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How many moving boxes do you actually need?

Answer three questions and get a real count by box size, plus the tape and paper to go with it. Every assumption behind the number is shown further down, because a calculator that will not show its working is just a guess with a button.

How this number is worked out

Two parts of this model are published figures. Two are ours. Here is which is which, so you can decide how much to trust it.

Published

The starting count by home size comes from HireAHelper's published table, shown in full below. Where they list both an apartment and a house figure for the same bedroom count, this uses the midpoint.
Tape and spares. One roll of tape per 15 boxes, and about 10 percent spare on top, both from the same source.

Our estimates

How much you own moves the total by 25 percent down or 30 percent up. The calculator ranked first for this search uses the same three way choice and publishes no numbers behind it, so these are ours.
Household size shifts it by 6 percent per person above or below the bedroom count plus one, capped at 25 percent either way so it can never overwhelm the home size.
The size split is 30 percent small, 40 percent medium and the rest large, plus 2 wardrobe boxes per bedroom. No calculator on this search publishes a size ratio, so this one is a judgement call weighted towards small, because the usual mistake is filling a large box with books and then being unable to lift it.

Boxes by home size

The published starting figures, before any adjustment for household size or how much you own.

Home	Boxes
1 bedroom apartment	23
2 bedroom apartment	46
2 bedroom house	54
3 bedroom apartment	70
3 bedroom house	81
4 bedroom house	108
5 bedroom house	135

Source: HireAHelper, "Estimating Moving Box Needs by Home Size", read 31 August 2026. Treat every figure on this page as a starting estimate rather than a measurement.

Questions people ask before ordering

How many boxes do I need to move?

For a three bedroom house, about 75 cartons plus six wardrobe boxes, assuming an average amount of stuff. A one bedroom flat is closer to 23. The number moves a long way with how much you own, which is why the calculator asks: two people in the same three bedroom house can be 55 boxes apart. Whatever number you land on, order about 10 percent more than that.

What size moving boxes do I actually need?

A mix, weighted towards small and medium. Small boxes take books, tinned food, tools and anything dense, because a large box full of books is too heavy to lift safely. Medium takes most kitchen and general household items. Large is for light and bulky things only: bedding, cushions, lampshades, winter coats. Wardrobe boxes are worth it for hanging clothes and save a lot of ironing.

Is it better to have too many boxes or too few?

Too many, comfortably. Running out mid-pack means a last minute run to buy boxes at full price, or overfilling the ones you have until they split. Most box suppliers take back unused flat cartons, and if yours does not, spare boxes are easy to give away locally.

How accurate is a moving box calculator?

It is a starting estimate, not a measurement. This one is built on published figures by home size and then adjusted for household size and how much you own, and it shows every assumption it makes further down the page. Treat the number as a shopping list, then adjust once you have packed your first room and can see the real rate.

Knowing the number is the easy half.

The hard half is three weeks later, when you need the phone charger and it is in one of them. List what goes in each box as you pack it, then search any item and BoxLister tells you the box and the room it is in.

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