote windows, not dates — plan an air mattress buffer.

Methodology & honest exclusions

Ranges are compiled from published carrier tariffs, mover rate tables, one-way rental pricing, and moving-container quotes collected in July 2026 for each route's research file. Low ends generally reflect studio/1-bedroom loads; high ends large households. We publish a range only when sources state one for that specific route — cells with "—" mean the sources for that route did not publish a usable figure, and three routes in our coverage set (Atlanta, Austin, Sacramento) are excluded from Table 1 entirely for that reason rather than padded with estimates. Car shipping appeared in only one route's sources (LA → Dallas: $1,420 – $1,960) and is noted here rather than tabled.

This dataset is licensed CC BY 4.0 — cite "Move Cost Atlas" with a link. Per-route detail, including destination rents and arrival rules, lives on each linked route page.