Moving is an exciting time to switch up your surroundings and immerse yourself in a new community. However, it also comes with quite a bit of stress. Sorting out the logistics of a move can be a real challenge — especially if you’re embarking on a long-distance or international move.
Working with a professional moving company can take some of that stress off of your plate. Expertise compared 17 of the top moving companies to determine the best moving companies of 2023. Our picks facilitate all types of moves, offer additional services like packing and auto transport, and receive high customer satisfaction ratings from third-party institutions.
Read on to learn about the ten companies we determine to be the best in the moving industry.
Beginning with a list of 17 of the top moving companies, we analyzed each company based on the following criteria:
Reputation
Quote process
States serviced
Services offered (local, long-distance, or international moves)
Additional services (packing/unpacking, storage, loading/unloading)
Auto transport
Cancellation policy
Deposit amount
Jump to our methodology section at the bottom of the article for a more detailed explanation of our scoring process.
Allied Van Lines and North American Van Lines tied for first place in our best moving company list.
The two companies offer the same moving services, are available nationwide, receive high marks from the Better Business Bureau, offer vehicle shipping, and don’t require a deposit, which led to a tie of 90 points out of 100 in our scoring methodology.
Read more about each company below.
Why we chose Allied Van Lines: With over 90 years of experience, Allied Van Lines helps with local, interstate, and international moves of all sizes. The company specializes in both household moves and corporate relocations.
Allied offers a robust variety of storage options, making it an ideal choice if you need short-term storage for a few months or long-term storage if you’re moving to a new country and can’t take everything with you. As an additional perk, Allied offers climate-controlled storage units and will handle loading and unloading items in and out of storage for you.
While most companies offer general quotes online and require a follow-up phone call or home tour to solidify the estimate, Allied speeds up the process with virtual quotes. The company will send you a chat link, and a rep will ask you to walk through your home to show them your belongings. A mover will still need to come to your home for a binding estimate, but the tour option gives you a quick and more detailed estimate to help you budget for moving costs.
Allied also offers auto shipping for nearly any vehicle you can think of, including cars, trucks, SUVs, RVs, boats, antique cars, snowmobiles, and jet skis. Rather than outsourcing this service to another car shipping company, Allied uses its own trucks and movers to transport your vehicle from one location to another.
Why we chose North American Van Lines: North American Van Lines has over 500 agent locations across the United States and specializes in local, long-distance, and international moves.
NAVL lets homeowners pick and choose the services that work for them and their wallets. If you prefer to save money and pack up your own belongings, NAVL offers a fragile-only packing service to ensure your breakables and high-value items get protected in transit. The company also supports homeowners who want to DIY the packing process with packing tips, calculators, and supplies for sale.
Homeowners can plan their moving budget with peace of mind knowing NAVL offers “Bottom Line Pricing,” which guarantees the total cost of your move will not exceed the moving quote provided. The company also offers “Not-To-Exceed Pricing,” which allows that your final cost may be lower than the moving estimate but will not exceed it.
NAVL offers exceptional tracking capabilities to check the progress of your shipment. Using the company’s WorldTrac® satellite technology and a few bits of personal information, you can instantly track the location of your goods. And if you run into an issue with tracking or anything else, NAVL’s customer service team is available to help 24/7.
Why we chose Mayflower: Mayflower has been coordinating local, long-distance, and international moves for nearly 100 years. The company offers a slew of additional services including electronics packing and installation, custom crating, cleaning, and debris removal to make your move a seamless experience.
Mayflower offers flexibility for full-service moves with three different moving packages. All packages include loading, unloading, and transportation of items, disassembly and reassembly of bed frames, and full value protection.
Option 1, $225: Includes $5,000 additional value protection, identity theft protection, and claims assist.
Option 2, $425: Includes everything in Option 1 plus $25,000 additional value protection, debris removal, and additional delay claim payment.
Option 3, $725: Includes everything in Option 1 plus $25,000 additional value protection, basic wall mount and disassembly for up to two TVs, and additional delay claim payment.
If you’d like to tack on additional services like packing, unpacking, storage, or debris removal, they will add it to the total cost of your move.
For those looking to move a small abode (like a studio apartment or small home), Mayflower’s Snapmoves program may be a perfect fit. This program allows customers to get a quick, easy-to-understand quote and guaranteed move dates, disassembly and reassembly of furniture, and any add-on services.
Speaking of full-value protection, Mayflower offers this moving protection standard with any move. If your items if they’re accidentally damaged or lost, Mayflower will compensate you for the total value. This is a step up from the minimum liability valuation plan that only offers basic household item protection.
Why we chose United Van Lines: Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United Van Lines works with a network of more than 500 moving companies to facilitate local, long-distance, and international moves.
UVL specializes in international shipping and storage solutions for employees moving overseas for work. With shipping partners in 150 countries and headquarters in Asia, North America, and Europe, you can rest assured that should any issues arise, there will be reps to help you regardless of your new time zone. UVL also assigns you a special international move coordinator to ensure you know all the details of what is and isn’t allowed through customs in your new country.
Moving is generally a pain, but so is setting up a home theater or PC network in your new home. United Van Lines offers tech services as an add-on option that disassembles and sets up the TV and stereo elements of your home theater as well as your computer and computer network so you can focus on the rest of your moving to-do list.
For those that want to handle some of the packing process, UVL allows you to select a few items for the pros to pack. More items equals a higher cost, so you can save delicate or breakable items for the UVL team to tackle.
Why we chose JK Moving Services: Established in 1079, JK Moving Services facilitates long-distance, international, and interstate moving and storage services. The company also specializes in corporate relocations and government moves.
JK Moving takes pride in training and vetting its employees. The company ensures that all movers conduct a drug test and background check, receive extensive training before their first move, and participate in ongoing training to keep safety at the forefront during moves.
Moving — especially for long-distances or internationally — gets expensive. JK Moving offers low-interest financing with Enhancify. Once you submit an application, you can see your rates from thousands of lenders. Your total moving cost will be turned into an affordable monthly payment.
JK allows homeowners to customize their moves by offering a la carte services so you pay for exactly what you need and nothing more. For those that prefer to handle most of the moving process themself, JK also provides free moving resources and sells moving supplies.
If you’re planning a local move, keep in mind that JK Moving only offers this service in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, D.C. If you are moving within the same town, city, or region outside of these three states, we recommend looking at other moving companies on this list.
Why we chose International Van Lines: Established in 2000, International Van Lines handles over 20,000 moves a year and can navigate national and international moves to and from 150 countries.
One thing that sets IVL apart from other movers is its transparent pricing. The company breaks down their pricing methodology and offers a variety of pricing examples for homes of varying sizes to help you get an idea of cost before you even request a quote. IVL also lists out additional costs like stairs, long carry, and bulky items.
For families looking to move seniors, IVL offers an impressive 15% discount on the total cost of the move. That may not seem like much, but if it’s a long-distance move costing around $4,000, that 15% discount could save you $600.
One thing to note about IVL is that the company may broker out a move to a third party company. While some of these outsourced moves receive mixed reviews on quality and communication, this process enables IVL to help homeowners move nationwide and worldwide.
Why we chose Atlas Van Lines: Founded in 1948, Atlas Van Lines is an alliance of moving and storage companies across the U.S. and Canada, comprising 430 companies and partners in 17 additional countries. The company offers a wide range of moving services from local to international moves, military moves, corporate relocations, and auto transport.
AAA members receive special perks when choosing Atlas Van Lines as their moving company. Atlas provides full-value protection on household goods for AAA members at no extra charge, saving you an average of $600 per move. AAA members can then pocket those savings or use the money to pay for add-on services like packing or moving specialty items.
While Atlas specializes in larger moves, the company’s SimpliCity service handles small moves from an apartment, condo, or small home. This option allows for quick, date-specific moves to accommodate your schedule.
Atlas has moved a slew of specialty items, making them a great choice for homeowners looking to move bulky or delicate items. The company has moved everything from rocket ship-shaped swing sets to an ice cream truck and an animatronic King Kong. Atlas also offers boat, motorcycle, and auto transport.
Why we chose PODS Moving & Storage: PODS — which stands for Portable On Demand Storage — rents out moving containers and lets customers pack and load their belongings themselves. When it’s ready to be moved, PODS picks up the container and moves it to your new home.
PODS allows customers flexibility to pack and move on their own terms. Movers can rent their containers for a month at a time, which gives them the chance to take their time sorting through and packing up their belongings. PODS also offers flexible change or cancellation policies so you’re not on the hook for an expensive move if circumstances change.
Moving across the country can be a logistical nightmare, but so can moving within a big city. Rather than renting a moving container, a driver arrives at a scheduled time and stays for a four-hour window as the customer loads or unloads their items. Customers don’t have to worry about navigating a large moving truck through busy or narrow streets and the PODS driver stays on-site to prevent theft or traffic tickets.
However, PODS is not available nationwide. The moving service is currently unavailable in Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. PODS is also not an ideal solution if you want a full-service mover that will pack, load, unload, and unpack for you.
Why we chose 1-800-PACK-RAT: 1-800-PACK-RAT is an ideal solution for those looking to pack and load their belongings on their own. The company will drop off a mobile storage container for you to pack. When the container is ready to move, a driver will return and take your items to your new home.
The company sets itself apart from other mobile storage container companies by offering all-steel containers. This type of container is weatherproof, which means you won’t have to worry about moisture or rodents damaging your items, no matter how long they’re in storage.
1-800-PACK-RAT’s containers aren’t just for moving. You can use the containers as temporary storage during a renovation or if you’re moving overseas for a few months. The company allows you to rent containers on a monthly basis and store the containers at your home — which isn’t always an option with other storage companies. If you opt to store your container at a 1-800-PACK-RAT storage facility, you can rest assured knowing your items are protected by 24/7 surveillance and climate-controlled storage.
Keep in mind that 1-800-PACK-RAT isn’t available nationwide. You must live within 100 miles of a Pack Rat facility to be eligible for moving or storage. If you live in a rural area or smaller city, you may need to look elsewhere.
Why we chose Safeway Moving Inc.: Founded in 1992, Safeway Moving Inc. is a veteran-owned company specializing in local, long-distance, and international moves.
To prevent surprise fees, Safeway offers binding estimates, meaning the quote you receive is the price you will pay as long as nothing about your move is changed at the last minute.
Safeway also has a meet-or-beat price policy. If another mover quotes you at a lower rate than Safeway did, you can show the competitor’s quote to a Safeway rep and the company will lower its own price to match or beat the competitor’s price.
There are two limitations to the meet-or-beat policy to keep in mind:
The competitor has to be reputable and in business for at least five years.
The competitor’s rate has to be based on the exact same inventory you gave Safeway.
For seniors looking to embark on a long-distance move, Safeway provides superior service to help make the process as smooth as possible. Safeway moving specialists receive specific training to help seniors with their move and minimize stress along the way. You’ll be paired with a dedicated representative who will help create a detailed relocation plan with a binding estimate to avoid surprise fees and work within your timeline.
Safeway has a focus on giving back to the community by donating a portion of your move cost to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. After your move is complete, the company will ask you how much (up to $100) of your payment you want the company to donate to St. Jude’s.
Moving companies tend to offer a variety of services ranging from local to international moves. Below, we outline common types of services moving companies offer to help you determine which is right for you.
Self-service movers: Generally, a self-service move requires the homeowner to pack and load their belongings and the moving company will then transport your belongings to their destination.
Full-service movers: If you opt for a full-service move, the company will pack, load, transport, unload, and unpack your belongings into your new home.
Local movers: This type of service is meant for local moves within the same state that are within a radius of 100 miles.
Long-distance movers: This type of service is for moves that exceed a radius of 100 miles.
Interstate movers: Interstate moves are those that transport your belongings over state lines.
International movers: This type of service is meant for those moving from one country to another and often includes shipping your items by sea or air.
Specialty movers: If you have large or delicate items to move such as a piano, swingset, or delicate antiques, specialty movers can provide expert packing and crating services to ensure your items get moved without damage.
Car shipping companies: If you need to transport your vehicle (whether that’s a car, motorcycle, or boat), car shipping companies can help accommodate this type of move.
Moving containers: Moving containers offer a portable storage unit for you to store your belongings during a move or as you wait for a new home to become available.
First and foremost, you should sort through moving companies to ensure they offer the services you need. If you’re moving a town away in the same state, focus on movers that offer local moving services.
From there, you can narrow down your list of potential movers by:
Checking DOT numbers: This can help ensure the company you’re looking at is licensed and accredited and has both a Motor Carrier (MC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) license number if you’re crossing state lines.
Getting multiple cost estimates: We recommend getting at least three moving cost estimates to help you compare which company offers you the best price and the best services.
Talking directly with the moving company: Websites tend to provide quite a lot of information, but talking with a company representative can be a great opportunity to ask about the fine print and potential ways to save on your move.
Looking up customer satisfaction ratings: Look up customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot to get a sense of other’s experiences working with the company.
Moving can be a challenge no matter if you live in a one-bedroom apartment or a five-bedroom home. Professional moving companies have the advantage of being experts in all things packing, loading, and transporting your belongings.
Moving companies can help save you time and stress by handling the least-enjoyable aspects of moving themselves. Their employees are trained on proper lifting and moving techniques to prevent injury and efficiently move items faster than you likely would be able to.
Last but not least, professional movers are knowledgeable in how to pack up and transport specialty items like your favorite paintings, your child’s swing set, or your grand piano. Trusting these items to professionals ensures your belongings arrive safe and sound.
Below, we answer some of the commonly asked questions about moving companies.
Moving to a new home or city is a huge life change. You want to work with an experienced and trusted mover to ensure your belongings are transported safely, on time, and at a price that works for your budget.
Both Allied Van Lines and North American Van Lines provide a full-spectrum of moving services, from local to international. They also offer additional services like packing and unpacking, loading and unloading, and packing specialty items.
While we recommend all of the companies on this list, we recommend gathering at least three quotes to compare price and the fine print before deciding on the right moving company for you.
Beginning with a list of 17 moving companies, we evaluated each company based on a variety of criteria, including:
Reputation: We read customer reviews and compared Better Business Bureau ratings for each company. Those with a high BBB rating scored better in this category.
Quote process: We analyzed how each company approaches the quote process. We awarded more points to companies that offer a convenient quote process with instant online quotes and virtual home tours.
States serviced: Companies that serviced a larger number of U.S. states scored higher in this category.
Services offered: We analyzed the type of moving services offered by each company and awarded more points to those that offer local, interstate, and international moving services.
Additional services: We gathered information on additional services offered by each company. Those that offered a greater number of services (such as packing and unpacking, storage, and loading and unloading) scored higher in this category.
Auto transport: We awarded points to companies that offer auto transport services.
Cancellation policy: We awarded points to companies that offered a flexible cancellation policy without charging customers extra should circumstances change.
Deposit: We awarded companies the highest number of points in this category if they do not require a deposit.
After assigning scores to each company for the above categories, we assigned star ratings (one star to five stars). From there, we sorted our list based on the highest score to the lowest score.
Expertise.com StaffAuthor
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