Over Half of Americans Haven’t Moved in Five Years — but 32% Expect to Pack up Soon, New LugLess Survey Reveals

Survey of 1,000+ Americans uncovers the real reasons people move, what stresses them most and why shipping boxes may be the future of relocation

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LugLess, the easiest and most affordable luggage shipping service, today announced findings from its 2025 State of Moving survey, revealing that moving isn’t just stressful; for many, it’s a nightmare.

Taking insights from 1,012 U.S. consumers, ages 18 to 65+, the survey found that nearly 1 in 10 would prefer an IRS audit and a concerning 10% confirmed they’d choose to break up with their partner than move again.

Where they’re going

Americans may be moving, but they’re not going far. Nearly half (47%) of respondents moved within their same city, while only 17% moved out of state and 1% left the country. Top states people are fleeing from include Florida (10%) and California (7%), with Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Texas all tying at 6%.

When asked to describe the type of place they’re moving to, suburbia reigns supreme. Twenty-four percent of respondents confirm they’re switching from a big city to the suburbs, whereas 20% are going from one suburban area to another. Major cities are on a downward turn, with this type of move even lower amongst younger generations.

While Florida and California are losing people, they are still trending towards growth. For those who plan to move in the next five years, Florida is the top location (13%), followed by California (8%), Colorado (8%), Arizona (6%), and Georgia and Texas tied (5%).

Why they’re going

When it comes to why Americans are moving, the economy and rising prices continue to factor into their decisions. Lowering their cost of living is the top reason 24% of people have moved. Being closer to family (22%) and overall dissatisfaction with their current city and/or state (17%) also remain big drivers.

Surprisingly, 10% moved because they felt their roommate was crazy, and 6% moved due to the political climate.

How they’re going

With 66% of respondents renting a U-Haul and moving themselves, it’s clear that traditional moving is still the go-to for Americans. However, many are growing dissatisfied with that option, with 28% reporting they had a horrible experience. Reasons why include:

• 40% realize they own far too much stuff
• 30% experienced their things being broken or lost
• 26% injured themselves

This dissatisfaction with moving has left many respondents with regrets, with more than 50% confirming they’d change something about their moving process. Twenty-two percent would opt for a moving company instead, while 12% would adopt shipping boxes as their new strategy. For those already shipping boxes, they cited safety (44%), cost-effectiveness (44%) and ease (37%) as reasons why.

Although 32% confirm they enjoy the moving process, when asked if they’d consider a box-shipping service that offered real-time tracking and insurance, 67% said yes. This suggests the future of moving may look very different.

Box shipping is already picking up steam with some respondents. Surprisingly, 16% shipped some, if not all, of their belongings via a box shipping service. Younger generations are especially fond of the service, with one-fifth of Gen Z and millennials using it. In fact, Gen Z confirms that box shipping was how they moved the vast majority of their items. This confirms a generational difference in the style of moving, with Gen X and baby boomers as the main drivers of traditional methods, such as U-Haul and professional movers.

The emerging alternative to traditional moving

Moving remains one of the most stressful and costly experiences for many Americans, whether they rent a truck and move themselves or rely on friends, family or professional movers.

Shipping boxes directly from one home to another is quickly gaining traction as an alternative to traditional moving. This approach can reduce costs compared to traditional moving services while also eliminating the hassle of renting, driving or coordinating vehicles. It also provides flexibility for last-minute items, whether those are necessities that didn’t fit into the car or boxes left behind after the moving truck was filled.

“Moving is an experience we all inevitably go through, but following the status quo will likely leave you with a less than ideal moving experience, as evidenced by the survey’s results,” said Audrey Kohout, co-CEO of LugLess. “More modern options exist to take the stress out of such a chaotic moment, with box shipping options like LugLess being the newest form of convenience for modern Americans.”

To learn more about how LugLess ships boxes, please visit https://www.lugless.com/ship-boxes/.

Methodology

The Propeller Insights survey commissioned by LugLess surveyed 1,012 U.S. citizens, ages 18 and over, across the U.S. in August 2025. Survey responses were representative of the U.S. population for age, gender, region and ethnicity. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/- 3.0 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

About LugLess

LugLess was created to bypass the inefficient, outdated and broken process of checking luggage and shipping your personal effects. Our technology leverages existing logistics networks to make shipping a box across the city or cross-country, easy, fast and cheap.