Auto · County · Iowa
Car washes and detailers in Howard County, IA
How Howard County, IA compares with other counties and the U.S. for car washes and detailers: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score
Not scored
Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
- Listings
- 1
- 0 chain locations (0%)
- Official establishments
- n/a
- Fewer than 3, or not published
- Household spending a year
- $4.6M
- On vehicle maintenance and repairs · $1,230 a household
- Spending per listing
- $4.6M
- Too few listings to compare
- Listings per 10k households
- 2.7
- Too few listings to compare
- Population, 2025
- 9,415
- −0.8% since 2020
See the car washes and detailers around any address in Howard County
The site report maps the car washes and detailers on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of Howard County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
Household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs in Howard County comes to about $4.6M a year: $1,230 per household, 28% above the U.S. average. That works out to $4.6M per location. The spending figure covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, not only car washes and detailers.
Howard County has 1 car wash or detailer on map listings as of September 2026. That is 2.7 per 10,000 households.
Official counts don’t publish a figure for car washes in Howard County, since they leave out counts under 3.
Population estimates show Howard County declined 0.8% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t given a market score, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
How Howard County compares
The same measures for Iowa and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all vehicle maintenance and repairs by the car washes and detailers counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | Howard County | Iowa | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 2.7 | 5.1 | 3.8 |
| Spending per listing | $4.6M | $2.2M | $2.5M |
| Households per official establishment | n/a | 4,357 | 6,523 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +17.1% | +16.7% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | −0.8% | +1.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on vehicle maintenance and repairs | $1,230 | $1,134 | $958 |
| Median household income | $67,446 | $75,059 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | Not scored | 34 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- n/a
- Employees, 2023
- n/a
- Annual payroll, 2023
- n/a
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 10 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 2The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 0
- Amount
- $0
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as car washes in Howard County, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in Howard County
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 9,415−0.8% since 2020
- Households
- 3,773
- Median age
- 40.5
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 77%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.2
- Land area
- 473 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 20
- Median household income
- $67,446
- Average household income
- $87,621
- Median home value
- $147,800
- Jobs located here
- 4,105
- Daytime population
- 9,049Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in Howard County?
These figures cover the whole county. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the car washes and detailers on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of Howard County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardCar washes and detailing across Iowa
Every Iowa market ranked →The highest-scoring counties in Iowa for car washes and detailers, numbered among those based in Iowa, with Howard County marked.
Top counties in Iowa
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Warren County, IA | 96 | 5 | 2.4 | $5.2M | +9.0% | #1 of 1,451 |
| 2Marion County, IA | 60 | 8 | 6.0 | $2.1M | +2.3% | #474 of 1,451 |
| 3Story County, IA | 59 | 15 | 3.9 | $2.8M | +2.7% | #481 of 1,451 |
| 4Johnson County, IA | 59 | 30 | 4.7 | $2.2M | +4.6% | #501 of 1,451 |
| 5Dallas County, IA | 59 | 27 | 6.4 | $1.9M | +17.8% | #505 of 1,451 |
| 6Jasper County, IA | 58 | 5 | 3.3 | $3.6M | +0.9% | #507 of 1,451 |
| 7Sioux County, IA | 51 | 7 | 5.5 | $2.4M | +2.5% | #700 of 1,451 |
| 8Clinton County, IA | 51 | 10 | 5.1 | $2.2M | −0.9% | #707 of 1,451 |
| 9Polk County, IA | 48 | 112 | 5.5 | $2M | +4.8% | #785 of 1,451 |
| 10Des Moines County, IA | 45 | 6 | 3.5 | $3M | −2.0% | #843 of 1,451 |
| Howard County, IA | Not scored | 1 | 2.7 | $4.6M | −0.8% |
Other business types in Howard County
None has a Groundwork market score here. Counties under 10,000 people aren’t scored, since a few businesses can swing their figures.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many car washes and detailers are in Howard County, IA?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 1 car wash or detailer in Howard County. The listings count car washes and detailers. No official count is published for car washes in Howard County: counts under 3 are left out.
How much do households in Howard County, IA spend on vehicle maintenance and repairs?
About $4.6M a year, or $1,230 per household. That is 28% above the U.S. average (an index of 128, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1 car wash or detailer on map listings, it comes to $4.6M per location. That spending covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, which car washes and detailers share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 3,773 households in Howard County and national spending patterns by income.
How does Howard County, IA compare with the U.S. for car washes and detailers?
Howard County has 1 car wash or detailer on map listings, too few for a steady comparison with the U.S. rate. At the U.S. ratio of car washes and detailers to household spending, Howard County would have about 2, against 1 on map listings.
How fast is Howard County, IA growing?
Population estimates put Howard County at 9,415 people in 2025, down 0.8% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 3,773 households. The median household income in Howard County is $67,446 a year, 16% below the U.S. median of $80,734.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The score leaves out counties under 10,000 people, where a handful of businesses would swing it.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Howard County. It maps the car washes and detailers on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for car washes and detailers · All 56 business types in Howard County
Screening a site or an acquisition in Howard County?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of Howard County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.