Moving Pricing Methodology (2025 Guide)

At moveBuddha, we’re on a mission to empower consumers with transparent, reliable pricing that makes comparing moving options easier and smarter. Our methodology reflects that goal—consumer-first, real-time, nuanced, and built for real-world decisions. This page explains how we collect, verify, and update the data that powers our moving cost calculator.

We’ve been tracking and publishing monthly updated moving costs for over a decade, using the largest pricing dataset in the industry. Every month, we collect 10,000+ fresh pricing data points from across the United States. This gives us one of the most up-to-date and comprehensive views of the market available.
Our data spans every major relocation option:

• Full-service movers
• Self-service/container companies
• Truck rental providers
• Additional moving labor

By including all of these service types, we can make true apples-to-apples comparisons, giving consumers clarity no matter how they choose to move. (Check out our full methodology for more details.)

Because our dataset is large, current, and expansive across service models, it’s been used as an authoritative reference by universities, hedge funds, and major media outlets including The New York Times, Bloomberg, and USA Today. That external use validates the dataset’s relevance for both consumers and professional researchers.

What we collect and why it matters

Each month we gather pricing data from a diverse mix of sources so the dataset reflects the market people actually face:

We intentionally collect pricing across service models, distance, move size, and geography so we aren’t skewed toward one business model. Because moving options (DIY vs. full-service vs. truck rental) have different cost drivers, reporting all three side-by-side makes our averages forward-looking and actionable for consumers.

How we collect the data

Our monthly data pull uses a mix of collection methods to balance accuracy and breadth:

We commit to collecting at least 1,000 new cost points monthly, leading to robust sample sizes across different services and regions.

Realtime emphasis — why “monthly” is different for us

Our published averages are monthly, live-sourced snapshots, not static “catalog” prices. Fuel costs, labor shortages, and changes in the housing market can all impact the pricing of moving services throughout the year. We continuously refresh our pricing inputs and publish updated averages each month, ensuring that our numbers accurately track the market as it evolves. Most moving data sets are only updated once a year or every few years. The real-time nature of our pricing data makes it unlike any other data on the mark

Why prices change month-to-month

Moving costs are dynamic. Factors that impact them include:

Because these variables shift constantly, real-time pricing data is essential for planning and budgeting smartly.

Our cost calculator: the real-time quote-gathering advantage

Our cost calculator is a real-time quote engine that pulls live rate signals from the market and from providers themselves. That gives you three advantages:

That real-time integration is what makes our calculator the most accurate and practical tool for consumers to understand their expected moving costs.

Data Quality: How We Keep It Clean

To make sure our dataset stays useful and fair, we apply: