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Houston to Dallas Movers

Houston to Dallas is 239 miles up I-45 — close enough that most households load in the morning and unload the next day, far enough that it is priced and crewed like a long-haul move rather than an hourly local job. Johnnie T. Melia Moving & Storage has run this lane out of Houston since 1969.

The same trained, full-time crew that wraps your furniture in Houston is the crew that carries it into your house in Dallas or Fort Worth. No day labor, no load transfer at a warehouse, no subcontracted driver you have never spoken to. TxDMV No. 0000005457, US DOT No. 436264, ATA ProMover, A+ with the BBB.

239miles, Houston to Dallas
via I-45
1–2days from load
to delivery
1969family-owned in
Houston since
4.8★from 258
Google reviews

This is an intrastate move. Houston to Dallas stays inside Texas, so it is regulated by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rather than by federal rules. Ask any mover you call for their TxDMV number, not just a US DOT number. Ours is TxDMV No. 0000005457 (US DOT No. 436264), and we are an ATA ProMover with an A+ BBB rating.

Johnnie T. Melia Moving & Storage moving truck used for long-distance Texas moves out of Houston Movers wrapping and packing household furniture in Houston before a long-distance move Residential Movers Residential Movers

Professional Movers from Houston to Dallas

The I-45 corridor is the busiest intercity lane in Texas, and it is the one thing about this move that works in your favour: 239 miles is a single driving shift, so your shipment does not sit in a warehouse waiting for a truck to fill. We load in Houston, the truck runs north, and in most cases it is at your Dallas address the next morning.

What we plan around is everything either side of the drive. Downtown Dallas and Uptown high-rises run freight elevators on reservation and most require a certificate of insurance filed with building management before the truck arrives. Plano, Frisco and McKinney HOAs restrict where a 53-foot trailer can sit, which sometimes means a shuttle. Fort Worth deliveries add another 35 miles past Dallas and change the schedule. We check all of it during the survey, before a number goes on paper.

On the Houston end we know the buildings. We load out of River Oaks and Memorial high-rises, Heights bungalows with no driveway, Katy and Sugar Land two-storeys, and Midtown apartments where the loading dock is shared with three other move-outs that weekend.

How Much Does It Cost to Move from Houston to Dallas?

Most 2–3 bedroom households moving Houston to Dallas land between $1,522 and $4,419 with a full-service mover. The spread is wide because the price is driven by shipment weight and access, not by mileage — two houses on the same street can differ by a thousand dollars because one has a driveway and the other has a third-floor walk-up.

Home size Full-service movers Moving container Rental truck
Studio or 1 bedroom$902 – $3,835$867 – $1,488$271 – $478
2 – 3 bedrooms$1,522 – $4,419$1,040 – $2,144$310 – $607
4+ bedrooms$2,102 – $6,082$1,397 – $2,541$360 – $685
What moves your number

Shipment weight first — everything else is secondary. Then access at both ends: stairs, long carries, freight-elevator windows, and whether a tractor-trailer can legally park at the address or has to shuttle in a smaller truck. Then packing, which is the single biggest line item people forget. Specialty pieces (piano, safe, art, oversized glass) are priced individually. And the date: summer and the last three days of any month book out first and price highest.

Binding vs. non-binding estimates

A non-binding estimate can move with the actual weight at delivery. A binding estimate cannot — the number you sign is the number you pay for the services listed on it. We will tell you which one you are looking at and what would change it. What we will not do is quote a Houston to Dallas move over the phone from a room count, because that is the number that gets revised upward on loading day.

These are typical 2026 market ranges for the Houston to Dallas route, not a quote from Johnnie T. Melia Moving & Storage. They are published here so you can sanity-check the numbers you are given elsewhere. Your own price depends on what actually goes on the truck, the access at both ends and the date you book. The only figure that means anything is a written estimate after a survey — call (713) 683-8585 or request one online.

Why Houston to Dallas Customers Choose JT Melia

Anyone can say they are licensed. These are the numbers you can look up before you book a Houston to Dallas move.

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TxDMV No. 0000005457

Houston to Dallas is an intrastate move, regulated by the Texas DMV. Verify our authority on the TxDMV site before you book — and verify whoever else you are calling.

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US DOT No. 436264

Registered for interstate moves as well, as an agent for National Van Lines. A broker who will not give you a DOT number is not a mover.

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Family-Owned Since 1969

Three generations in Houston, 55+ years on Texas roads. The company that quotes your move is the company that performs it.

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ATA ProMover & BBB A+

Certified by the American Trucking Associations ProMover program and rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.

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Trained, Full-Time Crews

Not day labor hired for the weekend. The same people load in Houston and unload in Dallas, which is why nothing gets handed off mid-route.

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4.8★ from 258 Reviews

Rated 4.8 out of 5 across 258 Google reviews from Houston households and businesses.

Our Houston to Dallas Moving Services

Everything on this list is performed by our own crews out of our own Houston facility. Pick the pieces you need — most Houston to Dallas moves combine two or three of them.

The core service: weight-and-distance pricing, a written estimate after a survey, one crew from load to delivery, and a guaranteed delivery window.

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Houses, townhomes and condos moving from the Houston metro to Dallas, Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs, with full furniture protection.

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High-rise and mid-rise moves on both ends, including freight-elevator reservations and certificates of insurance for Dallas and Uptown buildings.

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Full pack, partial pack or fragile-only. Professionally packed cartons are what survives 239 miles of interstate; supermarket boxes are what does not.

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Climate-controlled storage at our Houston facility when your Dallas closing date slips. Your shipment stays in our custody, not a third party warehouse.

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How Our Houston to Dallas Move Works

Three steps, and the first one is the one that determines whether the other two go to plan.

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Survey and Written Estimate

We walk the Houston property in person or by video, inventory what is actually moving, check the access at both ends, and put a written estimate in front of you. This is where a Houston to Dallas price becomes real instead of a phone guess.

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Pack and Load in Houston

Our crew pads and wraps furniture, packs whatever you have asked us to pack, inventories every item onto the bill of lading, and loads. Specialty pieces are crated before they go near the truck.

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Transit and Delivery

The truck runs I-45 with the same crew aboard. We deliver into your Dallas or Fort Worth address within the agreed window, place furniture room by room, reassemble what we took apart, and check the inventory off with you.

What You Should Get in Writing Before You Book

A Houston to Dallas move should never be booked off a number someone gave you over the phone in ninety seconds. Before you put a deposit down, you should be holding four things.

A written estimate that names the services included and says clearly whether it is binding or non-binding. An inventory — the list of what is actually going on the truck, which is what the estimate was built from. The mover’s TxDMV number, because this route is intrastate and TxDMV is the regulator that matters here. And a valuation election: the basic liability included by law is 60 cents per pound per article, which on a 50-pound television is $30. Full-value protection costs more and is worth reading properly before you decline it.

If a company will not give you those four things in writing, the problem is not that they are busy. Our estimates include all of it, and we will walk you through the valuation choice rather than letting you initial past it.

Where We Load and Where We Deliver

We load anywhere in the Houston metro and deliver across Dallas–Fort Worth. If your Houston neighbourhood has its own page, it is linked below — that page covers the parking, building and access detail specific to loading there.

Dallas–Fort Worth delivery

  • ●Dallas
  • ●Uptown
  • ●Plano
  • ●Frisco
  • ●Richardson
  • ●McKinney
  • ●Allen
  • ●Arlington
  • ●Fort Worth
  • ●Irving
  • ●Coppell
  • ●Flower Mound
  • ●Southlake
  • ●Garland
  • ●Grapevine
  • ●Rockwall

Houston vs Dallas: What Actually Changes

Most people moving up I-45 are doing it for work, and the money question is whether the raise survives the move. Broadly, Dallas costs a little more to live in and a lot less to get around.

Housing. Average home prices run roughly $303,000 in Dallas against $259,000 in Houston, and average rent about $1,774 against $1,549. That gap is the single biggest line in your new budget. It buys you a shorter commute and, in the northern suburbs, the school districts most transferring families are actually moving for.

Income and tax. Per-capita income is around $67,800 in Dallas versus $62,900 in Houston, and Dallas unemployment runs lower, near 3.6% against 4.1%. Sales tax is 8.25% in both, and there is no state income tax either way — so the comparison is genuinely just housing against salary.

Weather. Dallas is drier and colder. About 39 inches of rain a year against Houston’s 53, and winter lows near 36°F against 43°F. You will use a coat. You will also see the occasional inch of snow, which Houston essentially never gets, and North Texas ice storms close roads in a way Houston flooding does not.

Day to day. Dallas city proper is about 1.3 million people to Houston’s 2.3 million, and it is noticeably easier to drive — the street grid is more legible and there are more secondary routes when the highway backs up. Dallas also reports a lower crime index, 51.4 against 63.5.

Practical note for the move itself: if you are house-hunting in Dallas while still living in Houston, your closing dates will not line up neatly. That is what storage in transit is for, and it is cheaper to plan for it than to discover it two weeks out.

Pianos, Safes, Art and Anything That Cannot Be Replaced

A 239-mile interstate run puts different forces through your belongings than a cross-town move does — sustained highway vibration for three and a half hours rather than twenty minutes of stop-start. Items that survive a local move loose in a truck do not always survive this one.

We build custom crates in Houston for artwork, mirrors, marble, stone tops and anything with an irregular shape, and we move pianos and gun safes with the right equipment and a crew trained on them rather than four people and optimism. Electronics, chandeliers and antiques are packed in Houston rather than by you the night before.

If you are not sure whether something needs crating, say so at the survey. It costs far less to crate a piece than to claim on it.

Moving from Dallas to Houston?

We run this lane in both directions. Plenty of our I-45 work is Dallas, Plano, Frisco and Fort Worth households relocating down to Houston — often for energy, medical centre or port jobs — and the process is the same in reverse: survey at the Dallas property, written estimate, one crew from load to delivery, unload anywhere in the Houston metro.

The one difference worth knowing is on our end rather than yours. Our facility, our storage and our crews are in Houston, so on a southbound move you are being delivered to by the people who are based where you are going. If your Houston closing slips, your shipment goes into our own climate-controlled warehouse rather than a partner’s.

Call (713) 683-8585 and tell us it is Dallas to Houston — the survey works exactly the same way.

What Houston to Dallas Customers Say

4.8 out of 5 across 258 Google reviews. These are unedited and pulled live.

Excellent
4.8
Mia S Wagstaff
1 week ago
We had a great experience with Johnnie T. Melia Moving & Storage. The crew was right on time, fast, efficient, and very careful with our belongings and both homes. They were in good spirits the entire time, friendly and respectful, which actually helped reduce our own stress on moving day. Brandon was also very helpful and responsive throughout the process. Highly recommend! Whole crew is awesome and professional.
Sharon Callender
4 weeks ago
Very professional crew. Went above and beyond. We have used JT Melia for four moves already and we would use them again!
Michelle Shapiro
1 month ago
Everyone was fabulous. Great team!! Highly recommend.
Joseph Scowden
1 month ago
Unbelievable service!! Super kind and professional.
Jared Simpson
3 months ago
Highly recommend. The team did a great job moving all furniture and boxes. Very careful with all items. Very careful not to scuff or scratch walls and floors. Great price.
Ali Sajadi
3 months ago
The most amazing and cordial team with Media made my move easy and effortless. These guys are the best in town, hands down.

Other Texas Routes and Moving Guides

We run the same long-haul lanes out of Houston every week. If your move is on a different route, or you are still working out the timeline, start here.

Houston to Austin

165 miles via US-290. Same trained crews, same written-estimate process, same trucks.

See the Houston to Austin page →

Houston to San Antonio

196 miles via I-10. Same trained crews, same written-estimate process, same trucks.

See the Houston to San Antonio page →

Moving out of Texas

Interstate moves priced by weight and distance, with storage in transit if your dates do not line up.

See long-distance moving →

Local vs long-distance

How hourly local pricing differs from weight-and-distance pricing, and which one your move falls under.

Read the guide →

Avoid moving scams

Warning signs of a long-distance moving scam, from lowball phone quotes to brokers who will not give you a DOT number.

Read the guide →

Plan your timeline

A week-by-week checklist for keeping a move organized, from the first survey through delivery day.

See the checklist →
Get Your Written Estimate

Questions? We Have Answers

The ten things Houston to Dallas customers ask before they book.

If yours is not here, call (713) 683-8585 and ask a person.

How long does a move from Houston to Dallas take?

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The drive is 239 miles up I-45, roughly three and a half to four hours. Most Houston to Dallas moves load one day and deliver the next, and smaller shipments can sometimes load and deliver the same day. The transit is rarely the constraint — loading time, building access windows and your closing date usually decide the schedule.

How much does it cost to move from Houston to Dallas?

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Typical 2026 market ranges for this route run about $902 to $3,835 for a studio or one bedroom, $1,522 to $4,419 for two to three bedrooms, and $2,102 to $6,082 for four or more, using a full-service mover. Containers and rental trucks cost less and shift the labour to you. Those are market ranges, not our quote — your price depends on shipment weight, access at both ends and what you ask us to pack.

Is Houston to Dallas a long-distance move or a local move?

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It is a long-distance move, but an intrastate one — both cities are in Texas, so it is regulated by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rather than by federal interstate rules. Practically, that means it is priced by weight and distance rather than by the hour, and you should be checking a mover’s TxDMV number, not just a US DOT number. Ours is TxDMV No. 0000005457.

Will the same crew load in Houston and unload in Dallas?

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Yes. The crew that pads, wraps and loads your shipment in Houston is the crew that carries it into your Dallas home. Your belongings are not transferred to another truck or handed to a subcontracted driver at any point. Our movers are trained full-time staff, not day labour hired for the weekend.

How far in advance should I book a Houston to Dallas move?

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Four to six weeks is comfortable. Two weeks is usually workable outside peak season. If you are moving between May and August, or on the last three days of any month, book as early as you can — those dates fill first across every reputable mover in Houston, and late bookings on those dates cost more everywhere.

What if my Dallas closing date moves?

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It happens on most long-distance moves and it is planned for rather than panicked about. Your shipment goes into climate-controlled storage in transit at our own Houston facility and stays in our custody until your new date. It is billed monthly. Tell us early if the date looks shaky — arranging it in advance is considerably cheaper than arranging it on loading day.

Do you move pianos, safes and artwork to Dallas?

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Yes, with equipment and crews trained specifically for them. Pianos and gun safes are moved with the right gear rather than extra hands. Artwork, mirrors, marble and stone are custom-crated at our Houston facility before they go on the truck, because three and a half hours of sustained highway vibration is a different load than a cross-town move.

Do you deliver to Fort Worth, Plano and Frisco as well as Dallas?

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Yes — we deliver across the whole Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, including Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, Arlington, Irving, Coppell, Flower Mound, Southlake and Fort Worth itself. Fort Worth adds roughly 35 miles past Dallas, so it is worth flagging at the survey because it can affect the delivery window.

What insurance covers my belongings on the way to Dallas?

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Basic carrier liability is included by law at 60 cents per pound per article — that is $30 on a 50-pound television, which is not replacement value. Full-value protection covers repair, replacement or cash settlement and costs extra. We will put both options in writing and explain the difference rather than letting you initial past it.

Can you move my office from Houston to Dallas?

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Yes. Commercial relocations up I-45 are scheduled around your operating hours — typically closing the Houston site on a Friday and opening the Dallas site on Monday. We handle workstations, IT equipment, files and specialty items, and we coordinate freight elevator and dock access at both ends. See our commercial moving page or call to arrange a walkthrough.

Plan Your Houston to Dallas Move

Get a written estimate from a mover you can look up: TxDMV No. 0000005457, US DOT No. 436264, family-owned in Houston since 1969, 4.8 stars from 258 Google reviews. Call (713) 683-8585 or request your estimate online and we will schedule the survey.

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