Report: Maine tops nation in moving costs
(The Center Square) – Moving costs for Maine households topped the nation last year, according to a new report, which blames record high inflation for the rising expenses.
The report by HireAHelper, a California-based moving marketplace website, found that Maine saw the biggest spike in moving costs with the average $525 per household – a more than 50% year-over-year increase.
Nationally, the cost of moving increased 15% over the past year – rising to an average of $427 per household, according to the report. That’s the highest level since January 2018.
The group, which analyzed the costs of 233,000 moves in the U.S. from January 2018 to May 2022, blamed 40-year high inflation, supply chain disruptions and other fiscal impacts.
“On the backdrop of high inflation, the ever-rising gas prices, and increases in costs of trucks and labor, moving costs are also rising to unprecedented levels,” the report’s authors wrote.
Gasoline costs have risen by 48.7% since May 2021, used car and truck prices are up 14.5%, while the cost of a new truck is nearly 8% higher than last year, according to the report.
Meanwhile, companies are paying their workers more with wages up by 4.8% year over year, the report noted.
Moving costs plummeted during the height of the pandemic, the report’s authors noted, but as vaccinations picked up in 2021, moving activity “resumed its typical levels and prices bounced back.”
Besides Maine, several states – including Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Idaho and Delaware – reported increases of 25% or higher over the past year, according to the report.
Only five states, including New Hampshire and Vermont, have seen decreases in the cost of moving over the past year.
HireAHelper, which offers movers advice on saving money, said it expects 2022 to be the most expensive year on record for moving, with average costs rising to $454 by August.
“Most likely, despite the already higher costs, moving is likely to get even more expensive as we get into the summer and the height of the moving season,” the group said. “Even though the average cost is likely to return to the $400-mark by year’s end, 2022 is projected to be the most expensive year for moving on record.”
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