Part of Chicago Car Wash Market
City Analysis · WI

Kenosha, WI Car Wash Market Analysis

Part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA.

A detailed read of the Kenosha car wash market built from 12,065 Google reviews across 19 locations. Covers format mix, operator dominance, geographic distribution, income demographics, and customer-experience signals at the metro, county, and ZIP level.

53142531435314453140In-Bay Automatic (10)Express Tunnel (5)Detail Shop (4)

19 car wash locations in Kenosha, WI · dots colored by format · sized by review volume

Locations
19
Chains
7
+ 5 independents
Reviews
12K
Avg Rating
4.46
Damage Rate
2.29%
Median AGI/return
$72K
location-weighted
Executive Read

Kenosha, WI hosts 19 car wash locations identified by the WashIndex format classifier within the broader Chicago trade area. Operating-quality signals are derived from 12,065 Google reviews, with 1,528 reviews processed through structured LLM extraction across 55 dimensions. The weighted-average rating across all locations is 4.46★, with a reviewer-reported damage rate of 2.29% and a membership-cancellation friction rate of 15.0% of mem-discussing reviews.

Concentration in this city: 5 of 19 locations (26.3%) operate as independents or single-location operators; the top 10 chains together control 14 locations (73.7%). The largest single operator by location count is bp with 5sites in Kenosha.

Across all 19 locations, the dominant concept is Express Tunnel (5 sites), with secondary presence from Detail Shop (4), Full Service (0), and Self-Serve Bay (0).

01 Format Mix

What kinds of car washes does Kenosha have?

The Kenosha MSA contains a wide mix of car wash formats — from express tunnels and full-service operations to detail shops and self-serve bays. The bar chart below shows how many locations of each format have been formally classified by our LLM-based format classifier (which reads each operator's own website to determine the format), with the avg Google rating per format displayed alongside the count.

The format with the highest customer rating is In-Bay Automatic at 4.47★ across 10 locations — typical of the format, which is staffed, hand-finished, and oriented toward customers who care more about wash result than throughput. The lowest-rated format is Detail Shop at 4.40★ across 4 locations. Format-level rating gaps of this size are common — different formats serve different customer occasions and have inherently different expectations.

In-Bay Automatic10 (52.6%) · 4.47★Express Tunnel5 (26.3%) · 4.46★Detail Shop4 (21.1%) · 4.40★
Format Locations % of MSA Reviews Avg Rating Damage Rate Cancel Friction
In-Bay Automatic 10 52.6% 9,745 4.47 0.43% 0.0%
Express Tunnel 5 26.3% 1,919 4.46 4.27% 15.4%
Detail Shop 4 21.1% 401 4.40 1.64%
02 Income & Demographics

Where the customers (and the spend) are.

Each ZIP in the Kenosha MSA has been joined to IRS Statistics-of-Income data (tax year 2022, mean Adjusted Gross Income per return as the income proxy) and to the per-location Google rating dataset. The scatter below plots every car wash with at least 10 reviews against its ZIP-level income, with each dot colored by format and sized by review volume.

Across 19 qualifying locations the simple Pearson correlation between ZIP income and Google rating is 0.19 — a mild positive correlation. Higher-income ZIPs tend to host slightly better-rated car washes, but the relationship is weak; operator execution dominates. The mean-of-scatter location sits at $70K AGI/return and 4.31★.

3.0★3.5★4.0★4.5★5.0★$20K$50K$80K$110K$140K$170K$200KMean AGI per Tax Return (ZIP)Google RatingWoodman's Food Market — Kenosha (53142): 4.5★, 8708 reviews, $77K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticRocket Wash — Kenosha (53144): 4.4★, 824 reviews, $72K AGI per return, Express TunnelRocket Wash — Kenosha (53142): 4.4★, 470 reviews, $77K AGI per return, Express TunnelTake 5 Car Wash — Kenosha (53142): 4.6★, 311 reviews, $77K AGI per return, Express TunnelSam's Club Gas Station — Kenosha (53144): 4.5★, 258 reviews, $72K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticAmoco — Kenosha (53143): 3.9★, 180 reviews, $57K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticWoodman's Gas Station — Kenosha (53142): 4.3★, 173 reviews, $77K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticMister Car Wash — Kenosha (53144): 4.5★, 166 reviews, $72K AGI per return, Express TunnelMaster Chief ATD Hand Car Wash — Kenosha (53144): 3.8★, 152 reviews, $72K AGI per return, Detail ShopMister Car Wash — Kenosha (53142): 4.6★, 148 reviews, $77K AGI per return, Express TunnelShell — Kenosha (53142): 4.0★, 136 reviews, $77K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticGerber Car Wash — Kenosha (53144): 4.4★, 122 reviews, $72K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticAuto Bath Hand Washing & Detailing — Kenosha (53140): 4.5★, 118 reviews, $54K AGI per return, Detail ShopM&K Detailing Service LLC — Kenosha (53143): 5.0★, 106 reviews, $57K AGI per return, Detail Shopbp — Kenosha (53142): 3.9★, 65 reviews, $77K AGI per return, In-Bay Automaticbp — Kenosha (53143): 4.0★, 48 reviews, $57K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticWoodcreak bp — Kenosha (53144): 3.9★, 41 reviews, $72K AGI per return, In-Bay AutomaticIn and Out Detailing LLC — Kenosha (53142): 5.0★, 25 reviews, $77K AGI per return, Detail Shopbp — Kenosha (53143): 3.6★, 14 reviews, $57K AGI per return, In-Bay Automatic
In-Bay Automatic Express Tunnel Detail Shop

Car wash count and quality by income tier

Grouping ZIPs by income tier shows how location count and average rating shift across the income distribution. The blue bars are location count per tier; the orange tick marks show the average Google rating across all car wash locations in that tier (scaled against the same y-axis).

118630Under $50K0 locs · 0.00★$50K – $75K11 locs · 4.34★$75K – $100K8 locs · 4.49★$100K – $150K0 locs · 0.00★$150K+0 locs · 0.00★
Income tier (mean AGI/return) ZIPs Locations Reviews Avg Rating Top Format
Under $50K 0 0 0 0.00
$50K – $75K 3 11 2,029 4.34 In-Bay Automatic (6)
$75K – $100K 1 8 10,036 4.49 In-Bay Automatic (4)
$100K – $150K 0 0 0 0.00
$150K+ 0 0 0 0.00

The highest-income tier ($150K+) contains 0 car washes across 0 ZIPs, with a weighted-average rating of 0.00★ — compared to 0 locations across 0 ZIPs averaging 0.00★ in the lowest-income tier (Under $50K). The middle-income tiers ($75K–$150K) tend to host the densest concentrations of express tunnels — the format that monetizes most effectively at suburban price points.

03 Dominant Chains

Who operates the most Kenosha car washes?

The Kenosha MSA hosts 7 different chains alongside 5 independent operators (single-location or unaffiliated sites). The table below ranks the top 25 chains by location count in the MSA, with each chain's per-MSA Google rating, reviewer-reported damage rate, and membership cancellation friction rate.

The top 7 chains together control 14 of 19 locations (73.7%) — meaning 26.3% of the MSA's car wash supply remains in the hands of smaller chains and independent operators. That fragmentation level is typical of large US metros and creates meaningful consolidation runway for active acquirers.

# Chain Locations Reviews Avg Rating Damage Cancel Upsell
1 bp 5 348 3.90
2 Rocket Wash 2 1,294 4.40 6.36% 19.5% 0.35%
3 Mister Car Wash 2 314 4.55 4.35% 4.4% 1.74%
4 Woodman's Gas Station 2 8,881 4.50 0.17% 0.00%
5 Shell 1 136 4.00
6 Sam's Club Gas Station 1 258 4.50
7 Tsunami Express Car Wash 1 311 4.60 1.05% 1.58%
05 Customer Experience Signals

What customers love and complain about, MSA-wide.

Aspect scores aggregate the per-review LLM extractions for 1,528 reviews across all 19 MSA locations. Each score is computed as (positive − negative) / (positive + negative + mixed) for that aspect, ranging from −1 (universally negative) to +1 (universally positive). Numbers above zero mean customers say more positive than negative things; below zero means the reverse.

Reading these together gives a quick read on where the metro's car wash industry stands operationally: which aspects of the experience are reliable strengths and which ones generate the most friction.

Facility Cleanliness +0.78
Wash Quality +0.63
Staff +0.60
Per-Wash Price +0.50
Wait Time +0.31
Membership Value +0.13
Equipment Working -0.50
06 All Locations

All 19 Kenosha car wash sites.

The complete inventory of car wash locations in the Kenosha MSA, ranked by review volume. Each row shows the operator name, address, format classification (where determined), chain affiliation (when part of a multi-location operator), Google rating, total review count, county, and the IRS mean-AGI-per-return for the ZIP it sits in. Locations with fewer than 10 reviews on Google appear without a rating column populated.

We're showing the top 10 by review volume; the full set of 19 locations is available in the underlying dataset for users requesting a custom market study.

Location City Format Chain Rating Reviews ZIP AGI
Woodman's Food Market
7145 120th Ave
Kenosha, WI In-Bay Automatic Woodman's Gas Station 4.5 8,708 $77K
Rocket Wash
5205 Green Bay Rd
Kenosha, WI Express Tunnel Rocket Wash 4.4 824 $72K
Rocket Wash
8531 75th St
Kenosha, WI Express Tunnel Rocket Wash 4.4 470 $77K
Take 5 Car Wash
6112 75th St
Kenosha, WI Express Tunnel Tsunami Express Car Wash 4.6 311 $77K
Sam's Club Gas Station
3520 Brumback Boulevard
Kenosha, WI In-Bay Automatic Sam's Club Gas Station 4.5 258 $72K
Amoco
2710 Roosevelt Rd
Kenosha, WI In-Bay Automatic bp 3.9 180 $57K
Woodman's Gas Station
7145 120th Ave
Kenosha, WI In-Bay Automatic Woodman's Gas Station 4.3 173 $77K
Mister Car Wash
3677 Market Lane
Kenosha, WI Express Tunnel Mister Car Wash 4.5 166 $72K
Master Chief ATD Hand Car Wash
5217 88th Ave
Kenosha, WI Detail Shop 3.8 152 $72K
Mister Car Wash
5803 75th St
Kenosha, WI Express Tunnel Mister Car Wash 4.6 148 $77K

About this analysis

Car wash inventory for Kenosha, WI is sourced from the WashIndex national car-wash place index, filtered to places whose Google-Maps-reported city matches Kenosha, and further restricted to places whose format the WashIndex LLM classifier identified as a car wash (excluding dealerships, gas stations, and other auto-related businesses that don't primarily operate a car wash). Inclusion in the parent Chicago MSA dataset is established by point-in-polygon against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024).

Operating-quality signals are derived from 1,528 customer reviews processed through WashIndex's 55-field LLM extraction pipeline. Format classification comes from a separate per-location website-reading classifier. ZIP-level income data is from the IRS Statistics of Income (tax year 2022) — mean Adjusted Gross Income per tax return, which is directionally aligned with ACS median household income but available without authentication.

See our full methodology for the extraction pipeline, validation samples, and aggregation logic.

Drill into the data directly.

The free WashIndex platform shows every Kenosha car wash on an interactive map, with the same review-derived signals and demographic overlays that power this analysis. Filter by format, drive-time, or operator and compare any location head-to-head with its true competitive set.