Groundwork

Auto · Small-town market · New Mexico

Car washes and detailers in the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area

How the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for car washes and detailers: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 39 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #314 of 441 scored small-town markets
#4 of 8 scored small-town markets based in New Mexico

Listings
15
1 chain location (7%)
Official establishments
6
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$26M
On vehicle maintenance and repairs · $1,099 a household
Spending per listing
$1.7M
31% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
6.4
68% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
62,509
+0.3% since 2020

See the car washes and detailers around any address in the Carlsbad-Artesia 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 Carlsbad-Artesia 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

Household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs in the Carlsbad-Artesia area comes to about $26M a year: $1,099 per household, 15% above the U.S. average. That works out to $1.7M per location, 31% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. The spending figure covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, not only car washes and detailers.

The Carlsbad-Artesia area has 15 car washes and detailers on map listings as of September 2026. One of them (7%) is a chain location, against 23% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 6.4, 68% above the U.S. rate of 3.8.

In 2023, official counts showed 6 businesses with payroll in the Carlsbad-Artesia area classed as car washes. That is one for every 3,937 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Carlsbad-Artesia area grew 0.3%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Groundwork market score for car washes and detailers in the Carlsbad-Artesia area is 39 (lower middle), #314 of 441 scored small-town markets and #4 of 8 scored small-town markets based in New Mexico.

How the Carlsbad-Artesia area compares

The same measures for New Mexico 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 Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area compared with New Mexico and the U.S.
MeasureCarlsbad-Artesia areaNew MexicoU.S.
Listings per 10k households6.44.03.8
Spending per listing$1.7M$2.6M$2.5M
Households per official establishment3,9376,2496,523
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+15.5%+16.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.3%+0.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on vehicle maintenance and repairs$1,099$1,033$958
Median household income$78,426$64,059$80,734
Groundwork market score3945

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
6
Employees, 2023
30
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
151 chain location
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
10The 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 the Carlsbad-Artesia 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 Carlsbad-Artesia area

Population, 2025 estimate
62,509+0.3% since 2020
Households
23,620
Median age
36.6
Homes lived in by their owners
73%
Vehicles per household
2.0
Land area
4,176 sq. mi.
People per square mile
15
Median household income
$78,426+20.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$96,979
Median home value
$212,600
Jobs located here
30,860
Daytime population
65,233Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Carlsbad-Artesia area?

These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 Carlsbad-Artesia 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 New Mexico

Every New Mexico market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in New Mexico for car washes and detailers, numbered among those based in New Mexico, with the Carlsbad-Artesia area marked.

Top small-town markets in New Mexico

Small-town markets in New Mexico ranked for car washes and detailers by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Taos, NM7353.2$3.4M+0.3%#62 of 441
2Hobbs, NM46135.3$2.1M+0.2%#248 of 441
3Alamogordo, NM46176.9$1.4M+3.7%#254 of 441
4Carlsbad-Artesia, NM39156.4$1.7M+0.3%#314 of 441
5Clovis, NM36124.6$2.1M−3.3%#329 of 441
6Roswell, NM31125.1$2.1M−2.7%#365 of 441
7Deming, NM2866.5$1.5M−0.2%#392 of 441
8Gallup, NM19125.6$1.7M−6.1%#420 of 441

Other business types in the Carlsbad-Artesia 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 Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 15 car washes and detailers in the Carlsbad-Artesia area. One of them (7%) is a chain location. The listings count car washes and detailers. Official counts show 6 businesses with payroll classed as car washes in 2023.

How much do households in the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area spend on vehicle maintenance and repairs?

About $26M a year, or $1,099 per household. That is 15% above the U.S. average (an index of 115, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 15 car washes and detailers on map listings, it comes to $1.7M 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 23,620 households in the Carlsbad-Artesia area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area compare with the U.S. for car washes and detailers?

The Carlsbad-Artesia area has 6.4 car washes and detailers per 10,000 households, 68% above the U.S. rate of 3.8. Spending per location is $1.7M, 31% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. At the U.S. ratio of car washes and detailers to household spending, the Carlsbad-Artesia area would have about 10, against 15 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 3,937 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S.

How fast is the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM area growing?

Population estimates put the Carlsbad-Artesia area at 62,509 people in 2025, up 0.3% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 23,620 households. The median household income in the Carlsbad-Artesia area is $78,426 a year, 3% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 20.1% from the 2015–2019 survey, 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Carlsbad-Artesia area scores 39 for car washes and detailers (lower middle), #314 of 441 scored small-town markets.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Carlsbad-Artesia 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 Carlsbad-Artesia area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Carlsbad-Artesia 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 Carlsbad-Artesia 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.