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Car washes in California

How many car washes exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 35 California counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Car wash tunnels & bays · Self-serve & automatic washes · Detailing (wash-attached). Counted together because official statistics use one 811192 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Below the U.S. rate — 68% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in California

Car washes

1,522

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

0.3

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

0.5

per 10,000 present

State index

68%

vs. U.S.

Residents

38,319,676

in covered counties

Workers

15,030,202

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 35 California counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing car washes and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in California

City	County	Car washes	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Ontario	San Bernardino County	136–312	2,195,107	711,262	0.5	109–215%	Range spans bands
Redding	Shasta County	11–65	190,130	53,985	0.5	104–537%	Range spans bands
Hanford	Kings County	8–24	152,269	28,375	0.5	98–270%	Range spans bands
Irvine	Orange County	182–376	3,175,270	1,572,620	0.5	94–145%	Range spans bands
Modesto	Stanislaus County	29–71	559,023	148,684	0.5	94–210%	Range spans bands
Merced	Merced County	14–46	288,279	48,681	0.4	92–288%	Range spans bands
Visalia	Tulare County	22–82	473,757	104,822	0.4	85–280%	Range spans bands
Riverside	Riverside County	116–256	2,482,806	674,999	0.4	84–148%	Range spans bands
Roseville	Placer County	20–70	422,233	166,507	0.4	81–283%	Range spans bands
Fairfield	Solano County	20–44	449,663	122,066	0.4	80–168%	Range spans bands
El Dorado Hills	El Dorado County	8–54	192,693	49,889	0.4	75–432%	Range spans bands
Bakersfield	Kern County	37–133	915,763	218,146	0.4	74–217%	Range spans bands
San Diego	San Diego County	140–410	3,282,423	1,385,217	0.4	72–153%	Range spans bands
Tracy	San Joaquin County	32–96	796,477	232,266	0.4	72–184%	Range spans bands
Fresno	Fresno County	41–153	1,021,317	301,306	0.3	72–228%	Range spans bands
Ventura	Ventura County	34–96	841,297	285,173	0.3	71–137%	Range spans bands
Folsom	Sacramento County	61–163	1,596,140	531,159	0.3	67–153%	Range spans bands
El Segundo	Los Angeles County	383–1,021	9,801,306	3,924,098	0.3	67–134%	Range spans bands
San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo County	10–68	271,285	97,546	0.3	64–307%	Range spans bands
West Sacramento	Yolo County	8–42	222,458	74,293	0.3	63–299%	Range spans bands
Goleta	Santa Barbara County	18–82	443,781	158,550	0.3	59–215%	Range spans bands
Eureka	Humboldt County	4–68	134,385	33,944	0.3	54–864%	Range spans bands
Santa Rosa	Sonoma County	15–91	485,213	174,040	0.3	54–261%	Range spans bands
El Centro	Imperial County	5–33	174,015	33,702	0.3	54–332%	Range spans bands
Fremont	Alameda County	53–141	1,655,008	750,285	0.3	53–124%	Range spans bands
Napa	Napa County	4–26	135,313	65,776	0.2	49–267%	Range spans bands
Menlo Park	San Mateo County	20–80	713,109	457,352	0.2	43–143%	Range spans bands
San Rafael	Marin County	6–78	257,061	106,330	0.2	40–395%	Range spans bands
Concord	Contra Costa County	24–108	1,159,422	342,009	0.2	37–141%	Range spans bands
Santa Clara	Santa Clara County	43–207	1,935,981	1,162,159	0.2	35–114%	Range spans bands
Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz County	5–45	272,278	80,401	0.2	33–229%	Range spans bands
Monterey	Monterey County	7–71	426,948	115,284	0.1	30–266%	Range spans bands
Chico	Butte County	3–41	207,286	61,889	0.1	26–300%	Range spans bands
San Francisco	San Francisco County	3–77	830,479	727,248	0.0	5–94%	Range spans bands
Madera	Madera County	0–26	159,701	30,139	0.0	0–281%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

109%

104%

98%

94%

94%

92%

85%

84%

Most competitors per capita

26%

30%

33%

35%

37%

40%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few car washes may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.