Terrain, foliage, buildings, etc will all play a part in how far you can talk. The guys located in the wide open desert will have more range than most of us in the eastern half of the country. As mentioned, repeaters have better equipment, coax and antennas and are usually high up in the air.
The local repeater tower is 21.5 miles away from me. I can make it into the local 2m repeater from my house with any of my hand held radios. The Icom and Explorer QRZ-1 do better than my Baofeng radios. I can get into the GMRS repeater n the same tower but only with my Wouxun KG-935G hand held. The 70cm repeater antenna is also on the same tower and at the same height as the 2m repeater antenna. I can not get into the 70cm repeater at all with any of my hand held radios.