California has a lot to offer its residents: beautiful people and beaches, famous attractions, and yearlong sunshine. It’s no wonder people pay a premium to live there (overall, California has the fourth-highest cost of living, behind Hawaii, Washington D.C., and New York).

But how much does moving and living in California cost? Below are moving and price of living costs based on thousands of moves booked through HireAHelper and their affiliates*.

California Moving Costs in 2021

Avg. Cost of a California Move (Labor-only) – $465

Avg. Cost of a California Move (Movers + Truck) – $949

Avg. Cost of a Long-Distance Move w/ CA Destination – $5,600 

The average cost of a cross-country move to California is $5,600 according to Unpakt. A long-distance move to California varies wildly in cost, measured by both distance and size of move. You can expect anywhere between $2,000 from a state over, to over $10,000 to move multiple bedrooms from New York City to California. (See how much we can save you.)

Avg. Time and Distance of a California Move – 3 Hours

Avg. Distance of a California Move – 58 Miles

The average length of time of a move that features an origin, destination, or both within California is three hours, while the average distance traveled is just under 58 miles. (Most moves are local.)

How Do These Figures Compare to Other States?

$67 higher, on avg.

The average cost of Californian moving labor services is higher by $67.17, compared to the U.S. as a whole.

Across all move types and services, it costs $397.83 to move locally anywhere within the country, on average.

The national average timeframe for moving is also three hours, and items are transported an average of 36 miles. What service you order for your move makes a difference, though.

The Current State of Moving to California in 2021

The previous year (2020) was a big one for moving, thanks in large part to COVID-19. Last year, a quarter of Americans who moved did so because of the pandemic.

With massive business shutdowns, millions of Americans found themselves out of work. In California alone, 2.7 million jobs were wiped out between March and April of 2020. That meant people downsized their living situations to account for decreased income and to absorb new pandemic-era expenses. According to one HireAHelper poll, about 35% of people in the U.S. who moved due to the pandemic cited financial hardship as their main reason for moving.

Millions of people also shifted to remote work—many of whom also had to juggle childcare and remote learning on top of their jobs. While this came with new financial challenges, it also presented the newfound flexibility to move away from major cities where physical offices were located to lower cost-of-living towns, which negatively impacted California’s typical business appeal.

Not too surprisingly, California lost more residents than it gained last year. That’s likely due to its higher tax burden and cost of living in general. Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose were the cities that lost the most residents in California. This is not a coincidence; they’re also among the cities with the highest costs of living—not just in California, but the whole country.

In San Francisco, for instance, median home prices are above $1.4 million. A family of four would need $111,136 in household income just to get by.

More 2021 California Moving Stats

Avg. Cost of a Local California Move, by Moving Service

Given multiple moving options available to you, there are many pros and cons to each, including the price. The average California moving service costs in 2021 were as follows:

Transportation Type	Avg. Labor Cost	Avg. Transportation Cost	Total Cost
Container	$461	$2,762	$3,223
Truck	$478	$345	$823
Freight Trailer	$574	$1,500*	$2,074**

**Expressed as a national average, as state-specific data is not available.

Avg. Cost of Labor-Only Moving Services in California by Job Type

Hiring labor-only saves people money, but which end of the move you hire for statistically makes a difference. The average cost of moving services by job type versus the U.S. average is as follows:

	U.S. Average	CA Average
Moving on-site only	$309	$328
Moves with only unloading help	$343	$451
Moves with only loading help	$396	$461
Full move w/ both loading and unloading booked together	$573	$727

Least Expensive Long-Distance Move (50+ Miles) in California by Origin/Destination* City (Avg.) 

City	Average Move Cost
Chula Vista, CA	$516
Burbank, CA	$531
Panorama City, CA	$637
Santa Ana, CA	$648
Vista, CA	$672

Most Expensive Long-Distance Move (50+ Miles) in California by Origin/Destination* City (Avg.)

City	Average Move Cost
San Jose, CA	$1,288
Sacramento, CA	$1,252
Fremont, CA	$1,129
Hayward, CA	$1,109
Long Beach, CA	$1,056

*California moves in the above graphs are calculated using booked moves where the origin city, destination city, or both reside within California and are at least 50 miles apart.

Which Cities in California Are Growing and Shrinking?

Most popular Californian city by population net-gain ratio – El Dorado Hills, CA

This is a rural town just over 20 miles east of the state’s capital, Sacramento, CA.

Least popular Californian city by population net-loss ratio – San Jose, CA

As a major tech hub, it makes sense that workers in the Bay Area, who now have the ability to work from home, might be migrating to states and cities with a cheaper cost of living.

Most Affordable Calfornia Cities (by Median Home Value and Household Income)

Here’s a closer look at how seven of the most affordable cities’ income and housing numbers compare to the state average, according to various sources, including Cost of Living Index and U.S. Census data available as of 2021*.

	Median Home Value	Median Household Income
Bakersfield	$214,600	$63,139
Chico	$286,700	$45,337
Clovis	$284,200	$68,682
Eureka	$249,300	$39,720
Oxnard	$390,000	$64,837
Redlands	$350,900	$68,956
Temecula	$394,600	$87,115
Vacaville	$354,600	$77,807
California Avg.	$578,267	$80,440

*Based on 2020 Census data expressed in 2019 dollars (2020-21 Census data releases in September 2021)

Cost of Moving WITHIN California (NorCal Versus SoCal)

Contrary to popular belief, not everything’s more expensive in SoCal versus NorCal. When comparing the cost of moving in Northern California versus Southern California, there’s virtually no statistical difference. Moving labor costs are roughly $443 in both regions, on average.

That said, Southern California is home to the most expensive city for moving in the entire country: Riverside. On average, state moves originating in Riverside totaled $538, more than anywhere else.

Least Expensive Moves in California by Origin City (Avg.)

City	Average Move Cost	Region
Oceanside, CA	$383	SoCal
Long Beach, CA	$395	SoCal
Huntington Beach, CA	$402	SoCal
Roseville, CA	$414	NorCal
San Diego, CA	$415	SoCal
Sacramento, CA	$423	NorCal
San Francisco, CA	$432	NorCal

Most Expensive Moves in California by Origin City (Avg.)

City	Average Move Cost	Region
Riverside, CA	$538	SoCal
Oakland, CA	$487	NorCal
Santa Monica, CA	$487	SoCal
Carlsbad, CA	$477	SoCal
San Jose, CA	$457	NorCal
Los Angeles, CA	$454	SoCal
Irvine, CA	$437	SoCal

What Are California’s 2021 Tax Rates?

The costs of moving to and within California aren’t just about hiring movers, buying packing supplies, or renting self storage. Your purchases are also subject to income tax, which average particularly high in California, as compared to other states. (And if you’re coming from another state, there could be higher long-term costs of living by moving to California in the form of income taxes.)

Below is a breakdown of California tax rates.

Sales taxes in California include:

• California sales tax rate: 7.25% (highest in the U.S.)
• Average local sales tax rate: 1.43%
• California gasoline tax rate: 60.6¢
• California cigarette tax rate: $2.87 (per 20-pack)

California income tax rates are as follows:

$1,000,000+$1,000,000+13.30%

Taxable Income
Single	Married Filing Jointly	Married Filing Sep.	Head of Household	Tax Rate
$0 – $8,809	$0 – $17,618	$0 – $8,809	$0 – $17,629	1.00%
$8,809 – $20,883	$17,618 – $41,766	$8,809 – $20,883	$17,629 – $41,768	2.00%
$20,883 – $32,960	$41,766 – $65,920	$20,883 – $32,960	$41,768 – $53,843	4.00%
$32,960 – $45,753	$65,920 – $91,506	$32,960 – $45,753	$53,843 – $66,636	6.00%
$45,753 – $57,824	$91,506 – $115,648	$45,753 – $57,824	$66,636 – $78,710	8.00%
$57,824 – $295,373	$115,648 – $590,746	$57,824 – $295,373	$78,710 – $401,705	9.30%
$295,373 – $354,445	$590,746 – $708,890	$295,373 – $354,445	$401,705 – $482,047	10.30%
$354,445 – $590,742	$708,890 – $1,181,484	$354,445 – $590,742	$482,047 – $803,410	11.30%
$590,742 – $999,999	$1,181,484 – $1,999,999	$590,742 – $999,999	$803,410 – $999,999	12.30%
$1,000,000+	$2,000,000+	$1,000,000+	13.30%

If you’re considering moving to California, carefully consider the city’s cost of living compared to your salary. Even if you’re moving for a job, it may not be necessary to relocate to one of the big, expensive cities listed above. There are plenty of smaller, more affordable California cities—which aren’t necessarily in the middle of nowhere—including Eureka, Oxnard, Redlands, and Temecula.

And, when you’re ready to book movers in California, use our moving calculator to understand what your own unique moving costs might be.

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*Unless otherwise indicated, the previous statistics are based on thousands of moves carried out by the halfway point of 2021. These data points are calculations of average and median costs of “labor-only” and/or “Mover + Truck” moving services booked through HireAHelper.com, as well as “Long Distance Move” moving services from MovingPlace.com, and may also include additional related moving data from industry partners and affiliates collected between 2020 and 2021.

Illustrations by Naomi Ann Clarke