Moving to & from Texas

The FMCSA Mover Landscape in Texas

Texas has 8 interstate household-goods movers registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the state’s modeled average cost for a 2-bedroom move is $734 based on Bureau of Labor Statistics OES 2023 wage data blended with carrier-level data from the FMCSA SAFER registry. That statewide total is the full universe of carriers holding DOT numbers with TX address records, small one-truck operators and national van lines alike, all of whom must maintain active operating authority, carry the federally required cargo and liability insurance, and publish a USDOT number on every estimate they issue. In practice, however, only a subset of those movers actively compete for any single consumer’s business on a given week, because service area, authority type (HHG vs. general freight), and seasonal capacity all narrow the field substantially.

Among the sample of 8 Texas-registered carriers we display below, FMCSA safety ratings break down as 8 marked “Satisfactory,” 0 marked “Conditional,” and 0 listed without a published rating, a distribution consistent with national norms, where many smaller carriers have simply never been selected for a full compliance review by FMCSA investigators. Average time in service for this cohort is roughly 21 years, and 8 of the 8 listed carriers currently hold active Household Goods (HHG) authority on file, the specific FMCSA permission required to legally move personal belongings across state lines. The mean complaint rate for this sample is approximately 0.18 complaints per 1,000 shipments, measured against the FMCSA consumer complaint database.

Geography shapes both cost and availability. The top origin market tracked in our data for Texas is Houston, which generates a disproportionate share of outbound moving demand with Houston appearing among the leading inbound destinations. Before booking any interstate move to or from Texas, consumers should (1) confirm each mover’s DOT number at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov, (2) check that HHG authority is active rather than out-of-service, (3) request written proof of current cargo and liability insurance, and (4) review the mover’s complaint history and last safety rating date. The statewide average of $734 is a planning anchor, not a quote, because actual pricing depends on the specific route, season, access conditions, and binding-estimate structure negotiated with the carrier.