Boston to Chicago Movers, Own Trucks

From $2,350 for a Boston studio to $8,550 for a four-bedroom house, Move & Care moves homes 990 road miles to Chicago in its own trucks. One flat rate covers the trip, and we are the carrier, not a broker.

Inside that figure: a crew at each end, our truck, the fuel and every toll from the Mass Pike to the Chicago Skyway, and basic coverage of 60 cents per pound per article. Packing time, boxes, Full Value Protection and a piano ($160 for an upright) are billed on top. If anything comes off the truck damaged, the crew writes it on a Damage Report before leaving.

A one-bedroom apartment runs $2,500 to $5,150, and a three-bedroom house $4,850 to $7,950. Your price starts on the form above with both ZIP codes, then the home size and the date. A studio or an average home needs no visit; a large house gets a walkthrough on video or in person. Check our federal record before you book: USDOT 3212621 and MC-1018431.

Delivery is planned for 3 to 6 days after loading, and our Chicago team, based in Des Plaines, can take the unloading. Once you live there, a car you use in the city needs a city sticker within 30 days of move-in (City Clerk). You reserve the curb, the service elevator and the loading dock, and our Chicago page lists the city's curb rules. Send us the building's insurance wording, and our Certificate of Insurance will match it.

Four Move and Care movers lined up in front of a branded moving truck

Interstate carrierUSDOT #3212621, MC #1018431
One flat rateFuel, tolls and mileage inside it
Own trucks and crewsNo broker hands your move on
Basic coverage60 cents per pound per article

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What a Boston to Chicago move costs

Find your home size below. Your own figure moves with the item list, the dates and how far the crew carries at each building.

Example prices. Your price comes from your item list and dates.

Shared truck, flexible datesOwn truck, peak season

Size of moveFlat-rate rangeDelivery

Studio $2,350 to $3,700 3 to 6 days

1-bedroom apartment $2,500 to $5,150 3 to 6 days

2-bedroom apartment $3,550 to $5,650 3 to 6 days

3-bedroom apartment $3,700 to $7,350 3 to 6 days

2-bedroom house $3,700 to $7,350 3 to 6 days

3-bedroom house $4,850 to $7,950 3 to 6 days

4-bedroom house $5,300 to $8,550 3 to 6 days

Every range includes the $50 equipment charge.

Boston to Chicago at a glance

990 mi Distance I-90, I-84 and I-81, then I-80 west
3 to 6 days Delivery window After the truck is loaded
2 Driving days About 15 hours behind the wheel
30 days Chicago city sticker From the day you move in

What the flat rate covers

Know what is inside the price before you compare estimates.

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Included in your flat rate

Your crew loads in Boston and unloads in Chicago. Furniture is padded and wrapped for a long haul, then placed room by room at the new address.

Mention stairs, elevators and long walks to the truck when you book.

Included in your flat rate

The 990 miles are priced into the rate. Fuel and tolls do not show up as extra lines on the bill.

The rate is set from your inventory before the truck is booked.

Move and Care office staff planning moves at their desks

Included in your flat rate

Move & Care is the carrier on your move, so the company that gives you the estimate is the company that loads your home.

Check USDOT 3212621 on the FMCSA site before you book.

Two Move and Care movers wrapping a dresser in a moving blanket

Included in your flat rate

Furniture that has to come apart is taken apart in Boston and put back together in Chicago.

List beds, desks and large tables in your inventory.

Move and Care mover putting a chair back together

Included in your flat rate

Basic released-value protection is included. It pays 60 cents per pound per article, so a 40-pound TV is capped at $24.

Ask about Full Value Protection for anything valuable.

Priced separately

Packing labor (billed hourly), packing materials, and Full Value Protection.

Explore packing options

Moving services from Boston to Chicago

All services

Long-distance movingBoston to Chicago in our own trucks, on one flat rate agreed before loading day. Packing in BostonPackers paid by the hour in the days before loading; boxes and tape are billed as materials. Storage between leasesWhen the Chicago lease starts after the Boston one ends, the load waits in storage and goes out later. Piano movingUprights and baby grands ride for a set extra charge, $160 and $240; list the piano before we price the move. Help at the Chicago endOur Chicago team, based in Des Plaines, can unload the truck or send a local helper.

Know your Chicago price before you book.One flat rate from your inventory, delivery window included.

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Boston to Chicago route guide

Delivery day in Chicago, two driving days west, and the car paperwork in both states.

On this page

Delivery day in Chicago
Two driving days west
Your car: the Boston excise and the Chicago sticker
Leaving Boston

Delivery day in Chicago

A Chicago delivery can stall on a phone call nobody made: the freight elevator is taken by another tenant, or the building's move hours end before the truck is empty. Call your new building's manager once your move date is set. Ask when moves are allowed, which door the crew should use, and what the manager needs on a Certificate of Insurance; forward that wording to us, and the certificate will carry it. Booking the elevator and the curb stays with you, since we do not file permits or put up signs. Our Chicago page explains the city's curb options, the alley rules and the winter bans, and our Chicago team, based in Des Plaines, can take the unloading.

Two driving days west

From Boston, the Mass Pike carries the truck west to Sturbridge and I-84, which runs through Connecticut and across New York toward Scranton. Thirty-five miles of I-81 lead south to I-80, and I-80 is most of the trip: 652 miles across Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, the same stretch as our Boston to Minneapolis route. The Chicago Skyway and the Dan Ryan Expressway finish it. The 990 miles take about 15 hours of driving. Federal rules cap a driver at 11 hours a day, so that is two days on the road, with the fuel and the tolls priced into the flat rate from the start.

Loading in Boston: each piece padded, beds and tables taken apart only when a doorway needs it, the inventory signed.
Two days west, most of them on I-80.
3 to 6 days after loading, the Chicago crew can unload: furniture set in the rooms you pick, anything taken apart put back, and any harm written on a Damage Report on the spot.

Your car: the Boston excise and the Chicago sticker

Moving the car to Illinois touches two tax offices. Massachusetts bills its excise for the full calendar year, but your city or town's assessors can abate it for the months left once you have moved, registered the car in the new state and canceled the Massachusetts registration. The cut starts the month after the last of those steps (Department of Revenue guide). In Chicago, every resident who uses a car in the city needs a city vehicle sticker, wherever the car is registered, and you have 30 days from move-in to buy one (City Clerk). Keep the lease or the deed that shows your move-in date: sent with the order, it spares you the late fee and limits the charge to the months you live there (documents the Clerk accepts).

Leaving Boston

The Boston side needs the same groundwork on loading morning: the curb, the elevator and the dock booked by you, and the building's insurance wording sent to us. Our pricing page shows how the flat rate comes from your item list, and our Boston office takes the questions before you book.

Questions about moving Boston to Chicago

Didn't see your question? Call (781) 790-4609, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days.

$2,350 for a studio up to $8,550 for a four-bedroom house, one flat rate.

Studios start at $2,350 and the largest homes reach $8,550; the bars above show every size between. Your own figure depends on how much you own, the move date and the walk from truck to door at both buildings. A shared truck going to Chicago can lower it, if your dates are flexible and a truck with room is available; otherwise your things ride by themselves. Paying cash takes 5% off. Long-distance pricing is explained on our pricing page.

Two driving days; delivery is planned for 3 to 6 days after loading.

Plan on 3 to 6 days after loading. Driving takes about 15 hours, which a driver splits across two days because federal rules allow 11 hours of driving a day. The spare days absorb the loading day, weather on I-80 and the elevator schedule at your new building.

Yes, with its own flat rate, depending on availability.

Yes. A move that starts in Chicago and ends in Boston gets its own flat rate from your item list, and the dates depend on availability. Start with the form above, putting the Chicago ZIP code first.

Our Chicago team in Des Plaines can do it.

Our Chicago team, based in Des Plaines, can unload the truck or send a local helper. You book the curb, the service elevator and the dock at the new address; the rules for the curb are on our Chicago page. Tell us early if the building limits move hours, so the delivery day fits them.

Gasoline and propane containers, explosives, flammable liquids and firearms.

Our trucks carry no gasoline or propane containers, no explosives and no flammable liquids such as paint thinner, and we do not take firearms. Drain the mower and the snow blower before loading day, leave grill tanks behind, and keep documents, medicine and jewelry in your own bag.

Within 30 days of your move-in date, if you use a car in the city.

Within 30 days of the day you move in. Every Chicago resident who uses a car in the city needs a city vehicle sticker, even with out-of-state plates, according to the City Clerk. Order it with your lease or deed showing the move-in date, and the Clerk waives the late fee and charges only from that month (accepted documents).

Yes, for the months left in the year once the car is registered in Illinois.

Yes. Register the car in Illinois, cancel the Massachusetts registration, and the excise for the rest of the calendar year can be abated, starting the month after the last step. The request goes to the assessors of the city or town that billed the car (Massachusetts Department of Revenue).

Cancel 2 weeks or more before loading day and the deposit is refunded.

Call our Boston office the day the lease date changes. A cancellation 2 weeks or more before loading day gets the deposit refunded. If our crew arrives and you are not able to move at the booked time, a minimum charge may be owed.