Route guides

The 250 busiest car shipping routes in the U.S.

Where Americans actually move their cars โ€” ranked from Census Bureau moving data โ€” with estimated prices, transit times, the best months to ship and the companies at each end of the route.

Prices updated September 2026 ยท Estimates, not quotes ยท Price any two cities โ†’

Top 25

Most popular state-to-state routes

Ranked by people moving between the states each year, weighted toward long moves where shipping beats driving.

# Route People moving a year Distance Open carrier, sedan Transit
1 California to Texas 85,566 ~1,470 mi $1,000โ€“$1,450 3โ€“6 days
2 New York to Florida 60,900 ~1,290 mi $950โ€“$1,375 3โ€“5 days
3 Florida to Texas 51,366 ~1,310 mi $975โ€“$1,375 3โ€“5 days
4 Texas to California 42,090 ~1,470 mi $1,000โ€“$1,450 3โ€“6 days
5 Texas to Florida 41,520 ~1,310 mi $975โ€“$1,375 3โ€“5 days
6 Pennsylvania to Florida 30,650 ~1,210 mi $925โ€“$1,325 3โ€“5 days
7 New Jersey to Florida 27,936 ~1,290 mi $950โ€“$1,375 3โ€“5 days
8 California to Florida 37,623 ~2,770 mi $1,400โ€“$1,975 6โ€“10 days
9 California to Washington 42,398 ~1,130 mi $900โ€“$1,300 3โ€“5 days
10 Florida to New York 26,415 ~1,290 mi $950โ€“$1,375 3โ€“5 days
11 Illinois to Florida 25,760 ~1,400 mi $1,000โ€“$1,400 3โ€“6 days
12 California to New York 31,232 ~2,900 mi $1,425โ€“$2,050 6โ€“10 days
13 Massachusetts to Florida 22,918 ~1,480 mi $1,000โ€“$1,450 3โ€“6 days
14 Michigan to Florida 22,535 ~1,370 mi $975โ€“$1,400 3โ€“6 days
15 New York to California 29,995 ~2,900 mi $1,425โ€“$2,050 6โ€“10 days
16 New York to Texas 28,922 ~1,620 mi $1,050โ€“$1,500 4โ€“6 days
17 Florida to Ohio 19,539 ~1,170 mi $925โ€“$1,325 3โ€“5 days
18 Washington to California 29,587 ~1,130 mi $900โ€“$1,300 3โ€“5 days
19 Florida to Pennsylvania 19,230 ~1,210 mi $925โ€“$1,325 3โ€“5 days
20 Ohio to Florida 18,943 ~1,170 mi $925โ€“$1,325 3โ€“5 days
21 Illinois to Texas 23,845 ~940 mi $825โ€“$1,225 2โ€“4 days
22 California to Arizona 53,303 ~430 mi $600โ€“$950 1โ€“3 days
23 Maryland to Florida 16,899 ~1,130 mi $900โ€“$1,300 3โ€“5 days
24 Florida to Michigan 16,759 ~1,370 mi $975โ€“$1,400 3โ€“6 days
25 Virginia to Florida 28,564 ~940 mi $825โ€“$1,225 2โ€“4 days
Estimate, not a quote

Prices are between the main car-shipping market in each state, for a running sedan with a flexible pickup date. Each route guide has city-to-city prices and a month-by-month chart.

All routes

Route guides by starting state

Method

How we picked these routes

There is no public count of cars shipped between states, but people who move usually take their car with them. We started from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey state-to-state migration flows for 2023 and 2024 and averaged the two years to smooth out sampling error.

Short moves between neighbouring states are mostly driven, so each pair was weighted by road distance: moves under about 250 miles count for nothing, and the weight rises to full at about 950 miles. Seasonal snowbird traffic between northern states and Florida or Arizona doesn't show up as a change of address, so those lanes got a 35% boost. Alaska, Hawaii and D.C. are left out โ€” cars to Alaska and Hawaii go by ship.

Prices come from the same model as our car shipping cost calculator: typical rates by road distance, adjusted for vehicle, trailer and month. Registration deadlines were checked against each state's official motor vehicle agency.