Moving from Portland to Seattle
Seattle's family-operated mover for 35 years. The same crew loads in Portland and unloads at your new Seattle home — often the same day.
Why this route
Why Seattle families pick Lake Union for the Portland → Seattle route.
Same crew, origin to destination. The Lake Union team that loads your home in NW Portland, the Pearl District, Sellwood, Laurelhurst, or Vancouver WA is the same team unloading at your Seattle address — often the same day. Your shipment stays on one truck with the same crew the entire route.
Direct route, often same-day. Roughly 175 miles on I-5 — about three hours each way. For one- and two-bedroom moves with an early-morning load, the truck typically unloads in Seattle that same evening. The Portland route is the cleanest, shortest interstate run we make.
Real-time updates from the road. You hear from the driver leaving Portland, crossing the Columbia, and arriving at your Seattle address. On a same-day move you usually know within the hour when the truck will pull up.
Seattle delivery expertise. The crew unloading in Seattle is Seattle-based. They know which Capitol Hill streets a 26-foot truck can't fit, which Queen Anne addresses need a parking permit pulled days ahead, and which Belltown or downtown buildings require an insurance certificate before the elevator will release.
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 Portland unloads it at your Seattle address — same truck, same names, same accountability the whole way. More about our founder →
The route
The Portland → Seattle route.
Approximately 175 miles on I-5 — the shortest interstate route we run. The route is straight up I-5 from Portland through Vancouver WA, Longview, Kelso, Centralia, Olympia, Tacoma, and into Seattle. No mountain passes, no winter pass closures, no real route-planning surprises.
Same-day pickup and delivery is achievable for one- and two-bedroom moves with an early-morning load. Three-bedroom moves with packing typically run as next-day delivery to give the crew rest and the customer a sane unload window, but the truck is still in Seattle by morning the following day.
Weather risk on the I-5 corridor between Portland and Seattle is effectively zero year-round. We run this route weekly during peak season.
Moving the other direction? See our Seattle → Portland guide.
Pricing
How Portland → 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 Portland → Seattle route.
- Same-day pickup and delivery for 1- and 2-bedroom moves with an early start
- Full-service packing at the Portland origin — boxes, paper, bubble, fragile wrap
- Loading and securing the truck — direct load-to-delivery
- Seattle delivery — HOA coordination, elevator reservations, COI submission for buildings
- Pearl District, Lake Oswego, and Vancouver WA pickup areas covered on the same schedule
- Multi-state authority under MC #1032748, USDOT #3054912
Origin coverage
Where we load in Portland.
We're Seattle-based. For Portland pickups, the same Seattle crew drives down with the truck. On the Portland route this matters less than the longer hauls (the truck is back in Seattle the same day), but the principle is the same.
We schedule Portland → Seattle pickups around our outbound Seattle → Portland runs constantly during peak season — ask about windows when you call, we often have a return-trip truck heading back the day you need. Within the Portland metro we load in NW Portland, the Pearl District, Sellwood, Laurelhurst, NE Alameda, Lake Oswego, West Linn, plus SW Washington (Vancouver WA, Camas, Washougal) on the same schedule.
Settling in
Settling into Seattle — what newcomers should know.
Most of our Portland → Seattle customers are relocating north for tech jobs, family, or the housing-price differential. The two cities share PNW culture and weather, so there are few surprises — but Seattle's denser urban core does come with parking and building rules that matter on move-in day.
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. Portland's driveway-heavy single-family neighborhoods don't fully prepare you for Seattle's tighter urban grid — Capitol Hill, downtown, and Queen Anne all benefit from a permit pulled in advance.
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 — typically a 3- to 4-hour block. We coordinate both directly with the property manager. The same building-access pattern you may know from Pearl District towers applies to Seattle's downtown, South Lake Union, Belltown, Capitol Hill, and Bellevue high-rises.
Neighborhood snapshot
Portland transplants typically land in Capitol Hill, Ballard, or Wallingford for similar PNW-residential character, in Queen Anne or Magnolia for water access, and on the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond) for tech-corridor commutes. Pearl-to-Belltown, NW Portland-to-Queen Anne, and Sellwood-to-Ballard are recurring patterns. Vancouver WA-to-Bellevue and Lake Oswego-to-Mercer Island show up on the higher-end family moves.
Recent moves
Recent Portland → Seattle moves.
Portland → Seattle is one of our highest-frequency interstate runs — we complete same-day or next-day deliveries on this corridor weekly during peak season. Common patterns include tech relocations to Amazon, Microsoft, Meta's Bellevue offices, and the broader Eastside; mid-career professionals heading north for the salary gap; and families relocating for school districts.
FAQ
Common questions on the Portland → Seattle route.
Ready to plan your Portland → Seattle move?
Our founder quotes every long-haul personally.
Related: Seattle → Portland · Long-distance service · How pricing works · Reviews