Moving costs are difficult to summarize with one dollar figure because the available measures cover different parts of the experience: residential mobility, move distance, moving-related prices, transaction costs, and outcomes after affordability-driven moves. The statistics below make those definitions explicit, with U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data alongside peer-reviewed studies from the Netherlands and California.
Key Moving Cost Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- 13.7% of the U.S. population age 1 and older moved within the prior year in 2019 across the 50 states and District of Columbia.
- About 44.3 million people moved in the United States in 2019, using the Census migration universe of people age 1 and older.
- The U.S. mover rate declined from 16.8% in 2006 to 13.7% in 2019, a 3.1-percentage-point endpoint decrease.
- The 2018 U.S. mover rate was 14.0%, before the 2019 decline.
- The 2019 South mover rate was 14.4%, compared with 14.1% in the West.
- The 2019 Northeast mover rate was 11.4%, the lowest of the four Census regions listed.
- About 17.1 million domestic movers were in the South in 2019, excluding moves from abroad.
- The South gained about 381,000 people from between-region migration in 2019, based on rounded regional inflow and outflow figures.
- There were 42,412,185 domestic movers in the United States in 2019, with a Census-reported margin of error of 184,002.
- 9.1% of domestic movers crossed a Census region boundary in 2019, compared with 8.5% in 2006.
- 17.4% of domestic movers crossed state lines in 2019, compared with 16.6% in 2006.
- Moving, storage, and freight expense rose 3.7% from June 2024 to June 2025 in the U.S. city average CPI-U category.
- Moving, storage, and freight expense carried a 0.127% CPI-U relative-importance weight in June 2025, a basket weight rather than a typical move quote.
- A 1-percentage-point increase in transaction costs as a share of residence value was associated with at least an 8% decrease in homeowners’ residential mobility in a Netherlands study.
- 8.9% of California adult renters and other nonhomeowners reported a recent cost-driven move during 2011–2017, defined as moving because rent was unaffordable.
- Cost-driven California movers had a 4.2-percentage-point higher adjusted probability of moderate psychological distress than people who did not move.
- Cost-driven California movers reported 16.8 fewer minutes of leisure walking per week than people who did not move.
Contents
- U.S. mover rates and annual moving volume
- Regional and state moving cost data
- Domestic moving trends by distance and move type
- Interstate moving patterns and regional flows
- Moving-cost inflation and the CPI basket
- Residential mobility, affordability, and outcomes
U.S. Mover Rates and Annual Moving Volume
The Census measure is residential mobility, not household spending. It reports whether people age 1 and older lived in a different residence one year earlier, so it describes the scale of moving rather than the price paid for a move.
| Census measure | 2006 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. mover rate, population age 1+ | 16.8% | 14.0% | 13.7% |
| People who moved | About 49.7 million | — | About 44.3 million |
The annual mover rate fell 3.1 percentage points between 2006 and 2019. The number of movers also fell by about 1.2 million from 2018 to 2019, while the population age 1 and older in the migration universe increased every year from 2006 through 2019.
Source: Migration in the United States: 2006 to 2019, U.S. Census Bureau. These are ACS 1-year estimates; rounded mover totals are not dollar-cost estimates.
Regional and State Moving Cost Data
Regional mover rates show how common residential mobility was in 2019, but they should not be interpreted as regional moving-company prices. The South recorded the highest rate among the four regions listed, while the Northeast recorded the lowest.
| Region | 2019 mover rate | 2019 domestic movers or flow |
|---|---|---|
| South | 14.4% | About 17.1 million domestic movers |
| West | 14.1% | — |
| Midwest | 13.6% | — |
| Northeast | 11.4% | — |
The Census comparison found that mover rates declined from 2006 to 2019 in 48 states. In 2019, 25 states had mover rates higher than the national 13.7% rate, 18 had rates lower than the national rate, and eight did not differ statistically from it; the District of Columbia was treated separately in the report.
The South received about 1.6 million movers from other regions and sent about 1.2 million to other regions in 2019. Its resulting between-region gain was about 381,000 people.
Source: Migration in the United States: 2006 to 2019, U.S. Census Bureau. Domestic flows exclude moves from abroad, and the reported counts are rounded.
Domestic Moving Trends by Distance and Move Type
Domestic movers are people changing residence within the United States. Distance-related categories such as crossing a state or Census region boundary can indicate the structure of moving demand, but they do not provide a moving quote or a complete measure of distance.
There were 47,776,225 domestic movers in 2006 and 42,412,185 in 2019. The endpoint difference was 5,364,040 domestic movers; the 2019 Census estimate had a margin of error of 184,002.
| Move category | 2006 | 2010 low point cited | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crossed a Census region boundary | 8.5% | 7.7% | 9.1% |
| Crossed state lines | 16.6% | 14.9% | 17.4% |
The share crossing Census regions increased 0.6 percentage points from 2006 to 2019. The interstate share increased 0.8 percentage points over the same endpoints, although the Census series identified 2010 as the low point for both measures shown here.
Source: Migration in the United States: 2006 to 2019, U.S. Census Bureau. Region crossing and interstate status are move-type measures, not direct prices.
Interstate Moving Patterns and Regional Flows
Interstate and interregional measures help distinguish local moves from moves that potentially involve longer routes and more complex logistics. They still should not be used as substitutes for household-level cost data.
In 2019, 9.4% of the South’s domestic movers changed Census regions, compared with 8.7% in the Midwest and 9.1% nationally. The South’s share was 0.3 percentage points above the national figure, while the Midwest’s was 0.4 percentage points below it.
The population bases used for state migration rates also differed substantially in 2019. California’s state migration universe included 39,084,048 people age 1 and older, compared with 28,642,658 in Texas, 21,269,409 in Florida, and 19,240,920 in New York.
These population-universe figures are not mover counts and do not measure moving costs. They provide scale for interpreting state migration rates and comparisons across large states.
Source: Migration in the United States: 2006 to 2019, U.S. Census Bureau.
Moving-Cost Inflation and the CPI Basket
The BLS price measure is closer to moving-cost inflation than the Census mobility series, but its category is broader than a moving-company quote. “Moving, storage, and freight expense” combines those services, and its CPI relative importance is a basket weight rather than the share of a household’s moving budget.
| BLS CPI-U measure | Reported change or weight | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Moving, storage, and freight expense | 3.7% increase | June 2024–June 2025 |
| Same category, unadjusted | 1.5% increase | May–June 2025 |
| Same category, seasonally adjusted | 1.0% increase | May–June 2025 |
| Same category, seasonally adjusted | 0.8% increase | March–April 2025 |
| Relative importance weight | 0.127% | June 2025 |
The June 2025 category increase therefore describes a measured U.S. city average price movement for a combined service basket. It does not isolate labor, truck rental, packing materials, storage, freight, distance, home size, or a specific household’s final bill.
Source: Consumer Price Index News Release – 2025 M06 Results, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The monthly unadjusted and seasonally adjusted changes are distinct presentations of the same category.
Residential Mobility, Affordability, and Outcomes
Physical moving charges are only one part of the broader cost of changing residence. Transaction taxes and housing affordability can also affect whether people move, where they move, and what outcomes accompany the move.
A peer-reviewed Netherlands study found that a 1-percentage-point increase in transaction costs as a share of residence value was associated with at least an 8% decrease in homeowners’ residential mobility. The study context included a 6% ad valorem buyer transaction tax, and the estimate applies to the studied Netherlands homeowners and transaction-cost definition rather than to a U.S. moving-company price.
In California, a weighted cross-sectional study analyzed 52,646 adult renters and other nonhomeowners from 2011–2017. A recent cost-driven move meant moving within the prior three years because rent was unaffordable.
| California population, 2011–2017 | Recent cost-driven move |
|---|---|
| Adult renters and other nonhomeowners overall | 8.9% |
| Hispanic renters | 9.9% |
| Non-Hispanic Black renters | 11.3% |
| Non-Hispanic White renters | 7.2% |
Compared with people who did not move, cost-driven movers had adjusted probabilities that were 4.2 percentage points higher for moderate psychological distress, 3.2 points higher for severe psychological distress, and 2.5 points higher for an emergency-department visit. Their adjusted probability of a preventive-care visit was 5.1 points lower, and their probability of reporting good, very good, or excellent general health was 3.7 points lower.
Cost-driven movers also reported 16.8 fewer minutes of leisure walking per week. Compared with non-cost-driven movers specifically, they had 3.2- and 2.5-percentage-point higher adjusted probabilities of moderate and severe psychological distress, a 4.6-point lower probability of good, very good, or excellent general health, and 13.0 fewer minutes of leisure walking per week.
The Netherlands result is an observational estimate, and the California findings are adjusted cross-sectional associations. Neither establishes that a particular moving-company charge caused a later outcome; the California study reported confidence intervals of 95% for its estimates, including 2.6–5.7 percentage points for moderate distress, 1.9–4.5 for severe distress, 0–4.9 for emergency-department visits, and 6.9–26.6 fewer walking minutes for the overall comparison.
Sources: New Evidence of the Effect of Transaction Costs on Residential Mobility, peer-reviewed Netherlands study; and Association of Cost-Driven Residential Moves With Health-Related Outcomes Among California Renters, peer-reviewed California study.