When to finance a cross-country move with a personal loan

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Published on February 05, 2025 | 6 min read

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moving cross-country with a personal loan

Key takeaways

Using a personal loan to move can be a helpful solution — if you can score a low interest rate and have a plan for repayment.
Before you borrow, consider alternatives, such as negotiating relocation assistance with your employer or, in more dire scenarios, applying for grants.
If you proceed, find the best lender for your situation by comparing banks, credit unions and online companies across criteria that matter most to you.

Personal loans can be used for almost any legal expense, so yes, you can get a loan to help with a move. In fact, about 1 in 10 personal loans are borrowed for this very purpose, according to a survey by credit builder company Self.

But before you worry about how to finance a move, make sure it’s a smart decision for your situation. If you’ve already considered alternatives, strengthened your credit and mapped out your potential repayment, you might decide to proceed. But if you can’t secure an affordable loan to move, think again.

When to consider financing your move

Knowing how to pay for moving costs is great. But before you settle on a personal loan, confirm that you’re set up for success.

You’ve already exhausted other options

Personal loans are flexible and relatively accessible, but they can be costly. Consider that average interest rates — the direct indicator of a loan’s cost — have trended upward since March 2022 and remained elevated during the first quarter of 2025.

Review these potentially more economical options before choosing a personal loan to move:

Scenario	Solution
Your move isn’t in the immediate future.	If your time horizon is long enough, optimize your budget and save up. You might trim “wants” from your list of recurring expenses and request a raise at work, to name a couple of strategies. Paying for your move in cash (without raiding your emergency savings) might be the best way to go.
You’re moving for a job.	Negotiate financial assistance with your prospective employer. It may offer to cover your relocation (up to a specified cost), if not provide temporary housing. Just be mindful that relocation aid can be treated as taxable income. “I negotiated with [a new employer] to give me $4,000 for a move from D.C. to Atlanta,” says Bankrate lead credit card writer Benét Wilson. “What I didn’t know was that [it] was taxable, so the check was half of what I expected, so I had to scramble and use more of my own money than I wanted… Lesson learned!”
You qualify for a grant or other aid.	The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can help if you’re the victim of a natural disaster. Also, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Good Neighbor Next Door program assists law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians. Finally, the United Way could be useful if you earn a low income.
You have supportive family and friends.	Borrowing from people you know isn’t without risk, as it could put a personal relationship in harm’s way. But if you have a potential benefactor in your life — and you create a foolproof repayment plan — it could be safer than borrowing from a bank.
You have a strong cash-flow for a fast repayment.	Consider a credit card with a 0% introductory APR (that typically requires strong credit). It could be a great option if you can realistically pay off your balance before the promotional period ends (up to 21 months, depending on the issuer) and the card’s usual double-digit APR activates. It worked well for Bankrate editor Aylea Wilkins, who borrowed $3,200 to U-Haul her stuff from Arizona to Arkansas in summer 2024. “We got an email offer from our bank with a $5,000 limit and 18-month promotional period — we knew we’d be able to pay off the full move within that time,” says Wilkins. “We didn’t want to have the debt hanging over us… so the promotional period worked better for us than a personal loan we’d have to pay monthly for a few years.”

You have strong credit (or a co-applicant that does)

If you’re seeking a personal loan with excellent credit, you’re in a position of strength. The friendliest interest rates and terms go to borrowers with the highest credit scores and lowest debt-to-income ratios, among other criteria.

Don’t worry if you don’t have tip-top credit. You might still be quoted a competitive interest rate if you have a good credit score (or a cosigner or co-borrower) and apply with reputable lenders.

You have dependable income

If you’re moving soon and have other financial obligations, you might be worried about your relocation budget.

With consistent and significant income, however, using a loan to move could be the right choice: Your reliable earnings could help you qualify for low personal loan rates, but they’ll also equip you for repayment.

Just make sure to stress-test your budget before you borrow. Confirm that your potential monthly payment would fit neatly after accounting for your next home’s cost of living.

When to avoid financing your move

Borrowing a loan to move means repaying it over time with potentially significant interest charges. More importantly, struggling with repayment can cause serious damage to your credit. So, if you relate to any of the following scenarios, borrowing may not be best for your situation.

You can reasonably ‘DIY’ your relocation

If you landed on the idea of a personal loan because you were quoted sticker-shock prices from white-glove moving companies, reconsider how you plan to move. Perhaps a do-it-yourself measure (like these below) would lessen or eliminate your need for a loan:

Rent a truck or van (think U-Haul) and drive your stuff where it needs to go. You could also use a platform like TaskRabbit to hire some extra muscle for the loading and unloading.
If driving long distance isn’t in the cards, you might research companies (such as PODS and U-Pack) that drop a moving container at your current home and deliver it to your next one.
Save up boxes and other materials (perhaps from your recent online purchases) so that you can pack your belongings yourself. You could also visit so-called big-box stores or warehouses and ask to pick through their flattened cardboard. Facebook Marketplace and other online classified platforms can also be a source of used (but still usable) boxes.
Packing your own things might also remind you to leave unnecessary items behind, perhaps even sell them (garage sale, anyone?) to help pay for your move.

Bankrate tip

If hiring a mover is still your top choice, remember to negotiate their quoted costs and, if possible, schedule your relocation during a non-peak season. Also, to avoid poor service, ask whether the move subcontracts any step of the process to other companies.

You can’t secure a competitive interest rate

As mentioned, personal loans are more accessible than some forms of borrowing, so you might not need excellent or even good credit to qualify. Not having a strong application, however, means facing higher interest rates, fewer repayment term options and greater overall risk to your finances. Consider these examples:

If you have a fair credit score and apply with a cosigner or co-borrower, you might gain lender approval. But keep in mind that struggling in repayment wouldn’t just harm your credit, but also your co-applicant’s.
You might consider secured personal loans as a way to finance a move, since they hinge more on your collateral than your credit. But you’ll forfeit that collateral if you fall behind on payments.

If you decide to borrow without the best credit, don’t forget to shop around with federal credit unions that, unlike other financial institutions, cap their rates at 18 percent. Still, be mindful of how much more you could be paying than peers who can score a decreased APR.

It can help to run the numbers using a personal loan payment calculator. Here’s how the cost of a $6,000, three-year term loan is impacted by interest charges:

	Loan 1	Loan 2	Loan 3
Interest rate	12%	18%	35.99%
Cost of interest	$1,174	$1,809	$3,892
Total cost of repayment	$7,174	$7,809	$9,892

How to find the best personal loan

The best personal loan interest rates are reserved for the applicants with the strongest applications. So, finding the most cost-effective loan for your situation starts with monitoring and improving your credit (or considering a cosigner or secured loan).

Then, research banks, credit unions and online lenders to compare personal loans. You might prioritize financial institutions that offer prequalification, or the ability to confirm your eligibility and check rates without undergoing a hard credit check. You could also narrow your list of preferred lenders to those that charge fewer fees, fund loans faster or offer the most flexible repayment terms.

Bottom line

We get it, moving is expensive. It can range from $883 to $2,569 or, for a longer-distance move, $2,392 to $6,867, according to HomeAdvisor.

But before you borrow a personal loan to foot the bill, exhaust your lower-risk options. If borrowing remains your best bet, confirm you have the finances for a successful repayment. Otherwise, the long-term costs may far outstrip the short-term convenience.