Long-distance moving costs depend on the home size and the distance:

• Moving a 1-bedroom home costs $1,500 to $5,800 for a move of 1,000 to 1,500 miles or $2,000 to $7,000 for a 2,500-mile move.
• Moving a 2- or 3-bedroom home costs $3,000 to $8,000 for a move of 1,000 to 1,500 miles or $4,500 to $9,500 for a 2,500-mile move.
• Moving a 4- or 5-bedroom home costs $5,000 to $17,500 for a move of 1,000 to 1,500 miles or $7,000 to $20,000 for a 2,500-mile move.

Other factors that impact the cost of a cross-country move include the season, moving insurance fees, optional packing and unpacking services, and whether you hire professional movers, rent a moving truck, or rent a moving container like U-Pack or PODS.

Most professional moving companies consider a long-distance move anything over 400 miles. This includes moves within the same state as well as interstate and cross-country moves.

A long-distance moving company takes 3 to 21 days to move your belongings from the first location to the destination. The time it takes to move your items across the country depends on the home size and amount of belongings, distance, weather conditions, and traffic.

The expected timeframe for a long-distance move is:

• 3 to 10 days to move 400 to 800 miles
• 4 to 12 days to move 800 to 1,200 miles
• 5 to 15 days to move 1,200 to 1,700 miles
• 6 to 20 days to move 1,700 to 2,400 miles
• 7 to 21 days to move 2,400 to 3,300 miles

Another factor impacting the timeframe is whether the company combines your shipment with other customers' shipments, which adds extra stops for pickups and deliveries along the way. Ask the moving company if your shipment will be part of a "shared load" arrangement.

Moving high-quality furniture and appliances cross-country is typically cheaper than buying new items. Smaller and less-valuable items may cost less to replace than to ship or move across the country.

Keep these factors in mind when deciding if you should move your furniture across the country:

• The item's monetary value
• The item's current condition
• Whether the item has sentimental value
• Whether the item is a family heirloom
• How long ago you purchased the item
• Whether or not the item still fits your personal design style
• How much it would cost to replace the item

Tip long-distance movers $5 to $10 per hour or $40 to $80 per person per day. Your cross-country move may be handled by two separate moving crews—one crew that loads your belongings into the truck at the original location and another that unloads them at the destination. Tip each crew separately. If the driver who transports your belongings is not part of the crew that loads or unloads the truck, remember to tip them separately as well.