Moving from Los Angeles to Seattle
Seattle's family-operated mover — Our founder has 35 years on the trucks. The same crew loads in Los Angeles and unloads at your new Seattle home.
Why this route
Why Seattle families pick Lake Union for the Los Angeles → Seattle route.
Same crew, origin to destination. The Lake Union team that loads your home in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Pasadena, or Manhattan Beach is the same team unloading at your Seattle address two to three days later. Your shipment stays on one truck with the same crew the entire route.
Direct route, no detours. Your shipment stays on one truck. Your truck carries your household alone — direct load-to-delivery, no warehouse stop.
Real-time updates from the road. You hear from the driver as the truck climbs out of the LA basin, runs I-5 north through the Central Valley, crosses Mt. Shasta, threads the Willamette Valley, and drops into Seattle. You always know where your things are.
Seattle delivery expertise. The crew unloading in Seattle is Seattle-based. They know the Capitol Hill streets a 26-foot truck can't take, the Queen Anne addresses that need a parking permit pulled ahead, and the Belltown or South Lake Union buildings that require an insurance certificate on file before the elevator will move. Local knowledge at the receiving end is what separates a clean move-in from a long afternoon.
our founder has been moving Seattle households for 35 years and still works the jobs that matter. The same crew that loads your home in Los Angeles unloads it at your Seattle address — same truck, same names, same accountability the whole way. More about our founder →
The route
The Los Angeles → Seattle route.
Approximately 1,135 miles, two to three days of crew transit. The route runs I-5 north out of the LA basin over the Tehachapi grade, through the Central Valley, past Sacramento and Mt. Shasta, across the Oregon border, and finishes on I-5 into Seattle. The single straight-shot Western corridor.
Weather risk is minimal year-round. The Mt. Shasta and Siskiyou Pass sections can require chains briefly during major winter storms, but rarely close for long. The Grapevine at the LA end occasionally closes for high wind or rare snow events — we monitor Caltrans conditions during transit and adjust the window if needed.
Our founder drives this route personally on the larger estate and corporate moves where the same lead at origin and destination is part of the brief.
Moving the other direction? See our Seattle → Los Angeles guide.
Pricing
How Los Angeles → Seattle moves are priced.
Long-distance pricing depends on a handful of inputs — the same inputs every reputable carrier uses, scored against your specific move. After our founder walks through your home (in-person or by video), you get a written estimate. That's the number you sign for.
- Weight or volume of the household. The single biggest variable. A studio versus a four-bedroom is a different truck, a different crew, a different number of hours on both ends.
- Distance and route specifics. Fuel, tolls, driver hours-of-service rules, and the days the truck is on the road all factor in.
- Packing service level. Full pack, partial pack (we pack the kitchen and fragile items, you handle bedrooms and closets), or load-only with your own boxes.
- Storage-in-transit. If your Seattle delivery date isn't locked yet (closing slipped, lease gap, renovation), we can hold the load short-term in our own trailer and deliver when you're ready.
- Specialty items. Piano, safe, original art, wine collection, oversized antiques — anything that needs custom crating or a third crew member.
For the full breakdown of how we structure long-distance quotes, see how pricing works. More on the service itself: long-distance moving.
What we handle
What we handle on the Los Angeles → Seattle route.
- Full-service packing at the LA origin — boxes, paper, bubble, fragile wrap, custom crating for fine art and antiques
- Loading and securing the truck — direct load-to-delivery
- The drive itself — same crew, same truck, GPS updates en route
- Seattle delivery — HOA coordination, elevator reservations, COI submission for buildings
- Unpacking and debris removal in Seattle on request
- Cars and motorcycles on the same truck (one vehicle, optional)
Origin coverage
Where we load in Los Angeles.
We're Seattle-based. For LA pickups, the same Seattle crew drives down with the truck. The person who answers your questions on Seattle move-in day is the same person who wrapped your art in your LA living room.
We schedule Los Angeles → Seattle pickups around our outbound Seattle → LA runs whenever the calendar allows, which often opens flexibility on both directions — ask about windows when you call. Within the LA basin we load in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Westwood, Bel Air, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Manhattan Beach, the South Bay, Hancock Park, Silver Lake, Studio City, and the broader Westside and San Gabriel Valley. Hollywood Hills and the steeper access streets by walkthrough.
Settling in
Settling into Seattle — what newcomers should know.
Most of our Los Angeles → Seattle customers are relocating for tech work, family, or weather. Seattle is a more weather-aware city than LA — buildings, parking, and access all operate on a different set of rules. A few practical items make the move-in day much cleaner.
Parking + permits
The City of Seattle requires a temporary moving-truck parking permit for most non-driveway loads, applied for through SDOT roughly 5 business days ahead. We handle the application when we have your destination address. Without a permit, parking a 26-foot truck in Capitol Hill, Ballard, downtown, or Queen Anne can cost an extra hour or more on move-in day — a problem you don't see in many LA neighborhoods where driveways and longer curb runs are typical.
Building requirements
Most Seattle high-rises and managed condo buildings require a certificate of insurance from the mover on file 24 to 72 hours before move-in, plus a reserved elevator window — usually a 3- to 4-hour block. We coordinate both with the property manager once you give us their contact. Downtown, South Lake Union, Belltown, Capitol Hill, Bellevue, and Kirkland buildings handle this every week.
Neighborhood snapshot
LA transplants commonly land in Capitol Hill or Queen Anne for walkable urban Seattle, in Ballard, Madrona, or West Seattle for residential character with water access, and on the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Redmond, Sammamish) for the tech corridor and stronger school districts. Brentwood-to-Mercer Island and Beverly Hills-to-Medina are recurring patterns on the higher end; Silver Lake-to-Capitol Hill and Hancock Park-to-Madrona happen on the mid-tier.
Recent moves
Recent Los Angeles → Seattle moves.
We complete a steady share of LA → Seattle moves a year — common patterns include tech-industry relocations to Amazon, Microsoft, Meta's Bellevue offices, and the broader Eastside corridor; entertainment-industry families relocating away from the LA market; and retirees rejoining adult children in Seattle. The Westside and Pasadena originate a large share of the higher-value estate-scale moves.
FAQ
Common questions on the Los Angeles → Seattle route.
Ready to plan your Los Angeles → Seattle move?
Our founder quotes every long-haul personally.
Related: Seattle → Los Angeles · Long-distance service · How pricing works · Reviews