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Car Wash Industry Statistics: Revenue, Labor, Customer Trends, and Water Use

A source-based look at U.S. car wash revenue, wages, work hours, customer behavior, membership trends, operator performance, and water use—with each figure tied to its measured population and period.

November 12, 2026 6 min read americanautomags.com Editorial Team

Contents

Car wash industry statistics: revenue and payroll

U.S. employer firms classified as car washes (NAICS 811192) reported $18.23 billion in revenue and $5.23 billion in annual payroll in 2024. These are Census Bureau figures for private, nonfarm businesses with employees; they do not represent every self-employed operator or all money spent on car washing. Revenue and payroll describe different things: payroll was about 29 cents per dollar of reported revenue, but that ratio is not a profit margin and does not account for other operating costs.

The Census table provides a national economic snapshot, while the labor and customer figures below come from separate sources and periods. They should be read as complementary measures, not combined into a single estimate of the industry’s size or performance. U.S. Census Bureau, AIES 2024

Car wash industry statistics: employee earnings and hours

Bureau of Labor Statistics data for NAICS 811192 report average hourly earnings of $18.94 in December 2022, $19.67 in October 2023, and $19.57 in November 2023. The same table lists average weekly earnings of $545.47, $576.33, and $577.32 for those respective months. December 2023 values appear as dashes in the cited table, so no figure is reported here for that month.

These are monthly averages for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, not starting wages or pay for a particular job title. Weekly earnings also reflect hours worked, so they should not be read as a fixed weekly salary. The cited figures are not seasonally adjusted. BLS, Table B-3b

A separate BLS series tracks weekly hours for production employees in goods-producing industries and nonsupervisory employees in service industries. For car washes, the reported average was 26.4 hours in February 2024, then 25.3 hours in December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025. This is a narrower employee group than the earnings series. It gives an industry average, not a typical schedule for every worker or location. The cited table also covers overtime, but the checked figures here are for weekly hours. BLS, Table B-7b

Professional car washes and at-home washing

The International Carwash Association (ICA) reports that 73% of washes in 2024 took place at professional facilities, while 27% were done at home. These percentages describe the share of washes, not the share of people who use professional facilities: one person may wash a vehicle repeatedly, and the figures do not count unique customers.

In a separate consumer survey referenced in the same ICA handout, 70% of consumers hoped more car washes would open in their community. The handout does not state that survey’s sample size or field dates. It is best understood as a survey finding with limited public methodological detail, not a measure of every U.S. consumer’s preference. ICA, updated handout

Customer behavior, experience, and price

ICA’s Q4 2024 Pulse summary said 73% of surveyed consumers washed at a car wash most often. That result concerns consumers’ most common behavior, unlike the handout’s share of total washes. In the same quarter, 30% of transactional customers said they were very satisfied with prices. The public summary does not provide a sample size or full question wording for these measures.

A separate Q3 2025 ICA Consumer Pulse survey covered a nationally representative, census-balanced sample of 840 U.S. consumers who had used a professional car wash in the prior year. In that group, 51% said they looked forward to their next wash, and fewer than 10% described their favorite wash as fun, inviting, or energetic. 59% said employee friendliness was extremely or very important, while 27% described their favorite wash as welcoming. These results suggest that consumers value human interaction, but reported expectations and descriptions do not establish what causes repeat visits or spending.

The same Q3 2025 survey found that 22% felt their car wash experience was very personalized, while 61% often or always felt like a valued customer. Those measures capture different aspects of the visit: a customer may feel valued without describing the service as highly personalized. In Q1 2026, ICA reported that nearly 79% of car wash customers said they would be willing to accept a price increase. That stated willingness is not evidence that customers actually paid more, and the public summary does not state the sample size. ICA, Q4 2024 Pulse; ICA, Q3 2025 Consumer Pulse; ICA, Q1 2026 Pulse

Memberships and operator performance

Membership-related measures show both continued interest and operating pressure. ICA’s Q4 2024 Pulse summary reported 83% member satisfaction, its highest recorded level since Pulse tracking began in 2021, and 93% intent to renew, the highest level that year. In Q1 2026, nearly 90% of unlimited wash members said they planned to renew. These are findings about ICA survey respondents; the public summaries do not give sample sizes, so they should not be treated as national membership renewal rates.

A Rinsed report drawing on nearly 3,500 car wash locations showed 5.6% year-over-year same-store sales revenue growth in Q2 2025. Within that report, membership revenue rose 15.2% year over year, while retail revenue fell 11.9%, despite a 3% increase in price per retail wash. The differing directions show why total sales growth can mask shifts between revenue streams. These are results from locations represented in the Rinsed report, not a census of all U.S. operators.

The report also gave a 13.6% conversion rate for the segment with the most active monthly members per site; that segment had dipped slightly from Q1 2025. Total churn was 7.7%, including 4.7% voluntary churn and 3% credit-card churn. The public summary does not specify the denominator for these churn rates, so comparisons with other companies or reports require caution. Average Net Promoter Score (NPS) across locations was 56.3. NPS subtracts the percentage of detractors (responses of 0–6 on the 0–10 recommendation question) from the percentage of promoters (9–10), producing a score from −100 to 100. ICA announcement of the Rinsed Q2 2025 report

Car wash water use: a small regional field study

A 2017 ICA study monitored six conveyor washes and six in-bay automatic facilities at volunteer sites in Northern California. Each facility was monitored for at least one week between May 1 and November 1. The results are a small regional field sample, not national averages or current measurements.

The six conveyor facilities averaged 30.0 gallons of freshwater per vehicle; the six in-bay automatics averaged 44.8 gallons per vehicle. Evaporation and carryout—the water leaving with the vehicle or lost during the wash—averaged 6.3 gallons per vehicle at conveyor sites and 8.7 gallons at in-bay sites. These figures do not by themselves compare total water impact: the study distinguishes freshwater from reclaimed water, and its findings apply to the facilities measured.

For each gallon of freshwater applied, conveyor sites used an average of 2.9 gallons of reclaimed water, with site results ranging from 1.9 to 4.9 gallons. Freshwater averaged 26% of water applied in each conveyor wash. Within the six-site conveyor sample, one identified facility recorded 37.9 gallons of freshwater per vehicle, illustrating variation among sites without establishing the full industry range. ICA, 2018 Car Wash Water Use Study

Sources

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