Moving from Nashville to Reno

Nashville is at 427 feet; the Sparks warehouse is at 4,437. The printed route strings together four interstates, and only the last of them, I-80, does most of the work. The rest of this page covers that string of roads, what the schedule looks like, and how O'Brien's handles the Reno end.

Four interstates, one long haul

The route leaves Tennessee on I-24 for about 178 miles, turns onto I-70 for 243 miles, takes I-29 for 119 miles and then settles onto I-80 for 1,388 miles. That puts 65 percent of the trip on the last road. The first three are short links that hand off quickly to the next, which is how a trip this long gets stitched together.

Each state on the way has its own 511 site, and the NDOT page covers the Nevada end. Check them before a winter departure. The drive is a straight-line gap of about 1,805 miles stretched to 2,149 by the roads, so expect the road to feel about 19 percent longer than the map.

Time on the road and what sets the date

Drive time without stops is about 37 hours, which the planning rule turns into five days. A shipment moving through the carrier network follows its own schedule, so the figure to plan around is the delivery window in your written estimate, not the driving time.

Nashville summers are warm and humid, with a July high of 90.9 degrees; Reno's July high is 93.9 but the air is dry. Wood furniture that has lived through Tennessee humidity can shrink a bit after a few months in the high desert, so check drawers and joints once you settle in.

How the move works with O'Brien's

You book with O'Brien's in Sparks, a Bekins Van Lines agent since 1955. We coordinate the move from your Nashville home through the Bekins network, and then O'Brien's handles delivery, unpacking and storage here. Short-term storage in our warehouse is there if closing dates slip.

Ask for a phone ballpark or send the online request; long-distance pricing is by weight and the itemized estimate is in writing. Read the long-distance checklist before packing starts.

Nashville and Reno compared

The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin metro has about 2.08 million people, a Census median household income of $85,447 and a median home value of $409,600. The Reno metro's median home value is $502,300 and its median household income is $87,485. Median gross rent is $1,528 in the Nashville metro and $1,592 in the Reno metro, so rents are close even though home values differ.

Annual precipitation is 50.5 inches in Nashville and 7.35 in Reno, and Nashville averages 4.7 inches of snow against Reno's 20.9. County records show people moving in both directions between Davidson County and Washoe County.