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Auto · Metro area · Michigan

Car washes and detailers in the Monroe, MI metro area

How the Monroe, MI metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for car washes and detailers: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 55 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #167 of 387 scored metro areas
#4 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan

Listings
33
4 chain locations (12%)
Official establishments
8
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$70.7M
On vehicle maintenance and repairs · $1,122 a household
Spending per listing
$2.1M
15% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
5.2
37% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
156,004
+0.7% since 2020

See the car washes and detailers around any address in the Monroe metro area

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 the Monroe metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

As of September 2026, map listings count 33 car washes and detailers in the Monroe metro area. Chain locations make up 12% of them, against 23% across the U.S. That comes to 5.2 for every 10,000 households, 37% above the U.S. rate of 3.8.

Households in the Monroe metro area spend about $70.7M a year on vehicle maintenance and repairs, or $1,122 per household, 17% above the U.S. average. That is about $2.1M of household spending for each location on map listings, 15% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. That spending covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, which car washes and detailers share with other businesses in the trade.

Official counts show 8 businesses with payroll classed as car washes in the Monroe metro area in 2023. That is one for every 7,879 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $270K has gone to businesses classed as car washes in the Monroe metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Monroe metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +0.7%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For car washes and detailers, the Monroe metro area has a Groundwork market score of 55 (upper middle): #167 of 387 scored metro areas and #4 of 15 scored metro areas based in Michigan.

How the Monroe metro area compares

The same measures for Michigan 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.

Car washes and detailing in Monroe, MI metro area compared with Michigan and the U.S.
MeasureMonroe metro areaMichiganU.S.
Listings per 10k households5.24.63.8
Spending per listing$2.1M$2.2M$2.5M
Households per official establishment7,8796,1026,523
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+13.2%+16.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.7%+0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on vehicle maintenance and repairs$1,122$1,022$958
Median household income$77,335$72,875$80,734
Groundwork market score5531

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
8
Employees, 2023
27
Annual payroll, 2023
$378K
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
334 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
28The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$270K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as car washes in the Monroe metro area, 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 the Monroe metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
156,004+0.7% since 2020
Households
63,029
Median age
43.7
Homes lived in by their owners
82%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
549 sq. mi.
People per square mile
283
Median household income
$77,335+24.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$98,107
Median home value
$228,900
Jobs located here
38,727
Daytime population
128,192Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Monroe metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. 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 the Monroe metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Car washes and detailing across Michigan

Every Michigan market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Michigan for car washes and detailers, numbered among those based in Michigan (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Monroe metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Michigan

Metro areas in Michigan ranked for car washes and detailers by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Ann Arbor, MI68453.0$3.4M−0.4%#55 of 387
2Lansing-East Lansing, MI63703.6$2.8M+1.4%#99 of 387
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI61423.3$3.1M+0.1%#114 of 387
3Bay City, MI55153.3$3M−1.6%#163 of 387
4Monroe, MI55335.2$2.1M+0.7%#167 of 387
5Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI54324.7$2.1M+1.8%#172 of 387
6Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI452375.4$2M+2.8%#243 of 387
7Traverse City, MI43324.9$2.3M+2.2%#251 of 387
8Niles, MI40355.5$1.8M−1.3%#276 of 387
9Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI398004.5$2.2M+0.1%#278 of 387

Other business types in the Monroe metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many car washes and detailers are in the Monroe, MI metro area?

The Monroe metro area has 33 car washes and detailers on map listings as of September 2026. 4 of them (12%) are chain locations. The listings count car washes and detailers. Official counts show 8 businesses with payroll classed as car washes in 2023.

How much do households in the Monroe, MI metro area spend on vehicle maintenance and repairs?

About $70.7M a year, or $1,122 per household. That is 17% above the U.S. average (an index of 117, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 33 car washes and detailers on map listings, it comes to $2.1M per location. The spending figure covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, not only car washes and detailers. It is estimated from the incomes of the 63,029 households in the Monroe metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Monroe, MI metro area compare with the U.S. for car washes and detailers?

The Monroe metro area has 5.2 car washes and detailers per 10,000 households, 37% above the U.S. rate of 3.8. Spending per location is $2.1M, 15% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. At the national ratio of car washes and detailers to household spending, the Monroe metro area would have about 28, against 33 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 7,879 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S.

How fast is the Monroe, MI metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Monroe metro area at 156,004 people in 2025, up 0.7% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 63,029 households. Median household income in the Monroe metro area is $77,335, 4% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 24.3%, before inflation.

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 Monroe metro area scores 55 for car washes and detailers (upper middle), #167 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Monroe metro area. 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 the Monroe metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Monroe metro area?

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 the Monroe metro area. 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.