How We Rate Moving Companies
Our rankings come from real, public data — not advertising. Here's exactly what goes into them, and what doesn't.
- 163+ movers tracked
- 159,377+ verified reviews analyzed
- No payment accepted for rankings
MoversChecker is an independent review site. We currently track 163+ moving companies across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, drawing on 159,377+ verified customer reviews. We do not accept payment from movers in exchange for rankings or placement.
How we build a city ranking
For each city we cover, we start with the movers that actually appear in Google's local results — the companies real people find when they search. We confirm each is a genuine, active business with a public profile, then score the field on the signals below. We're not trying to rank every mover in America; we're trying to answer a narrower, more useful question: of the movers competing for your business in this city, which ones do the work well?
What we measure
- Verified review rating. Each company's current Google star rating, pulled from its live business profile.
- Review volume. The total number of verified Google reviews — a rating means more when it's held across hundreds or thousands of moves.
- Recent review themes. We read the newest reviews and track what customers actually say: punctuality, careful handling, pricing transparency, communication, and any damage or complaint patterns.
- Licensing and authority. We note the state regulator that applies (Washington UTC, Oregon ODOT, or — in Idaho — no state license) and point you to the FMCSA SAFER system to verify interstate USDOT authority.
- Chain vs. independent. We flag national chains separately, because crew quality tends to vary more across their locations than with a single local crew.
What we don't do
- We don't invent ratings, prices, review counts, or license numbers. When we don't have a verified figure, we say so.
- We don't claim to have personally hired or "mystery shopped" every mover — our analysis is built on real, public review data and public records.
- We don't sell top spots. Advertising, where present, is labeled. See our advertising disclosure.
Reading the reviews, not just the stars
A star average is a starting point, not the answer. Two companies can both sit at 4.8, but one earned it across 1,500 moves and the other across 30 — and one's recent reviews might quietly be trending toward damage complaints while the other's celebrate careful crews. So we weight review volume heavily, sort for the newest reviews, and read them for patterns rather than one-off gripes. Repeated complaints about the same thing — surprise fees, no-shows, broken furniture — count against a company; a few bad days among thousands of good ones don't.
How we break ties
When two movers post the same star rating, review volume decides it — a 4.8 held across 1,200 moves is a stronger signal than the same 4.8 across 40. If they're still close, the recency and consistency of the reviews break the tie: a company whose latest reviews are as strong as its oldest ranks above one that's quietly slipping. The goal is to reward crews that stay good, not ones that peaked years ago and coasted on an old average.
Why we flag national chains separately
Big franchise brands can move you perfectly well, but they fail differently than local independents. A single local crew with the same owner on every job tends to be more consistent; a national chain's quality varies from one franchise location to the next and from day to day, and some jobs are subcontracted. We note when a company is a chain so you can weight its reviews for your specific location — not the brand as a whole.
Where our data comes from
Our ratings and review counts come from movers' live, public Google Business Profiles, cross-referenced with other public review sources and, for licensing, the state regulators and the FMCSA. We don't run undisclosed "mystery shops" or invent testing we didn't do. When a fact isn't verified — a USDOT number we haven't confirmed, for instance — we point you to the source (like the FMCSA SAFER system) rather than guessing.
Costs are estimates
Any price ranges we publish are labeled planning estimates. Your actual cost depends on home size, distance, access, and season — always get a binding written estimate before you book.
Keeping it current, and fixing mistakes
Ratings and review counts change over time, so we refresh our data periodically and date each page. We're not infallible — a company's crews and ownership change, and data can go stale. If you spot something out of date or wrong, let us know and we'll correct it. Our full standards are on the editorial policy page.