Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Metro area · Alabama

Laundromats in the Birmingham, AL metro area

How the Birmingham, AL metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for laundromats: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 64 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #93 of 364 scored metro areas
#4 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama

Listings
57
25 chain locations (44%)
Official establishments
17
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$876.3M
On clothing, shoes and related services · $1,885 a household
Spending per listing
$15.4M
23% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
1.2
25% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
1,197,766
+1.4% since 2020

See the laundromats around any address in the Birmingham metro area

The site report maps the laundromats 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 Birmingham metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

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 57 laundromats in the Birmingham metro area. Chain locations make up 44% of them, against 19% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 1.2, 25% below the U.S. rate of 1.6.

Households in the Birmingham metro area spend about $876.3M a year on clothing, shoes and related services, or $1,885 per household, 8% below the U.S. average. Spread across 57 laundromats, that is $15.4M per laundromat, 23% above the U.S. figure of $12.5M. That spending covers all clothing, shoes and related services, which laundromats share with other businesses in the trade.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as coin-operated laundries in the Birmingham metro area was 17 in 2023. That is one for every 27,353 households, against one for every 11,865 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $1.3M has gone to businesses classed as coin-operated laundries in the Birmingham metro area.

Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Birmingham metro area grew 1.4%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For laundromats, the Birmingham metro area has a Groundwork market score of 64 (upper middle): #93 of 364 scored metro areas and #4 of 12 scored metro areas based in Alabama.

How the Birmingham metro area compares

The same measures for Alabama and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all clothing, shoes and related services by the laundromats counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Laundromats in Birmingham, AL metro area compared with Alabama and the U.S.
MeasureBirmingham metro areaAlabamaU.S.
Listings per 10k households1.21.31.6
Spending per listing$15.4M$13.3M$12.5M
Households per official establishment27,35325,93811,865
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+4.1%+3.0%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.4%+3.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$1,885$1,778$2,055
Median household income$71,498$63,999$80,734
Groundwork market score6456

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
17
Employees, 2023
89
Annual payroll, 2023
$2.6M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
5725 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
70The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$1.3M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as coin-operated laundries in the Birmingham 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 Birmingham metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
1,197,766+1.4% since 2020
Households
465,003
Median age
40.0
Homes lived in by their owners
71%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
5,280 sq. mi.
People per square mile
224
Median household income
$71,498
Average household income
$100,521
Median home value
$240,200
Jobs located here
555,318
Daytime population
1,227,371Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Birmingham 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 laundromats on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Birmingham metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Laundromats across Alabama

Every Alabama market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Alabama for laundromats, numbered among those based in Alabama (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Birmingham metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Alabama

Metro areas in Alabama ranked for laundromats by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Huntsville, AL92170.8$24.8M+12.5%#1 of 364
2Auburn-Opelika, AL7370.9$19.4M+7.1%#46 of 364
3Tuscaloosa, AL66100.9$18.4M+2.9%#81 of 364
4Birmingham, AL64571.2$15.4M+1.4%#93 of 364
5Decatur, AL5671.1$16.1M+2.5%#139 of 364
6Montgomery, AL55201.3$13.3M+0.9%#152 of 364
7Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL49202.0$9.5M+14.8%#184 of 364
Columbus, GA-AL48141.1$15.6M−1.3%#186 of 364
8Mobile, AL37281.7$9.9M−0.7%#261 of 364
9Dothan, AL28122.0$8.5M+3.4%#314 of 364

Other business types in the Birmingham metro area

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

Questions

How many laundromats are in the Birmingham, AL metro area?

The Birmingham metro area has 57 laundromats on map listings as of September 2026. 25 of them (44%) are chain locations. The listings count laundromats. Official counts show 17 businesses with payroll classed as coin-operated laundries in 2023.

How much do households in the Birmingham, AL metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $876.3M a year, or $1,885 per household. That is 8% below the U.S. average (an index of 92, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 57 laundromats on map listings, it comes to $15.4M per laundromat. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only laundromats. It is estimated from the incomes of the 465,003 households in the Birmingham metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Birmingham, AL metro area compare with the U.S. for laundromats?

The Birmingham metro area has 1.2 laundromats per 10,000 households, 25% below the U.S. rate of 1.6. Spending per laundromat is $15.4M, 23% above the U.S. figure of $12.5M. At the national ratio of laundromats to household spending, the Birmingham metro area would have about 70, against 57 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 27,353 households, against one for every 11,865 across the U.S.

How fast is the Birmingham, AL metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Birmingham metro area at 1,197,766 people in 2025, up 1.4% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 465,003 households. The median household income in the Birmingham metro area is $71,498 a year, 11% 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 Birmingham metro area scores 64 for laundromats (upper middle), #93 of 364 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Birmingham metro area. It maps the laundromats 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 laundromats · All 56 business types in the Birmingham metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Birmingham 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 Birmingham 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.