How Much Do Laundromats Make? Revenue, Profit & Owner Earnings
2026 REVENUE & OWNER EARNINGS DATA
How much does a laundromat make? A useful answer has to separate gross revenue from operating profit, seller’s discretionary earnings and the cash an owner actually keeps after financing and reinvestment.
QUICK ANSWER
Among 855 laundromats reported sold through BizBuySell from 2021–2025, the five-year median business generated $219,878 in annual revenue and $76,560 in seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE).
That’s approximately $18,323 per month in gross revenue and $6,380 per month in SDE. But SDE is not the same as net profit or owner take-home pay. Financing, equipment reinvestment, taxes and the owner’s labor model can materially change what remains.
Source: BizBuySell Laundromat Valuation Benchmarks. Data reflects laundromats sold on and reported to BizBuySell and should not be interpreted as the financial performance of every U.S. laundromat.
How Much Revenue Does a Laundromat Make?
There is a wide range. Even among laundromats that were actually sold, revenue varies substantially.
| 2021–2025 Sold Laundromats | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|
| Lower Quartile | $144,733 |
| Median | $219,878 |
| Average | $286,984 |
| Upper Quartile | $355,377 |
Source: BizBuySell. Quartiles describe the distribution of reported sold-business revenue; they are not store-size classifications.
Those numbers translate approximately to:
| Benchmark | Annual Revenue | Monthly Equivalent | Daily Calendar Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Quartile | $144,733 | $12,061 | $397 |
| Median | $219,878 | $18,323 | $602 |
| Average | $286,984 | $23,915 | $786 |
| Upper Quartile | $355,377 | $29,615 | $974 |
Monthly and daily figures above are simple mathematical equivalents of the annual transaction benchmarks. Actual laundromat sales are not evenly distributed across every day or month.
How Much Did Sold Laundromats Make in 2025?
BizBuySell’s most recent full-year transaction data shows a 2025 median of $215,500 in annual revenue and $77,104 in seller’s discretionary earnings.
That works out to approximately:
MEDIAN GROSS REVENUE
$17,958/mo
$215,500 annually
MEDIAN REPORTED SDE
$6,425/mo
$77,104 annually
The reported SDE-to-revenue ratio for those 2025 sales was 35.8%.
Do not read that as a 35.8% national “net profit margin.” BizBuySell reports seller’s discretionary earnings, a small-business acquisition metric that can add back owner compensation and certain discretionary or non-recurring expenses.
Revenue vs. Profit vs. Owner Earnings
If somebody says, “This laundromat makes $250,000 a year,” your next question should be:
“Do you mean revenue, operating profit, SDE or cash after debt?”
They are different numbers.
Gross Revenue
Everything customers pay before operating expenses.
Operating Profit
Revenue remaining after ordinary operating expenses under the definition being used.
SDE
An acquisition metric designed to estimate discretionary economic benefit available to one owner-operator before acquisition financing.
Owner Cash Flow
What remains after considering your financing, required labor, reserves and other owner-specific cash obligations.
Want to go deeper on margins and ROI? Read Are Laundromats Profitable? →
Laundromat Revenue-to-Cash-Flow Calculator
Use this simple scenario tool to see how reported owner earnings can change after acquisition debt and a planned equipment reserve. For a detailed operating-expense model, use our full Laundromat Profit Calculator.
Revenue-to-Cash-Flow Calculator
Start with reported revenue and owner earnings, then see what remains after debt and a planned capital reserve.
Scenario Results
This is a simplified educational scenario, not a profit-and-loss statement. It does not calculate taxes, depreciation, owner-specific payroll needs, working-capital changes or actual future capital expenditures. SDE is not net income.
Need to build operating expenses from scratch? Use the full Laundromat Profit Calculator →
How Much Owner Earnings Do Laundromats Generate?
The same BizBuySell dataset provides a useful distribution of reported seller’s discretionary earnings among laundromats that actually changed hands.
| 2021–2025 Sold Laundromats | Annual Reported SDE | Monthly Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Quartile | $46,375 | $3,865 |
| Median | $76,560 | $6,380 |
| Average | $115,541 | $9,628 |
| Upper Quartile | $138,105 | $11,509 |
These SDE quartiles and revenue quartiles are separate distribution statistics. Do not assume, for example, that the lower-quartile revenue business is the same business represented by the lower-quartile SDE figure.
How Much Does a Laundromat Owner Actually Take Home?
There is no responsible way to turn an industry revenue statistic into a universal owner salary.
Two buyers can purchase the exact same laundromat and personally receive very different cash flow.
Buyer A: Pays Cash
There is no acquisition loan payment, so more of the operating economics may remain available for taxes, reinvestment and owner distributions.
Buyer B: Uses Significant Financing
The business may report exactly the same operating performance, but annual principal and interest payments reduce the cash available to the owner.
Buyer C: Replaces the Seller’s Labor
If the seller worked 30 hours per week and Buyer C hires a manager or attendant to replace that labor, the buyer must account for a cost that may have been treated as owner compensation in the seller’s SDE calculation.
Buyer D: Faces Equipment Replacement
A store can produce attractive historical earnings while requiring substantial machine replacement during the first years of new ownership. Economic cash flow and accounting earnings are not always the same thing.
THE NUMBER TO UNDERWRITE
Don’t ask only what the current owner makes.
Ask what the laundromat will produce under your purchase price, your financing, your labor model and your equipment plan.
What Determines How Much a Laundromat Makes?
1. Customer Demand
The Laundry Association notes that coin laundries tend to perform particularly well in densely populated, renter-occupied areas. But even within the same city, individual trade areas can behave very differently.
2. Washer and Dryer Utilization
A machine earns nothing while sitting unused. Customer volume, machine mix, store capacity and turns per day ultimately influence how much revenue the equipment can produce.
3. Vend Pricing
Pricing affects both revenue and customer behavior. A busy laundromat can still underperform economically if vend prices fail to keep pace with utility costs, equipment quality and local market conditions.
4. Equipment Mix
Machine capacity matters. A laundromat dominated by small washers can have different revenue characteristics from a store with a strong mix of larger-capacity equipment.
5. Rent and Utilities
Two laundromats with identical gross revenue can produce completely different earnings if one has a significantly more expensive lease or inefficient utility consumption.
6. Labor Model
An unattended store, an attended laundromat and a full-service laundry operation have different payroll requirements and management complexity.
7. Additional Services
Wash-dry-fold, commercial laundry, pickup and delivery, vending and other services can increase gross revenue. Whether they increase profit depends on the incremental labor, supplies, delivery and operating costs required to produce them.
Industry context: The Laundry Association — Industry Overview.
How Large Is the U.S. Laundromat Market?
The Laundry Association estimates there are approximately 29,500 coin laundries in the United States generating nearly $5 billion in annual gross revenue.
Separately, the U.S. Census Bureau reports approximately $5.91 billion in 2023 revenue for employer firms classified under NAICS 812310, Coin-operated laundries and drycleaners.
Those numbers should not be divided to create an “average laundromat revenue” estimate. The underlying populations and classifications are different, and NAICS 812310 also includes route laundry operations supplying self-service equipment in places such as apartments and dormitories.
Sources: The Laundry Association and U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Annual Integrated Economic Survey.
Why a High-Revenue Laundromat Can Still Be a Bad Deal
Suppose one laundromat generates $350,000 per year while another generates $220,000.
It is tempting to assume the $350,000 store is the better investment.
But now imagine the larger store also has:
- Much higher rent
- Older equipment
- Higher payroll
- Deferred repairs
- A shorter lease
- A higher asking price
- A larger acquisition loan
The smaller store could produce the better return.
Revenue measures the size of the business. Return measures the quality of the investment.
How to Verify What a Laundromat Really Makes
If you’re evaluating a laundromat for sale, do not underwrite the acquisition from a listing’s reported revenue and cash-flow fields alone.
- Review tax returns and financial statements.
- Compare business bank activity.
- Review card, app and payment-system reports.
- Understand how cash collections are recorded.
- Review utility history as corroborating evidence.
- Verify wash-dry-fold and commercial account records.
- Normalize owner labor and discretionary add-backs.
- Rebuild the expense structure under your ownership.
BUYING A REAL STORE?
Reported revenue is where the investigation starts—not where it ends.
Learn how to verify revenue, rebuild expenses, inspect equipment, analyze the lease and determine whether the asking price makes sense.
What Should You Put in a Laundromat Financial Model?
If you’re planning a new store or evaluating an acquisition, model more than gross sales.
- Revenue by service
- Rent and CAM
- Water and sewer
- Gas and electricity
- Payroll
- Repairs
- Insurance
- Payment processing
- Supplies
- Marketing and administration
- Debt service
- Equipment capital expenditures
- Working-capital needs
Our free Laundromat Business Plan package includes an editable 12-month model, five-year projections, break-even, DSCR, cash-on-cash return and payback calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the average laundromat make a month?
There is no comprehensive national dataset establishing the average monthly revenue of every U.S. laundromat. Among laundromats reported sold by BizBuySell from 2021–2025, median annual revenue was $219,878, equivalent to approximately $18,323 per month.
How much profit does a laundromat make per month?
It depends on what is meant by “profit.” BizBuySell’s five-year median seller’s discretionary earnings were $76,560 annually, or about $6,380 per month. SDE is not net profit or guaranteed owner take-home cash because financing, owner labor, taxes and capital expenditures still matter.
How much does a laundromat make per day?
The five-year BizBuySell median of $219,878 in annual gross revenue equals approximately $602 per calendar day. This is only a mathematical equivalent; real stores have busier and slower days and seasonal variation.
Can a laundromat make $100,000 a year?
Some do. BizBuySell reports average SDE of $115,541 and an upper-quartile SDE benchmark of $138,105 among laundromats sold from 2021–2025. Those are transaction benchmarks, not guarantees that a particular laundromat or investment will generate six-figure owner earnings.
What is more important: laundromat revenue or profit?
Both matter, but a buyer ultimately needs to understand the cash flow generated relative to the price and capital invested. High revenue alone does not make an acquisition attractive.
The Bottom Line
Real transaction data shows that laundromats can generate meaningful revenue and owner earnings—but there is no universal number that tells you what your laundromat will make.
The five-year median laundromat reported sold through BizBuySell generated roughly $219,878 per year in revenue and $76,560 in SDE. The range around those numbers is wide.
So the better question is not:
“How much do laundromats make?”
It is:
“How much verified cash flow can this laundromat produce under my ownership—and what do I have to pay to get it?”
If you’re still estimating the investment required, continue with our Laundromat Startup Cost Guide. If you already have a real deal, use the Profit Calculator and 30-Point Buyer Checklist.
Disclaimer: Laundromat Deal IQ provides educational information and planning tools only. Transaction benchmarks describe businesses sold on and reported to BizBuySell and do not predict the future performance of any laundromat. Nothing on this page constitutes financial, investment, legal, accounting, lending or tax advice.