Moving is one of the biggest disruptions in a person's life, and it compresses months of decisions into a few chaotic weeks. New neighborhood, new agent, new mover, new couch. Nextdoor's 2026 Moving Insights Report tracked how that process actually unfolds, and the numbers point to a household that stays in near-constant purchase mode long after the boxes are unpacked.
The headline number for advertisers: 66% of neighbors update their Nextdoor address within a month of moving, and 37% do it within a week. They're showing up on the platform while they're still choosing an agent, booking a mover, and furnishing a new home, before any brand has earned their loyalty. Moving activity keeps climbing even with interest rates elevated, and long-distance moves have nearly doubled over the past decade. More people are moving, and more of them are landing in markets where no brand has a head start.
A decade ago, 18% of moves crossed into a new media market. In the first half of 2026, that figure hit 35%. Mountain West states posted the strongest per-capita net in-migration of any region during that stretch, absorbing a wave of newcomers with no local brand relationships to draw on. That shift shows up in outside data, too. United Van Lines' 2025 National Movers Study, an independent annual survey of interstate relocations, found Idaho and Nevada both breaking into its top ten inbound states for the first time, part of a broader move toward smaller cities and towns that its researchers describe as "redefining American relocation patterns."
Interestingly, longer distance doesn't mean a different lifestyle. Most movers land somewhere that looks a lot like where they left. 56% of neighbors leaving a dispersed suburb move into another dispersed suburb rather than jumping to an urban core or a rural town, and lower-density suburbs remain the single most common destination overall. For advertisers, that combination argues for local-market conquesting creative in high in-migration states like those in the Mountain West, built around neighborhood-specific messaging rather than assumed brand awareness.
Moving decisions rarely start with real estate. 35% of neighbors moved to be closer to family or friends, the single largest driver in the data, ahead of a fresh start or lifestyle change at 28% and retirement at 22%. Further down the list, 19% moved to reduce their cost of living, 17% wanted to downsize, 13% needed more space, and 9% moved because a lease ended.
Once neighbors settle on relocating, the criteria shift. Friends or family living nearby is the top reason people pick a specific neighborhood, cited by 40%, ahead of affordability at 36% and nearby shopping and restaurants at 30%. Safety and a sense of community round out the list. Choosing the actual house comes down to more practical math: 52% picked their new home for size or layout, 42% for price, and 39% for move-in readiness.
Creative that only addresses logistics misses most of what's driving the decision. Price and move-in readiness matter, but so does the emotional story underneath them: reuniting with family, starting over, or finally slowing down in retirement.
93% of neighbors who bought or sold a home worked with a real estate agent, and local knowledge is what won that business. 56% said knowledge of the local market mattered most in choosing an agent, ahead of communication and responsiveness at 39% and a friend or family referral at 32%.
When it comes to actually finding the home, Zillow leads at 28%, followed by real estate agents at 21% and word of mouth at 14%. And a striking number of neighbors wanted more than a listing site could give them: 46% said it would have been very helpful to ask questions of people already living in their new neighborhood before deciding to move, second only to visiting in person at 54%.
The pattern holds for movers, too. Among the 57% who hired a professional company, a price quote drove the decision for 49%, but online reviews weren't far behind at 43%. Across every one of these choices, local expertise and social proof are outperforming price-only pitches. Resident testimonials and verified reviews build the kind of confidence that a discount can't, and they directly answer the near-half of movers who wanted a real neighbor's perspective and couldn't find one.
60% of recent movers sold one home before buying another, and in the twelve months surrounding a move, purchasing spans nearly every category of the home. 54% bought new home décor, 38% bought a couch, 37% bought lighting, 36% bought a TV, and 34% bought a mattress.
The biggest purchases cluster tightly around move-in day, but they don't stop there. 41% buy kitchen appliances before moving, and another 37% buy them within the following month. 38% buy a washer or dryer before the move, and 44% buy one within a month after. Nearly half of the homes neighbors move into need some kind of work. Only 51% are completely move-in ready, and 80% expect to hire a professional for renovations or repairs, led by handymen at 31%, pest control at 29%, and electricians and landscapers at 26% each. Renovation spending is climbing fast: 33% now plan repairs within a month of moving in, up 27% year over year. That tracks with independent research from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, which has found that recent homebuyers spend about 35% more on home improvements than owners who have lived in their homes for more than three years, even after accounting for age and income.
The practical takeaway is that a mover isn't a single transaction. Appliance and furniture purchases cluster in the weeks around move-in, décor and personalization follow, and home services stay relevant for months after that, right through the period when most renovation and repair decisions get made.
Movers don't wait to plug into a new community. Nextdoor is the second most-used platform for discovering new businesses, restaurants, and services after a move, cited by 48% of movers, trailing only Google at 59% and running ahead of Facebook at 34% and Yelp at 17%.
Posting, commenting, and search activity among movers spikes sharply the week of the move and stays elevated for roughly eight weeks afterward, well above baseline. Planning starts earlier than most brands account for: 49% hire a mover about a month out, and 30% start shopping for moving supplies two to three months ahead. Put together, the highest-intent window for reaching a mover runs from about a month before the move through roughly two months after it, before new routines and brand habits have had time to set.
A few principles fall out of the data pretty directly. Reach neighbors during the planning phase, not just on move-in day, since so much of the decision-making happens weeks in advance. Lead with local proof over price. A verified review or a resident testimonial carries more weight than a discount, especially given how many movers wished they'd had a real neighbor to ask. Shift media weight toward the markets absorbing the most long-distance movers, particularly in the Mountain West, where incoming households haven't formed brand loyalties yet. And build campaigns that follow the purchase sequence rather than treating the move as one moment: appliances and furniture near move-in, then décor, renovation, and home services for months afterward.