Free calculator
Moving box calculator: how many boxes do you need?
For a rough starting point, Redfin lists 20 to 40 boxes for a one-bedroom home and 40 to 60 for two bedrooms. We use published home-size estimates and our own adjustment factors to suggest a box plan with a 10% buffer. The result is a planning estimate, and the assumptions are shown below.Source: Redfin, fetched 2026-10-15
Home
Bedrooms
People living there
How much stuff
About 56 boxes
Standard boxes 51: Small 15 · Medium 26 · Large 10
Plus Wardrobe 3 · Dish pack 2 · Tape 4 rolls
Includes a 10% buffer. Published home-size counts plus our own factors for people, extra rooms and how much you own; round up if in doubt. How this is calculated
We help you keep the box number and its contents together. In Itemlist, create a container called "Box 14", put it in its destination room, and type the contents into its notes. Add photos for reference. On moving night, search for "kettle" and the record you typed comes up.
Start free on iPhone and iPadFree to start with 100 items and 20 containers. More containers and household sharing need Pro.
By home size
How many boxes by home size
| Home | Redfin's range by bedroom count | Our calculation, including 10% buffer |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 10 to 20 | 20 (17 standard + 3 specialty) |
| 1-bedroom apartment | 20 to 40 | 29 (25 standard + 4 specialty) |
| 2-bedroom apartment | 40 to 60 | 56 (51 standard + 5 specialty) |
| 3-bedroom apartment | 60 to 80 | 83 (77 standard + 6 specialty) |
| 2-bedroom house | 40 to 60 | 65 (59 standard + 6 specialty) |
| 3-bedroom house | 60 to 80 | 96 (89 standard + 7 specialty) |
| 4-bedroom house | 80 to 120 | 127 (119 standard + 8 specialty) |
| 5-bedroom house | 120+ | 158 (149 standard + 9 specialty) |
Sources: Redfin, fetched 2026-10-15; HireAHelper, fetched 2026-10-15. Our column assumes two people, an average amount of stuff and no extra rooms; use the packing box calculator above to adjust for your household.
Box sizes
Which box sizes to buy
Small
about 1.5 cu ft
books, tools, heavy things
Medium
about 3 cu ft
most of the house
Large
about 4.5 cu ft
light and bulky
Extra-large
about 6 cu ft
bedding, pillows
Dish pack
about 5 cu ft, thicker walls
dishes, glasses
Wardrobe
hanging clothes straight from the closet
Volumes are approximate and vary by maker. Source: moveBuddha, fetched 2026-10-15
Method
How this calculator works
This moving box estimator uses the nine steps below, in order, so you can see every assumption behind the number.
- 1
Start from a base count by home type and bedrooms. Apartments: 23 for one bedroom, 46 for two, 70 for three. Houses: 54 for two bedrooms, 81 for three, 108 for four, 135 for five. Apartments with four and five bedrooms (94 and 118, adding 24 per bedroom) and a one-bedroom house (27, one house step below 54) are our assumption, extrapolated from that table. A studio is 15, the midpoint of Redfin's 10 to 20.Source: HireAHelper, fetched 2026-10-15; Redfin, fetched 2026-10-15
- 2
Add 12 boxes for each extra room you tick, inside the 10 to 15 boxes per room Redfin quotes from Paper Mart.Source: Redfin, fetched 2026-10-15
- 3
Multiply by a people factor: 1 + 0.06 × (people − 2) above two people, capped at 1.24. One person counts as two. This is our assumption.
- 4
Multiply by a stuff factor: Light 0.85, Average 1.00, Heavy 1.25. This is our assumption; moveBuddha offers three packing-style levels and does not publish its factors.Source: moveBuddha, fetched 2026-10-15
- 5
Multiply by 1.10 for a 10% buffer. moveBuddha says to add a 10% buffer; HireAHelper suggests 10 to 15%.Source: moveBuddha, fetched 2026-10-15; HireAHelper, fetched 2026-10-15
- 6
Round half up to a whole number. This is the standard box count.
- 7
Split the standard count into 30% small, 50% medium and 20% large boxes: round each share down, then give the remaining boxes to the largest fractional remainders, so the three add up exactly. The split is our assumption; moveBuddha says medium boxes will probably account for between 40% and 70%.Source: moveBuddha, fetched 2026-10-15
- 8
Add specialty boxes on top: one wardrobe box per bedroom plus one (one for a studio), and two dish packs for a studio or apartment, three for a house. This is our assumption.
- 9
Total boxes are the standard boxes plus the wardrobe boxes and dish packs. Tape rolls are the total divided by 15, rounded up, from HireAHelper's rule of a roll per 15 to 20 boxes.Source: HireAHelper, fetched 2026-10-15
The cited sources support the home-size counts, the per-room range, the buffer and the tape rule. The people, stuff and size-split factors are our assumptions and are not validated by those sources.
After the count
Number your boxes, write down what is inside, make it searchable
- 1
Number every box on two sides, with the room it goes to.
- 2
Write the contents on the printed box plan or the moving manifest PDF.
- 3
In Itemlist, create one container per box inside its room, type the contents into the notes and add a photo. Then search for what you typed, and the record for that box comes up. Share it with your household on Pro, so everyone can search it.
FAQ
Moving box questions
How many boxes do I need for a 2-bedroom apartment?
Redfin's range for two bedrooms is 40 to 60 boxes. Our calculator gives 56 for a two-bedroom apartment with two people and an average amount of stuff: 51 standard boxes plus three wardrobe boxes and two dish packs, including a 10% buffer.
How many boxes per room?
A common planning figure is 10 to 15 boxes per room, which Redfin quotes from Paper Mart. Kitchens run high, bathrooms low; the calculator adds 12 for each extra room you tick.
What size moving boxes should I get?
Mostly medium, about 3 cubic feet. Small boxes for books and heavy things, large for light and bulky items, dish packs for the kitchen and wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes. moveBuddha puts medium boxes at 40% to 70% of the total.
How many rolls of tape do I need?
About one roll per 15 boxes. HireAHelper's rule is a roll per 15 to 20 boxes; we round up.
How do I keep track of what is in each box?
Number each box, write the contents on the box and on a list, and keep the list where you can search it. In Itemlist, each box is a container inside its room with the contents typed into the notes, so searching for one item tells you the box number.
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