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Auto · Metro area · Ohio

Car washes and detailers in the Lima, OH metro area

How the Lima, OH 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 38 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #294 of 387 scored metro areas
#7 of 12 scored metro areas based in Ohio

Listings
28
5 chain locations (18%)
Official establishments
5
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$43.8M
On vehicle maintenance and repairs · $1,061 a household
Spending per listing
$1.6M
38% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
6.8
79% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
100,881
−1.2% since 2020

See the car washes and detailers around any address in the Lima 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 Lima 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

The Groundwork market score for car washes and detailers in the Lima metro area is 38 (lower middle), #294 of 387 scored metro areas and #7 of 12 scored metro areas based in Ohio. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 28 car washes and detailers in the Lima metro area. Chain locations make up 18% of them, against 23% across the U.S. That is 6.8 per 10,000 households, 79% above the U.S. rate of 3.8.

Household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs in the Lima metro area comes to about $43.8M a year: $1,061 per household, 11% above the U.S. average. Spread across 28 car washes and detailers, that is $1.6M per location, 38% 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.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as car washes in the Lima metro area was 5 in 2023. That is one for every 8,259 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S. Population estimates show the Lima metro area declined 1.2% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the Lima metro area compares

The same measures for Ohio 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 Lima, OH metro area compared with Ohio and the U.S.
MeasureLima metro areaOhioU.S.
Listings per 10k households6.84.43.8
Spending per listing$1.6M$2.4M$2.5M
Households per official establishment8,2596,7926,523
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+26.3%+16.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025−1.2%+0.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on vehicle maintenance and repairs$1,061$1,033$958
Median household income$64,038$71,389$80,734
Groundwork market score3844

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
5
Employees, 2023
78
Annual payroll, 2023
$2.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
285 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
17The 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 Lima 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 Lima metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
100,881−1.2% since 2020
Households
41,295
Median age
40.2
Homes lived in by their owners
68%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
403 sq. mi.
People per square mile
252
Median household income
$64,038+20.5% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$82,511
Median home value
$165,300
Jobs located here
49,401
Daytime population
105,788Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Lima 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 Lima 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 Ohio

Every Ohio market ranked →

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

Top metro areas in Ohio

Metro areas in Ohio ranked for car washes and detailers by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Columbus, OH723203.7$2.8M+4.7%#39 of 387
2Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN673113.4$3.1M+2.7%#66 of 387
3Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH581524.4$2.3M+1.5%#139 of 387
4Springfield, OH53234.1$2.5M−0.4%#174 of 387
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH51513.4$2.6M−2.6%#185 of 387
Wheeling, WV-OH49213.6$2.4M−3.6%#199 of 387
5Sandusky, OH47203.9$2.7M−2.6%#220 of 387
Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH45193.8$2.3M−3.6%#239 of 387
6Cleveland, OH404174.5$2.1M−0.8%#273 of 387
7Lima, OH38286.8$1.6M−1.2%#294 of 387

Other business types in the Lima 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 Lima, OH metro area?

There are 28 car washes and detailers on map listings in the Lima metro area as of September 2026. 5 of them (18%) are chain locations. The listings count car washes and detailers. Official counts show 5 businesses with payroll classed as car washes in 2023.

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

About $43.8M a year, or $1,061 per household. That is 11% above the U.S. average (an index of 111, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 28 car washes and detailers on map listings, it comes to $1.6M 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 41,295 households in the Lima metro area and national spending patterns by income.

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

The Lima metro area has 6.8 car washes and detailers per 10,000 households, 79% above the U.S. rate of 3.8. Spending per location is $1.6M, 38% below the U.S. figure of $2.5M. At the national ratio of car washes and detailers to household spending, the Lima metro area would have about 17, against 28 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 8,259 households, against one for every 6,523 across the U.S.

How fast is the Lima, OH metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Lima metro area at 100,881 people in 2025, down 1.2% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 41,295 households. Median household income in the Lima metro area is $64,038, 21% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 20.5%, 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 Lima metro area scores 38 for car washes and detailers (lower middle), #294 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 Lima 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 Lima metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Lima 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 Lima 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.