Laundromat owners pay themselves from what is left after the store’s costs, its loans and the tax bill. This page works through that arithmetic with US data from the CLA (formerly Coin Laundry Association) owner survey. It compares owned and leased buildings, paid-off and financed machines, and attended and unattended stores, then looks at owner hours and why a first-year owner should expect less than the survey medians. For revenue and margin figures across the whole industry, start with how much laundromats make.
Quick answer
- Formula: owner income = operating profit − debt service − income tax.
- Survey medians: $335,000 revenue × 27% margin ≈ $90,450 operating profit a year (CLA 2024 survey, questions 16 and 19).
- With an equipment loan: about $32,550 left before tax (illustrative $300,000 over seven years at 9%).
- Range: CLA’s investor overview puts per-store cash flow at $15,000 to $300,000 a year.
- Owner labour: working the counter saves wages at about $15.57 an hour (survey median), but that is pay for work, not return on capital.
- First year: usually below the medians, because of debt, ramp-up and survey bias.
How much money does a laundromat make a year?
Owner income starts from revenue. The median store in the 2024 CLA survey took in $335,000 in 2023. About one store in five took in under $100,000, and 18% took in $600,000 or more (question 16). The margin applied to that revenue varies just as widely; see the profit margin breakdown. Before any debt or tax, the operating profit looks like this:
| 2023 gross revenue | At 15% margin | At 27% margin (survey median) | At 35% margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $15,000 | $27,000 | $35,000 |
| $200,000 | $30,000 | $54,000 | $70,000 |
| $335,000 (survey median) | $50,250 | $90,450 | $117,250 |
| $600,000 | $90,000 | $162,000 | $210,000 |
Arithmetic on CLA 2024 survey ranges (questions 16 and 19). Operating profit is before taxes, debt service and owner compensation.
Owner income scenarios
Every row below uses the same $335,000 store, with utilities at the 20% survey median ($67,000) and $50,250 (15%) for repairs, insurance, card fees, supplies and other costs. That second figure is the balancing line in the illustrative P&L in our main revenue and profit guide. Only the building, the staffing and the debt change.
| Scenario | Rent or building | Payroll | Debt service | Left before income tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Leased, staffed, machines paid off | $60,300 (18%) | $67,000 (20%) | $0 | $90,450 |
| B. Leased, staffed, machines financed | $60,300 | $67,000 | $57,900 | $32,550 |
| C. As B, owner works 50 counter hours a week | $60,300 | $26,500 | $57,900 | $73,050, of which about $40,500 is pay for 2,600 hours of work |
| D. Building owned outright, staffed, machines paid off | $20,100 (assumed 6% for property tax, insurance, upkeep) | $67,000 | $0 | $130,650, before any return on the capital in the building |
| E. Bought at 4× cash flow, 75% loan | $60,300 | $67,000 | $41,250 | $49,200 on about $90,450 of cash down |
| F. Leased, unattended, machines paid off | $60,300 | $0 | $0 | $157,450 only if revenue holds without staff, which is unlikely |
Illustrative only. Rent, payroll and utility shares are CLA 2024 survey medians (questions 8a, 10 and 18). Loans are assumptions, not quotes: B is $300,000 over 7 years at 9%; E is a $361,800 price (4 × $90,450) with $271,350 borrowed over 10 years at 9%. D’s 6% building cost is our assumption. C uses the $15.57 median attendant wage (question 13). Replace every line with your own figures.
What the table shows:
- Debt is the biggest single swing. A and B are the same store with the same customers, yet B’s owner keeps about a third as much until the equipment loan is repaid.
- Owner labour is not profit. C looks like $73,000, but strip out the wage the owner would otherwise pay someone and the return on the owner’s money is the same $32,550 as B.
- Owning the building moves cost, it doesn’t remove it. D avoids rent, but the money in the building could have earned a return elsewhere, and a mortgage would put most of the rent back as debt service.
- Unattended is not free money. Only 10% of surveyed stores are never attended (question 12). Without staff a store usually gives up wash & fold, and someone still has to clean, collect and fix machines.
Income tax is the last line. It depends on the business structure, the state, how interest and depreciation are treated, and the owner’s other income, so no single rate fits. Get an accountant’s figure before relying on any after-tax number.
How many hours do laundromat owners work?
The survey doesn’t ask how many hours owners work, but it does show the hours a store has to cover:
| Survey result | Figure | What it means for the owner |
|---|---|---|
| Median opening hours (Q11) | 16 a day; 18% open 24 hours | About 112 opening hours a week at the median |
| Attended every opening hour (Q12) | 49% of stores | Someone, staff or owner, behind the counter all day |
| Attended some hours (Q12) | 42% of stores | Peak-hour staff; owner covers or leaves gaps |
| Never attended (Q12) | 10% of stores | Cleaning, collections and repairs still need visits |
| Full-time staff besides the owner (Q9) | Median 1; 38% have none | Many stores rely on part-timers (median 3) |
| Median attendant wage (Q13) | $15.57 an hour | The value of each hour the owner works the counter |
Source: CLA 2024 Laundry Industry Survey. BLS puts the national median for laundry and dry-cleaning workers at $16.78 an hour (May 2025).
So owning a laundromat ranges from a full-time job, for an owner who staffs a fully attended store themselves, to a few hours a week of visits for an unattended store or one with a reliable manager. Hiring a manager costs money that comes out of the operating profit.
Why survey medians overstate a first-year owner’s income
- The respondents are established operators. About 60% of survey respondents own two or more stores (question 1). The response rate was 6%, and engaged operators are more likely to answer. Their typical store is a benchmark for a well-run business, not a starting point.
- The margin is measured before debt. Most first-year owners borrowed to buy or equip the store. Scenarios B and E show what that does.
- You pay for the cash flow up front. CLA’s investor overview puts sale prices at three to five times net cash flow, and BizBuySell’s sold-listing data shows a median of about 3.5 times owner earnings. Much of the seller’s cash flow goes to whoever financed the purchase.
- A new build starts at zero. A store you build has no customers on day one, while the survey medians describe stores with a track record.
- 2023 was a good year. Sixty-five percent of stores reported higher revenue than in 2022 (question 17), and the median margin rose from 17% in the 2022 survey to 27% in 2024. A year with flat revenue and higher utility tariffs looks different.
- Not everyone answered. Seventeen percent of respondents skipped the profit question.
Where these numbers are the wrong answer
- Outside the US. All figures are US data; wages, rents and tax differ elsewhere.
- A specific listing. Medians aren’t a valuation. Verify the seller’s revenue against water and utility bills, as CLA’s due-diligence guide recommends.
- Multi-store operators. Owner income across several stores also depends on management cost and shared overheads the survey does not measure.
- After-tax planning. The scenarios stop before income tax on purpose.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a laundromat owner make a year?
It depends on the store’s revenue, margin and debt. At the 2024 CLA survey medians, $335,000 of revenue and a 27% operating margin, a store makes about $90,000 a year before loan repayments and income tax. CLA’s investor overview puts per-store cash flow between $15,000 and $300,000 a year. Owners of several stores earn from each, and many survey respondents own more than one.
What is a laundromat owner’s salary?
Most owners don’t draw a fixed salary. The CLA survey measures operating profit before owner compensation, so whatever the owner takes, as salary or as profit, comes out of that figure along with loan repayments and tax. An owner who also works the counter is, in effect, paying themselves an attendant’s wage; the survey’s median attendant wage was $15.57 an hour.
How much money do laundromats make a month?
The median store in the 2024 CLA survey took in about $28,000 a month and, at a 27% margin, made about $7,500 a month of operating profit before debt service and tax. An equipment loan of $300,000 over seven years at 9% would cost about $4,800 a month of that.
How many hours do laundromat owners work?
The CLA survey doesn’t ask. It shows the hours that have to be covered: the median store is open 16 hours a day, and 49% are attended for every opening hour. That is about 112 attended hours a week for a fully attended store, split between staff and owner. Unattended stores still need cleaning, collections, repairs and customer calls.
Why would a new laundromat owner make less than the survey average?
Survey medians describe established stores run by owners engaged enough to answer, and most respondents own more than one store. A new owner usually carries a purchase or equipment loan, a new build starts without customers, and a store bought at three to five times cash flow passes most of its early cash to the lender. The survey margin is also measured before any debt.
References
- CLA, The Laundry Association, “2024 CLA Laundry Industry Survey Results”, questions 1, 8a, 9–13 and 16–19 (Readex Research, 377 responses, 2023 data; accessed 27 October 2026). https://member.laundryassociation.org/hubfs/IndustrySurvey24.pdf
- CLA, The Laundry Association, “Industry Overview” (accessed 27 October 2026). https://laundryassociation.org/for-investors/industry-overview/
- Coin Laundry Association, “Best Practices for Due Diligence in Laundromat Acquisitions”, white paper vol. 3 no. 7 (accessed 27 October 2026). https://laundryassociation.org/membership-files/white-papers/Best%20Practices%20for%20Due%20Diligence%20in%20Laundromat%20Acquisitions.pdf
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025: 51-6011 Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers” (accessed 3 October 2026). https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes516011.htm
- BizBuySell, “Laundromat Business Valuation: Multiples & Financial Benchmarks” (accessed 3 October 2026). https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/laundromats-coin-laundry/
Earning more from the hours you already cover
An owner’s hours are the scarcest input. Wash & fold earns more from them, but only while someone is at the counter. A laundry drop-off locker takes orders when nobody is there: the customer saves a card, leaves the bag, and you weigh and charge it when you process the order. We are taking reservations for the first production run. Per-cell weight sensing is an optional extra fitted at the factory, billing needs a scale certified for trade use, and we do not install on site. As an indicative example, the ROI calculator defaults use 12 doors at US$550 each plus US$99 a month for software. See revenue per machine for the self-service side, or get an instant estimate.
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