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Car washes in Rhode Island

How many car washes exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 3 Rhode Island 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 — 86% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Rhode Island

Car washes

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

0.4

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

0.5

per 10,000 present

State index

86%

vs. U.S.

Residents

966,540

in covered counties

Workers

383,986

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 3 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island

City	County	Car washes	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Warwick	Kent County	17–27	171,316	68,991	0.8	169–248%	High density
Providence	Providence County	32–106	664,984	269,140	0.4	82–251%	Range spans bands
North Kingstown	Washington County	0–42	130,240	45,855	0.0	0–507%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

Warwick

169%

Providence

82%

North Kingstown

Most competitors per capita

North Kingstown

Providence

82%

Warwick

169%

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.