Guides
Moving between states, explained
Written against the same public federal data the calculator runs on, so the numbers in them are the numbers on the site.
What it costs
The costs of moving, and the ones people forget to count.
The moving costs people forget to budget for
A quote covers the truck. It does not cover deposits, registration, the week you cannot work, or what does not survive the trip. Here is the rest of the list.
What does it cost to move to another state?
The truck is the part people price and the smallest part of the answer. Here is what an interstate move actually costs, and the three numbers that decide it.
Taxes
Income, property and sales tax, and how they interact when you move.
The local income taxes nobody counts when they compare states
State income tax is not the whole bill. In several states a city or county takes its own cut, and it never appears in a state-versus-state comparison.
What a higher sales tax actually costs you in a year
Less than the headline rate suggests, because most states exempt groceries and nearly all exempt services. Here is the arithmetic on a normal budget.
Does moving to a no-income-tax state actually save you money?
Sometimes, and by less than people expect. Every state raises the money somewhere, and the ones without an income tax lean on property and sales tax instead.
Do you pay income tax in two states the year you move?
Usually yes, and usually not twice on the same money. Part-year returns split the year between the two states, and the date you moved decides how.
Housing
Renting and buying in a place you do not live yet.
What a state average hides about where you are moving
The gap between a metro and its own state is often larger than the gap between two states, which is why a statewide median can describe nowhere you would live.
Planning the move
Timing, sequencing and the parts of a move you can control.
When is the cheapest time of year to move?
Late autumn through winter, midweek, away from month-end. The discount is larger than people expect, and it takes less flexibility than they expect to get it.
The first 30 days after moving to a new state
Most of what has a deadline attached happens in the first month, and most of it is easy to miss while you are still unpacking. Here is the order to do it in.
How to spot a moving scam before you book
The pattern is consistent: a quote too good to be true, no survey, a large deposit, and a price that changes once your possessions are on the truck.
How to actually choose between two states
Most people compare the wrong things in the wrong order. Here is a sequence that gets to a decision, and the three numbers that do most of the work.
Work and pay
What jobs pay in one place versus another.
Does your salary follow you when you move states?
Sometimes, and it is the question that decides whether a move works. Local pay, remote pay and location-adjusted pay are three different answers.
Does your professional license move with you?
Often not, and the delay is the problem rather than the fee. Some professions transfer in days through a compact; others start again from the beginning.