All Services
Local Moving
Long-Distance Moving
Commercial Moving
Apartment Movers
Piano Moving
Packing & Storage
Service Areas
How It Works
Reviews
About LD Movers
ContactChicago to Juneau Movers
LD Movers are Chicago to Juneau movers. No road reaches Juneau, so your goods finish by barge from Seattle. Priced off a walkthrough. (800) 969-8006.
Chicago area to Juneau
Planning a Move from the Chicago Area to Juneau?
LD Movers are Chicago to Juneau movers for Chicagoland households, and the first thing to know is that you can't drive there. Juneau, Alaska's capital, can't be reached by car, as Travel Juneau, the city's visitor bureau, puts it.
Everything arrives by plane or boat. For a household, that means a barge. Alaska Marine Lines, for one, runs a mainline barge from Seattle that calls Juneau twice a week.
We pick up, price the move off a walkthrough, and one coordinator keeps the barge leg on your file.
Route facts
Chicago to Juneau: Distance, Time, and Cost
Distance: No road distance. Juneau sits off the road network.
Drive time: None. Your goods finish the trip on a barge out of Seattle.
Delivery window: Set at your estimate around the barge calendar, and put in writing.
Cost drivers: Weight and distance, packing, crates, storage in transit, any vehicle, and access at your Juneau address.
Chicagoland pickup
Before the Barge: Pickup and Packing in Chicagoland
Pickup covers Chicago and the northwest suburbs, run from our Palatine office at 520 S Hicks Rd. The walkthrough happens in your home or over video, and the estimate comes from your actual rooms. Freight elevator windows, loading docks and tight streets get handled at this end, with a compact truck shuttling to the main vehicle where it has to.
A Juneau shipment gets handled four times: loaded in Illinois, put on the barge in Seattle, taken off it in Juneau, and carried into your home. Pack for every one of those. Our crews use dish packs, wardrobe boxes and mirror cartons, and build crates for artwork and marble.
Cartons our crew packs carry damage coverage that boxes you pack yourself don't. Released value protection is free on every interstate move. Full value protection is yours on request.
What is included
What LD Movers Includes on This Route
- Walkthrough inventory, at home or by video, and a binding estimate priced on weight and distance
- The barge leg to Juneau on the same file as the road leg
- One coordinator from inventory to delivery, never a broker mid route
- Dish packs and wardrobe boxes, plus custom crates for artwork
- Storage in transit if your Juneau keys come after the barge
- Vehicle transport arranged with the household shipment
- Released value protection free; full value protection when you want it
Why LD Movers
Why a Juneau Quote Needs the Barge Written In
If a Chicago to Juneau quote shows a drive time, somebody built it for a city you can drive to. There's no road.
Ask every mover you compare how your goods get from Seattle to Juneau, and who's watching them on the water. We price the barge into the binding estimate from the start, and one coordinator holds the file from your Chicago walkthrough to the Juneau door.
Before you book
Tips for Moving from Chicago to Juneau
- Moving there for good? Alaska DMV wants registration applied for within 10 days of entering the state, and your license transferred within 90.
- Flying in ahead of the barge? Rain gear goes in the suitcase. September is Juneau's wettest month in NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, a little over 9 inches.
- Tell us the Juneau address early. Stairs and parking at that end shape the delivery plan.
Cost breakdown
How Much Does It Cost to Move to Juneau?
No Juneau price here. Your binding estimate is priced on weight and distance after a walkthrough, and the Juneau lane adds a barge from Seattle.
| Area | Two-bedroom rent with utilities, March 2025 | Rental vacancy, March 2025 | Population, July 2025 | Average January low | How household freight arrives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juneau | $1,661 | 4.0% | 31,182 | 23.8 F | By barge from Seattle; no road in |
| Anchorage | $1,680 | 5.6% | 289,221 | 11 F | By ship to the Port of Alaska, inside the city |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough | $1,676 | 13.5% | 97,083 | minus 17.2 F | By ship to Anchorage, then 358 miles by road or rail |
Those rows are what living there costs, per the state and NOAA. What moving there costs comes from your walkthrough.
Ask each mover where the barge sits on their quote. Missing means unpriced.
Planning timeline
Your Juneau Moving Timeline
Eight weeks out
Book the walkthrough and start the housing search. With vacancy at 4.0 percent, the lease comes before the barge booking.
Six weeks out
Settle the car: barge, the state ferry from Bellingham, or sell it here.
Four weeks out
Send us your Juneau address and access details.
Two weeks out
Confirm pickup and the delivery window in writing.
Move week
Rain gear, documents and medications fly with you.
On the ground in Alaska
What to Expect on Delivery Day in Juneau
Delivery follows the barge calendar. Your coordinator builds the window around the sailing your shipment takes and puts it in writing.
In NOAA's normals, wet days outnumber dry ones in Juneau by better than three to two. Expect rain or snow on the day: mats at the door, a clear path in.
Choosing a mover
How to Vet Long-Distance Movers for Juneau
One question first, then the usual three.
- How do my goods reach Juneau? A drive time on the quote is a red flag.
- Do you hold an active USDOT number? LD does.
- Does the job get brokered? Ours doesn't.
- Is the delivery window in writing?
How Your Goods Reach a City With No Road
The road part ends in Seattle. From there it's water.
Alaska Marine Lines runs scheduled barges from Seattle to Southeast Alaska twice a week, year round, and its mainline barge calls Juneau on both. AML told the 2024 Southeast Conference it has never missed a sailing, weather and tide delays included. The same barges carry Juneau's groceries and cars.
That barge calendar is the spine of your estimate. The road leg gets booked to meet a sailing, and one coordinator watches the shipment from your Chicago driveway to the Juneau door.
Anchorage is a different job. It has a port and a highway. Juneau has neither a road nor a rail link, and the Alaska Railroad's container service stops at Seward, Whittier, Anchorage and Fairbanks. Our Chicago to Anchorage page covers that lane.
Your Car: Barge or the State Ferry
Two ways to get a car to Juneau, and an electric one narrows the choice.
On the barge, AML ships cars, pickups and SUVs running on gas or diesel, plus regular hybrids. It won't take EVs or plug-in hybrids. Vehicle transport can sit on the same LD file as your furniture.
On the ferry, the Alaska Marine Highway sails from Bellingham, Washington, and the run to Juneau takes up to three days. You can't reach the car deck while the ship's under way, so pack a cabin bag. The Juneau terminal is at Mile 13.5 Glacier Highway in Auke Bay, about 13 miles from downtown.
Or sell it in Illinois and buy in Juneau. From October 1, 2026, the city caps its sales tax on a vehicle priced $50,000 or less at the first $15,000, so the most city tax on that car is $750, per the CBJ Sales Tax Office.
What to Know Before Moving to Juneau
Housing is tight
The state's March 2025 survey put a Juneau two-bedroom at $1,661 a month with utilities, up 6.4 percent on 2024. Vacancy was 4.0 percent, tighter than Anchorage's 5.6 or the Fairbanks borough's 13.5. Find the housing before you book the barge. If you can't, storage in transit holds the load, billed monthly.
A smaller town than in 2020
Juneau had 31,182 people in July 2025, down from 32,255 at the April 2020 census, per the state's Research and Analysis Section. Births beat deaths by 364. Net migration took 1,437.
Wet, and milder than Chicago in January
NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals give Juneau's airport an average January low of 23.8 F. O'Hare's is 18.8 F. The catch is the water: measurable precipitation on about 230 days a year against about 126 at O'Hare, close to 67 inches of it, and about 88 inches of snow in a normal season.
City sales tax, with groceries exempt
Juneau charges city sales tax. Since November 20, 2025, grocery food for home consumption is exempt, after a ballot measure Juneau voters passed in October 2025. The city's own cap notice works out to 5 percent: $2,500 of tax on a $50,000 item.
FAQ
Chicago to Juneau Moving FAQ
Can you drive to Juneau?
No. Travel Juneau says the city can't be reached by car. Goods come in by plane or boat.
How do household goods get to Juneau?
By barge from Seattle. Alaska Marine Lines' mainline barge calls Juneau twice a week.
Can I bring my car to Juneau?
Two ways: a barge, or the Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Bellingham, which carries vehicles. AML won't ship EVs or plug-in hybrids.
Where is the Juneau ferry terminal?
Mile 13.5 Glacier Highway in Auke Bay, about 13 miles from downtown.
How much does it cost to relocate to Alaska?
Two separate numbers. The move is priced after a walkthrough, barge included, as a binding estimate in writing. Living there: the state's March 2025 survey put a Juneau two-bedroom at $1,661 a month with utilities. Call (800) 969-8006 for the first one.
Do you get $1,000 for moving to Alaska?
Nobody pays you to arrive. Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, $1,200 in 2026 per the state Department of Revenue, goes to residents who lived in Alaska all of the prior calendar year. Check pfd.alaska.gov before you count on it.
Step by Step
How Your Move Works
From first call to final box, here's how LD Movers runs your move.
-
Step 1
Request a Quote
Submit our online form or call (800) 969-8006. We respond within 24 hours with clear next steps. No runaround, no pressure.
-
Step 2
Plan Your Move
A moving coordinator collects your inventory, pickup and delivery addresses, and any special items. In-home or virtual walkthroughs available for larger moves.
-
Step 3
Get Your Price
We provide a guaranteed price based on your inventory, distance, and services selected. Binding estimate in writing. If nothing changes on your end, the price does not change on ours.
-
Step 4
Move Day
Professional movers arrive on schedule, protect your home and belongings, and deliver on the agreed timeline. You focus on settling in. We handle the rest.
By submitting this form, you agree to be contacted by LD Movers regarding your move. We respect your privacy and will never share your information with third parties.