Auto detailing industry statistics (2026)

How big is the car wash and auto detailing industry?

The government counts detailing and car washes as one industry, so no federal figure separates the two. These numbers cover both, for businesses with employees.

• Official statistics count detailing inside NAICS 811192, "Car Washes", which the Census Bureau's 2022 definition says covers automotive detail shops, car detailers, mobile car and truck washes and self-service car washes.[1]
• Car wash and detailing businesses with employees took in $18.2 billion in revenue in 2024 ($18,232,634 thousand), according to the Census Bureau's Annual Integrated Economic Survey, a sample estimate.[2]
• IBISWorld, a market research firm, estimates the US car wash and auto detailing market at $17.0 billion in 2026, down 1.7% on the year before.[3]
• The United States had 19,840 car wash and detailing establishments with employees in 2025, up from 16,124 in 2019 and 14,632 in 2015 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages).[4]
• The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns counted 19,807 car wash and detailing establishments with employees in 2023, and 10,352 of them had fewer than five employees.[5]
• California had the most car wash and detailing establishments with employees in 2025, 2,268, followed by Texas (1,868), Florida (1,628), New York (860), Ohio (777) and Georgia (764), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[4]
• Three firms that sell market reports put the global car detailing services market in 2025 at $42.75 billion to $46.7 billion: Mordor Intelligence at $42.75 billion, Grand View Research at $43.5 billion and Global Market Insights at $46.7 billion.[6][7][8]
• For the United States, Grand View Research estimates a car detailing services market of $12.35 billion in 2025 ($12,350.8 million) and Global Market Insights estimates $15.1 billion; both are estimates by firms that sell the reports.[9][8]
• Grand View Research forecasts that the global car detailing services market will reach $70.8 billion by 2033, growing 6.4% a year from 2026.[7]

How many one-person detailing businesses are there?

Nobody publishes a count of one-person detailers alone. The closest official figure is a wider group, and it is given here as that group.

• The Census Bureau counted 105,290 businesses with no employees in "other automotive repair and maintenance" in 2024, the narrowest group it publishes that contains one-person car washes and detailers; the group also holds oil change and other repair businesses.[10]
• Those businesses with no employees reported $5.12 billion in receipts in 2024 ($5,122,115 thousand), according to the Census Bureau's Nonemployer Statistics.[10]

How many people work in car washing and detailing, and what does it pay?

• Car wash and detailing employers had 193,258 workers on average in 2025, up from 173,590 in 2019 and a low of 155,231 in 2020 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages).[4]
• The average worker at a car wash or detailing employer earned $645 a week in 2025, or $33,518 for the year, up from $459 a week in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[4]
• Car wash and detailing employers paid $6.48 billion in wages in 2025 ($6,477,639,216), against $4.14 billion in 2019 ($4,143,620,543), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[4]
• The median hourly wage for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, workers who wash or otherwise clean vehicles, machinery and other equipment, was $17.23 in May 2025, or $35,830 a year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics).[11]
• The lowest-paid tenth of vehicle and equipment cleaners earned $13.17 an hour or less in May 2025, and the highest-paid tenth earned $22.89 or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[11]
• 380,430 people were employed as cleaners of vehicles and equipment in the United States in May 2025; auto repair and maintenance businesses employed 158,990 of them and car dealers 75,270 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).[11]

How many vehicles are there to clean, and how old are they?

• 297,525,836 motor vehicles were registered in the United States in 2024, counting private, commercial and publicly owned vehicles (Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2024).[12]
• The average light vehicle on US roads was 12.8 years old in S&P Global Mobility's 2025 analysis; passenger cars averaged 14.5 years and light trucks 11.9 years.[13]
• S&P Global Mobility's 2025 analysis counted 289 million vehicles in operation in the United States.[13]
• The average new vehicle sold for $50,562 in September 2026, just under the record $50,614 set in December 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book.[14]
• The average used-vehicle listing price was $27,235 in September 2026, the highest since 2022, according to Cox Automotive.[15]

How much does car detailing cost?

The first two figures come from marketplaces' own quote and job data. The film, coating and tint figures are editors' price guides, which state no sample.

• The typical quoted price for auto detailing in the United States is $176, within a usual range of $100 to $270, according to Yelp, which bases the figure on 3,132,979 quotes from businesses (November 2026).[16]
• Thumbtack puts the national average price of mobile car detailing at $144 to $254, with $95 at the low end and $390 at the high end (updated April 2026).[17]
• A professional ceramic coating on all exterior surfaces starts around $1,350 for a car, $1,550 for an SUV and $1,650 for a truck, and higher-end jobs reach $2,500 or more, according to Autotrader (May 2026).[18]
• Full-car paint protection film typically costs around $4,000 to $7,000, and a partial front-end film with a ceramic coating can be under $2,500, according to Kelley Blue Book (October 2025).[19]
• A full vinyl wrap costs from around $2,000 to $10,000 or more, according to Kelley Blue Book (October 2025).[19]
• Tinting a sedan's windows costs $250 to $500, and a large van or SUV with premium nano-ceramic film can reach $1,000 or more, according to Kelley Blue Book (July 2025).[20]

How big are the paint protection film and window film businesses?

Market-size estimates for film disagree by almost two to one, so the first two figures here are one supplier's audited sales, which are a measurement.

• XPEL, a supplier of paint protection and window film, sold $249.4 million of paint protection film in 2025 ($249,401 thousand), up 10.0% on 2024, according to its annual report to the SEC.[21]
• XPEL's window film sales rose 21.7% in 2025 to $94.5 million ($94,544 thousand), according to its annual report to the SEC.[21]
• Research firms disagree on the size of the global paint protection film market in 2025: Mordor Intelligence estimates $498.23 million, Grand View Research $527.5 million and Global Market Insights $946.1 million.[22][23][24]

How do customers choose a detailer?

No survey asks these questions of detailing customers alone. The review figures are for US consumers choosing any local business.

• 73% of consumers say they most often wash their car at a car wash, the International Carwash Association's Pulse survey reported in December 2024.[25]
• 97% of US consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 41% say they always do, up from 29% a year earlier (BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026).[26]
• 47% of consumers will not use a business that has fewer than 20 reviews, according to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026.[26]
• 74% of consumers only care about reviews written in the last three months, BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 found.[26]
• 68% of consumers will only use a business rated four stars or higher, up from 55% in 2025, and 31% will only use one rated 4.5 or higher (BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026).[26]
• 89% of consumers expect a business owner to respond to reviews, according to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026.[26]
• 71% of consumers use Google to read reviews, down from 83% in 2025, according to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026.[26]
• 45% of consumers used ChatGPT or another generative AI tool for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier, BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 found.[26]

How do customers want to hear from an auto service business?

• 91% of US adults own a smartphone and 98% own a cellphone of some kind, according to Pew Research Center's 2026 survey.[27]
• More than half of customers at aftermarket auto service businesses now prefer text messages for service updates, J.D. Power's 2026 U.S. Aftermarket Service Index Study found; satisfaction scored 854 when they got texts and 840 when they got a phone call instead.[28]
• 32% of consumers check a new text message immediately and another 40% within five minutes, according to EZ Texting's 2026 Consumer Texting Behavior Report, the company's own survey of 959 US consumers.[29]

Original research

What does detailing software cost in 2026?

Strata's 2026 Software Price Check priced one setup at every platform: two logins, two-way texting, online booking and review requests, on each company's own month-to-month list price, read on 29 October 2026. Yearly-billing rates and promotions are left out, Strata's own included.

• Strata's 2026 Software Price Check priced the same setup at eight platforms sold to automotive businesses and found the monthly bill ran from $49 to $784, with a median of $174.50.
• Three of the eight platforms raised their entry price between February 2025 and August 2026, by 40%, 50% and 101%: Urable from $50 to $70 a month, Tint Wiz from $100 to $150 a month and Fieldd from $99 to $199 a month (Strata's 2026 Software Price Check, from archived copies of each pricing page).
• At four of the eight platforms the published plans and add-ons cover two-way texting, online booking and review requests together, Strata's 2026 Software Price Check found. At the others, one of the three is left out, runs through an account the business opens elsewhere, or is not described on the company's own site.
• Three of the eight platforms reach that setup only with a paid add-on that costs $99 to $349 a month on top of the plan (Strata's 2026 Software Price Check).
• Four of the eight platforms publish terms that renew the agreement a year at a time, and ask for 30 or 90 days' notice to leave; two of the four say "no contract" on their pricing page or homepage (Strata's 2026 Software Price Check).
• Two of the eight platforms offer no free trial, only a demo; at the others the trial runs from 7 to 30 days (Strata's 2026 Software Price Check).

Strata makes one of the products in this table. Each company's name links to the page that lists the sources for its row: its pricing page, its terms and, for a price change, the archived copies. Found a figure that has changed? Tell us and it is corrected here.

How these numbers were collected, and how to cite them

Every outside figure is printed as its publisher printed it, with the period it covers, and links to the page it was read from. A number that could not be traced to the organization that measured it is not here. Government counts run a year or two behind, so the year is always shown. Market forecasts are labelled as forecasts, with the firm that made them.

Some figures that are repeated widely are left out on purpose, because we could not trace them to a study with a stated sample: a 98% open rate for text messages, and an average no-show rate of 10% to 15%. We also found no published study that measures no-shows or deposits at detailing businesses.

To cite a figure, name its original source and year. To cite this page: Strata CRM, "Auto detailing industry statistics (2026)", stratacrm.app/auto-detailing-statistics, updated 9 November 2026.

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, North American Industry Classification System: 811192 Car Washes. The 2022 NAICS definition. Read 9 November 2026.
2. U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Integrated Economic Survey 2024, table AIES00BASIC, NAICS 811192. 2024 data for businesses with employees, a sample estimate. Read 9 November 2026.
3. IBISWorld, Car Wash & Auto Detailing in the US: Market Size Statistics for 2026. IBISWorld's own estimate for 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: NAICS 811192, car washes (annual averages, data file). 2025 annual averages for private employers; earlier years from the same series. Read 9 November 2026.
5. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, table CB2300CBP, NAICS 811192. 2023 data for businesses with employees. Read 9 November 2026.
6. Mordor Intelligence, Car Detailing Services Market Size, Share, 2025-2031 Outlook. The firm's own estimate for 2025 and forecast to 2031. Read 9 November 2026.
7. Grand View Research, Car Detailing Services Market Size, Share Report 2026-2033. The firm's own estimate for 2025 and forecast to 2033. Read 9 November 2026.
8. Global Market Insights, Car Detailing Service Market Size, Forecasts Report 2026-2035. The firm's own estimate for 2025 and forecast to 2035. Read 9 November 2026.
9. Grand View Research, The United States Car Detailing Services Market Outlook, 2033. The firm's own estimate for 2025 and forecast to 2033. Read 9 November 2026.
10. U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024, table NS00NONEMP, NAICS 81119. 2024 data for businesses with no employees. Read 9 November 2026.
11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: 53-7061 Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment. May 2025 estimates. Read 9 November 2026.
12. Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2024, Table MV-1: State Motor-Vehicle Registrations. 2024 data, published January 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
13. S&P Global Mobility, U.S. Vehicle Age Rises Again to 12.8 Years in 2025. Press release of 21 May 2025. Read 9 November 2026.
14. Kelley Blue Book, Average New-Vehicle Transaction Prices Flirt with All-Time High. September 2026 prices, released 13 October 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
15. Cox Automotive, Used-Vehicle Inventory Builds as September Sales Pace Slows. September 2026 listings. Read 9 November 2026.
16. Yelp, Cost of Auto Detailing. Quotes businesses gave consumers on Yelp; page last updated November 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
17. Thumbtack, How much does mobile car detailing cost?. Last updated 15 April 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
18. Autotrader, How Much Does Ceramic Coating Cost?. Published 18 May 2026; an editor's price guide. Read 9 November 2026.
19. Kelley Blue Book, How Much Does It Cost to Wrap a Car?. Published 9 October 2025; an editor's price guide. Read 9 November 2026.
20. Kelley Blue Book, Car Window Tinting: 7 Things You Need to Know. Published 30 July 2025; an editor's price guide. Read 9 November 2026.
21. XPEL, Inc., Annual report (Form 10-K) for the year ended 31 December 2025. Audited results for 2025, filed with the SEC. Read 9 November 2026.
22. Mordor Intelligence, Paint Protection Films Market Size & Industry Report 2031. The firm's own estimate for 2025. Read 9 November 2026.
23. Grand View Research, Paint Protection Film Market Size & Share Report, 2026-2033. The firm's own estimate for 2025. Read 9 November 2026.
24. Global Market Insights, Paint Protection Films Market Size, Forecasts Report 2026-2035. The firm's own estimate for 2025. Read 9 November 2026.
25. International Carwash Association, The Pulse Report Q4 2024. Survey results published 17 December 2024. Read 9 November 2026.
26. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026. The 2026 edition, a survey of 1,002 US adults. Read 9 November 2026.
27. Pew Research Center, Americans' Use of Mobile Devices in 2026. Survey conducted 30 January to 18 June 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
28. J.D. Power, 2026 U.S. Aftermarket Service Index (ASI) Study. 10,572 vehicle owners surveyed January to March 2026; released 28 April 2026. Read 9 November 2026.
29. EZ Texting, 2026 Consumer Texting Behavior Report. The company's own survey of 959 US consumers, published 13 April 2026. Read 9 November 2026.