Every self-service laundromat dollar starts as a machine turn: one wash or dry cycle at a vend price. This page builds store revenue up from that unit, using US data from the CLA (formerly Coin Laundry Association) 2024 survey and CLA’s investor overview. It covers turns per day, vend prices by machine size, dryer income, revenue per machine and revenue per square foot. Every number that is an illustration is labelled as one. For the whole-store revenue and profit picture, see how much laundromats make.
Quick answer
- Formula: washer revenue per day = turns per day × vend price per turn.
- Turns: 3 to 8 per washer per day, depending on location (CLA industry overview).
- Vend prices: mean $3.57 a turn for an 18–24 lb front-loader, $8.16 for 50–60 lb, $12.22 for 90–100 lb (CLA 2024 survey, question 21b).
- Dryers: typically 40–60% of washer income (CLA industry overview).
- Per machine: about $5,000 a year in our three-turn illustration of the survey’s average store.
- Per square foot: median $120 a year (survey question 16a).
How much does a laundromat washer make a day?
The larger the machine, the more it earns per turn. Customers pay more for capacity, and the big washers take comforters and bulk loads that home machines can’t.
| Washer (front-load unless noted) | Mean vend price per turn | Per day at 3 turns | Per day at 5 turns | Per day at 8 turns | Per year at 5 turns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top-load | $3.73 | $11.19 | $18.65 | $29.84 | $6,807 |
| 18–24 lb | $3.57 | $10.71 | $17.85 | $28.56 | $6,515 |
| 25–29 lb | $4.21 | $12.63 | $21.05 | $33.68 | $7,683 |
| 30–35 lb | $5.00 | $15.00 | $25.00 | $40.00 | $9,125 |
| 40–49 lb | $6.32 | $18.96 | $31.60 | $50.56 | $11,534 |
| 50–60 lb | $8.16 | $24.48 | $40.80 | $65.28 | $14,892 |
| 75–80 lb | $10.75 | $32.25 | $53.75 | $86.00 | $19,619 |
| 90–100 lb | $12.22 | $36.66 | $61.10 | $97.76 | $22,302 |
Prices: CLA 2024 Laundry Industry Survey, question 21b (means of answering stores). Turns: CLA industry overview range. Per-year figures assume 365 trading days. Arithmetic, not a forecast; a real store’s turns differ by machine size and day of the week.
Prices vary by region. An 18–24 lb front-loader averaged $3.33 in the South and $3.82 in the West; a 50–60 lb machine averaged $7.65 and $8.48. Most owners expected to raise prices again: 53% planned to raise both washer and dryer prices within 12 months, and 26% washers only (question 24).
How many turns per day is realistic?
CLA’s range is “from three TPD to as high as eight TPD or more”. Location sets most of it: population density, the share of renters without in-unit machines, competition and opening hours. Modern washers log cycle counts, so CLA’s due-diligence guide suggests asking sellers for turns per day by machine type and checking them against water bills. CLA says a careful water analysis can estimate washer income to within 5–10%.
How much does a laundromat dryer make?
CLA’s overview says dryer income is generally 40–60% of washer income. Dryers are usually sold by time, and the survey asked how many minutes 25 cents buys (question 21b):
| Dryer | Mean minutes per $0.25 | Price per hour | Illustrative 40-minute dry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 lb | 6.2 | $2.42 | $1.61 |
| 45 lb | 4.9 | $3.06 | $2.04 |
| 50 lb | 4.0 | $3.75 | $2.50 |
| 75 lb | 3.3 | $4.55 | $3.03 |
Minutes per quarter: CLA 2024 survey, question 21b. Hourly price and the 40-minute cycle are our arithmetic; the cycle length is an assumption, not survey data.
Twenty-three percent of stores also sell a fixed full-cycle dry (question 22), at a median of $2.00 and a mean of $2.29 (question 23).
Revenue per machine: a worked store
The table uses the survey’s mean machine counts (question 21a), rounded to whole machines, the mean vend prices, and the low end of CLA’s turns range.
| Washer size | Machines | Vend price | Revenue per day at 3 turns | Revenue per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top-load | 7 | $3.73 | $78.33 | $28,590 |
| 18–24 lb | 9 | $3.57 | $96.39 | $35,182 |
| 25–29 lb | 2 | $4.21 | $25.26 | $9,220 |
| 30–35 lb | 5 | $5.00 | $75.00 | $27,375 |
| 40–49 lb | 6 | $6.32 | $113.76 | $41,522 |
| 50–60 lb | 5 | $8.16 | $122.40 | $44,676 |
| 75–80 lb | 2 | $10.75 | $64.50 | $23,542 |
| 90–100 lb | 1 | $12.22 | $36.66 | $13,381 |
| Washers total | 37 | $612.30 | $223,489 | |
| Dryers (30 machines) at 50% of washer income | 30 | $111,745 | ||
| Store total | 67 | $335,234 |
Illustration only. Machine counts are CLA 2024 survey means (question 21a: 36.5 washers and 30.4 dryers; 67 machines in total). Dryer income uses the midpoint of CLA’s 40–60% range; at 40% the total is $312,900 and at 60% it is $357,600.
That works out to about $6,040 per washer, $3,725 per dryer and about $5,000 per machine a year. It also lands almost exactly on the survey’s median revenue of $335,000 (question 16). The match is partly luck: survey revenue also includes wash & fold, vending and other services, and the median store has fewer machines (31 washers, 28 dryers) than the mean. Read it as a sanity check that a store with an average machine mix and average prices needs only about three turns a day to reach median revenue. At five turns the same store would take about $559,000.
Two practical points follow:
- Big machines earn the most per machine. One 50–60 lb washer at five turns brings in more than two 18–24 lb machines.
- The cheapest gain is turns, not machines. Lifting turns from three to four adds about a third more washer revenue with no new equipment. Longer hours, wash & fold run in quiet periods and commercial accounts all add turns. Fifty-one percent of surveyed stores served commercial accounts (question 6).
Laundromat revenue per square foot
Revenue per square foot puts stores of different sizes on one scale. The median store was 2,740 sq ft, and its median revenue was $120 per sq ft in 2023, up from $100 in the previous survey (questions 7 and 16a).
| Revenue per sq ft (2023) | All stores | Northeast | Midwest | South | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $175 or more | 14% | 14% | 8% | 19% | 11% |
| $150–$174 | 16% | 15% | 10% | 8% | 34% |
| $125–$149 | 8% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 9% |
| $100–$124 | 18% | 15% | 29% | 16% | 14% |
| $75–$99 | 8% | 5% | 14% | 12% | 1% |
| Under $75 | 21% | 21% | 27% | 17% | 25% |
| No answer | 15% | 22% | 2% | 22% | 6% |
Source: CLA 2024 Laundry Industry Survey, question 16a (calculated from questions 7 and 16). “Under $75” combines three bands.
The worked store above, at $335,000 in 2,740 sq ft, comes to about $122 per sq ft. Rent puts that in context: the survey’s median rent was $2.00 per sq ft per month (question 8a), or $24 a year, so a median renter spends about a fifth of each square foot’s revenue on the space.
Where these numbers are the wrong answer
- Outside the US. Vend prices, turns and rents here are US survey data.
- Valuing a specific store. Use that store’s audit data and water bills, not survey means.
- Turns by machine size. CLA’s 3–8 range is for washers in general; small and large machines rarely run at the same rate.
- Wash & fold revenue. It is sold by the pound, not the turn, and uses machines in a different pattern; see the main revenue and profit guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a laundromat washer make a day?
Multiply turns per day by the vend price. CLA’s industry overview puts washer use at three to eight turns a day. At the 2024 CLA survey’s mean price of $3.57 a turn, an 18–24 lb front-loader makes about $10.71 a day at three turns and $28.56 at eight. A 50–60 lb machine at $8.16 a turn makes about $24.48 to $65.28 a day.
How much revenue does a laundromat make per machine?
As an illustration, a store with the 2024 CLA survey’s average mix of 37 washers and 30 dryers, running three turns a day at the survey’s mean vend prices with dryers at half of washer income, takes in about $335,000 a year. That is about $6,000 per washer and $3,700 per dryer, or about $5,000 per machine. Busier stores at five or more turns a day earn far more per machine.
What is a good revenue per square foot for a laundromat?
The median store in the 2024 CLA Laundry Industry Survey made $120 of gross revenue per square foot in 2023, up from $100 a year earlier. Thirty percent of respondents reported $150 or more, and 21% reported under $75. In the West, 34% reported $150–$174 per square foot.
How much does a laundromat dryer make?
CLA’s industry overview says dryer income is generally 40–60% of washer income. Dryers are usually priced by time: the 2024 CLA survey’s mean was 6.2 minutes per 25 cents on a 30 lb dryer, about $2.42 an hour, and 4 minutes per 25 cents on a 50 lb dryer, about $3.75 an hour. Twenty-three percent of stores also offer a fixed full-cycle dry, at a median of $2.00.
How many turns per day does a laundromat washer get?
CLA’s industry overview gives a range of three turns per day to as high as eight or more, depending on location. Modern washers record cycle counts in their audit functions, so a seller can usually show turns per day by machine type.
References
- CLA, The Laundry Association, “2024 CLA Laundry Industry Survey Results”, questions 6, 7, 8a, 16, 16a and 21a–24 (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
Turns outside opening hours
Machines are idle overnight, while wash & fold orders can be processed then. A laundry drop-off locker lets customers leave a bag when the counter is closed, so those orders fill quiet machine hours. We are taking reservations for the first production run. Per-cell weight sensing is an optional extra fitted at the factory, and billing needs a scale certified for trade use. For costs and margins, see the profit margin breakdown and owner income scenarios. Check payback in the ROI calculator, or get an instant estimate.
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