How much does it cost to move from New York to California?

We moved from Rochester, NY to Mountain View, California in 2016. Here is how we did it and how much it costs. TLDR; $7000.

Some Background

At the ripe old age of 22, my husband and I packed up our two cats and moved across the country to Silicon Valley. It was an awesome experience and thankfully we had an employer footing the bill for our move. We kept track of every moving related transaction and have documented it here for your enjoyment.

Moving your possessions

To move our possessions we used U-boxes from U-Haul. We have actually used U-boxes for moving twice now and it was in general a pretty good experience. There are several different “pod” style moving companies, but we found U-Haul to be the cheapest.

We were packing up a one bedroom apartment so we used 2 U-boxes. U-Haul allows you to book and have delivered one extra box than you think you will use (so in our case, 3) free of charge. This way if you accidentally run out of room you are not up a creek. But you do have to pay more to get that extra box shipped if you end up using it.

To get our two boxes shipped to CA, we paid ~$3,000 (with a $358.82 deposit). The price for shipping U-boxes changes every day on their website. I learned this the hard way. I recommend giving yourself plenty of time and checking the website pricing everyday for a week for the same trip. Then you can continue to check after that until you see a price that is lower or around the lowest price you saw in the first week. They will not honor older prices if you did not book (even if you have a screenshot. Speaking from experience. Lol.)

Once all our items were packed in boxes in our apartment, we carried the boxes and furniture from our apartment into the U-Boxes ourselves. This was a mistake, but we had a first floor apartment so we thought we could do it. I would definitely hire movers for the loading, it is not too expensive. We did hire movers for moving things into our California apartment because we were on the 2nd floor and there was no elevator. We hired our movers through U-Haul’s Moving Help and were pleased with the results. I would highly recommend getting professionals to move your stuff. They are way better at fitting things into the boxes to maximize your space, and they are way faster than you and 15 of your friends. We hired two guys for two hours. They did amazing. You also have to buy your own locks for the U-Boxes while they travel. We got Master Locks; something like this amazon link.

Moving your bodies

We flew Delta from Rochester (ROC) to San Jose (SJC). We also had to check some extra baggage and pay for 2 cats to fly with us in the plane under the seat in front of us. The cat carriers actually cost about $30 each but we had a gift card. We got trip insurance because I was nervous about the flight, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There is very little that is actually covered by a travel insurance policy except for like unexpectedly being arrested or so sick you cannot travel. Don’t forget the airport snacks!

Moving your vehicles

We shipped our cars! The car shipping industry is pretty under developed but make sure you get a quote and reservation early to avoid being overcharged. This takes about 2 weeks for them to drive your car across the country. (They don’t actually put miles on your car, it is loaded onto a big truck). You can also put things in your trunk. We shipped both of the cars we owned, which in hindsight was a mistake. You barely need 1 car to live in a city, let alone two. Coming from an area with a much smaller public transportation system, I could not fathom living without a car for both of us.

Preparing your new home

We were moving into a new apartment and we had gotten rid of a lot of furniture before moving. So we spent A LOT at IKEA getting our new apartment prepared. This is completely up to you how much you spend here.

DMV Fees

When you arrive in CA or your new state of residence, you will need new drivers licenses, license plates, and car registrations. Unfortunately the above is all I have documented in terms of paid transactions for this part of the move. We probably paid some with cash or check. I looked up online the cost of a Class C California license and it is $36. I also looked up the cost of registering a new car in Santa Clara county today, and that is below. So that brings us to a total of $514, but its possible things were cheaper a few years ago when we actually moved.

Forwarding your mail

You can sign up for mail forwarding with the US Postal Service online for $1 per name. You can sign up for free if you actually go in to a post office but who does that.

Taxes

You used to be able to deduct moving expenses from your federal taxes, but that is no longer the case as of 2019. However, if you or a member of your household is in the military you can still do this.

Total

In total, these amounts come to $7,022.15. We moved in the summer months, which may have helped cut down our costs. If you count the amount we spent on IKEA furniture, the total is $8,977.54. If I was doing it again, I would sell both cars before moving and save myself ~$2,500.