Billings Car Wash Market Analysis
Billings, MT
Data updated · June 9, 2026
A read of Billings's car wash market built from 6,761 Google reviews across 108 locations. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 108
- 84% independent
- Chains
- 11
- lead: Don's Car Wash (4 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.23★
- -0.18 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 2.8%
- 1.8× national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 16.4%
- Top format
- detail shop
- 32% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 187,269
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 77,857
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,734
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.9
- in the 0.5–1.0 filling band · classified sites
Key findings
- 108 car wash locations operated by 11 chains and 91 independents across 3 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.23★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 6,761 Google reviews, 1,622 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
108 car wash locations across 3 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
No single structural signal jumps out for Billings — it's a mid-shape car wash market. 11 chains compete alongside 91 independents — typical mix for a market of 108 car washes. Customer-experience signals across 1,622 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Average rating across the 108-location market weighs in at 4.23★; damage rate 2.8%; cancel friction 16.4%. Staff is the brightest aspect signal (0.81/+1). Per-operator and per-format cuts below are more informative than the aggregates.
See the top car wash chains in Billings
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Billings metro, officially
Low-wageCar-wash wages in the Billings metro run about 100% below the national average ($0 vs. $32,560), across 16 employer establishments and roughly 0 jobs.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW (private, NAICS 811192). Counts car-wash employer establishments, a narrower universe than all physical wash locations — see methodology.
Car wash financing in the Billings metro
Operations-heavySince 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration has backed 11 car-wash loans in the Billings metro worth $20.4M, at a $455,000 median per car wash and a 0.0% charge-off rate. Early read: an outsized 18% of loans were for working capital rather than construction or acquisition (vs. 10% nationally), which can point to operators managing cash flow more than expanding.
- Yellowstone 9
- Stillwater 2
- New build / open27% · $4.3M
- Acquisition9% · $416K
- Expansion / improvement45% · $995K
- Working capital18% · $19K
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) & 504 FOIA datasets (NAICS 811192), data through 2026-03-31. See the Car Wash Lending Tracker for national figures and methodology.
About the Billings car wash market
How many car washes are in the Billings metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Billings metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Billings?
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What is the average customer rating in the Billings car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Billings?
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What kinds of car washes does Billings have?
The table below lists every operating format we classify, with locations, reviews, average rating, damage rate, and membership-cancel friction broken out per format. Billings's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.88★ across 8 locations. Lowest-rated: Self-Serve Bay at 3.70★ (2 locations).
83 (76.9%) of 108 locations are unclassified — small independents whose websites don't surface enough signal for format assignment. Format-level statistics describe the classified subset only.
| Format | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage Rate | Cancel Friction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unclassified | 83 | 76.9% | 2,629 | 4.13 | 2.51% | 28.6% |
| Detail Shop | 8 | 7.4% | 1,036 | 4.88 | 0.00% | — |
| In-Bay Automatic | 8 | 7.4% | 657 | 3.93 | 1.79% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 7 | 6.5% | 1,988 | 4.26 | 6.47% | 15.3% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 2 | 1.9% | 451 | 3.70 | 4.48% | — |
What is the household income near Billings car washes?
Read together with the format mix above, the income scatter below tells you whether car wash quality in Billings tracks neighborhood income, format mix, or neither. Operating quality usually dominates this picture.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 49 qualifying locations: -0.26 — mild negative. Higher-income ZIPs in this market host slightly lower-rated washes on average, which is unusual. Scatter mean: $77K AGI/return, 4.17★.
Car wash count and quality by income tier
Blue bars: location count per tier. Orange tick marks: average Google rating (same y-axis).
| Income tier (mean AGI/return) | ZIPs | Locations | Reviews | Avg Rating | Top Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $50K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — |
| $50K – $75K | 2 | 35 | 3,654 | 4.29 | Detail Shop (4) |
| $75K – $100K | 6 | 33 | 2,429 | 4.16 | Express Tunnel (4) |
| $100K – $150K | 1 | 6 | 395 | 3.96 | Detail Shop (1) |
| $150K+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — |
Top-tier 0 sites, 0.00★ avg; bottom-tier 0 sites, 0.00★. Across Billings's 49 qualifying locations, the income gradient correlates only weakly with rating — operator execution dominates.
Who operates the most Billings car washes?
The table below ranks the top 25 chains operating in Billings by location count. Each row shows per-chain Google rating, damage rate, and cancel friction — the cleanest side-by-side cut on operator quality in the market.
| # | Chain | Locations | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage | Cancel | Upsell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don's Car Wash | 4 | 344 | 4.03 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Glacier Express Car Wash | 2 | 476 | 4.36 | — | — | — |
| 3 | MasterLube | 2 | 250 | 4.64 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Circle K | 2 | 150 | 4.16 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Buggy Bath Car Wash | 1 | 192 | 3.00 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 1 | 204 | 4.70 | 2.34% | — | 0.00% |
| 7 | Smitty's Car Wash | 1 | 147 | 4.60 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Town Pump | 1 | 39 | 3.80 | — | — | — |
| 9 | Town Pump Express Wash | 1 | 17 | 3.80 | — | — | — |
| 10 | Holiday Stationstores | 1 | 102 | 3.20 | — | — | — |
| 11 | Conoco | 1 | 61 | 4.10 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Billings?
Counties of the Billings CBSA are listed below by car wash count. Yellowstone County is the most density-concentrated. Reading the rating column tells you whether quality is uniform across the metro or whether specific counties pull in either direction.
Cross-county rating dispersion: 0.06★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowstone County | 101 | 93.5% | 6,648 | 4.23 |
| Stillwater County | 4 | 3.7% | 103 | 4.29 |
| Carbon County | 3 | 2.8% | 10 | 2.83 |
What do customers love and complain about in Billings?
The aspect grid below summarizes 1,622 AI-extracted reviews across 108 Billings car wash locations. Each aspect lands on a -1…+1 scale (negative = customers complain more than they praise; positive = the reverse).
Where are all the car washes in the Billings metro?
108 car washes are tracked in Billings; below is the top of the list by Google review count. Locations with fewer than 10 reviews are excluded from the rating column.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mint Smartwash 411 N 7th St | Billings, MT | Express Tunnel | — | 4.1 | 880 | $65K |
| Glacier Express Car Wash 1832 King Ave W | Billings, MT | Express Tunnel | Glacier Express Car Wash | 4.4 | 423 | $78K |
| Fly In Lube & Wash 705 Johnson Ln | Billings, MT | Self-Serve Bay | — | 3.7 | 416 | $65K |
| MARS of Billings 2904 Gabel Rd | Billings, MT | Detail Shop | — | 4.7 | 317 | $78K |
| Wave Car Care Center 858 S 29th St W | Billings, MT | Express Tunnel | — | 4.1 | 264 | $78K |
| Slick Mobile Detail Services 3847 Montana Ave | Billings, MT | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 235 | $65K |
| Car & RV Wash 1233 Broadwater Ave | Billings, MT | — | — | 3.5 | 222 | $78K |
| FCS Auto Detailing 4011 1/2 1st Ave S | Billings, MT | — | — | 4.9 | 210 | $65K |
| Heights Car & RV Wash 1448 Main St | Billings, MT | — | — | 3.6 | 210 | $73K |
| Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash 570 S 24th St W | Billings, MT | Express Tunnel | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 4.7 | 204 | $78K |
| Buggy Bath Car Wash 80 Shiloh Rd | Billings, MT | — | Buggy Bath Car Wash | 3.0 | 192 | $142K |
| Majestik Auto Detailing | Ceramic Pro Billings Tint, Clear Bra & Ceramic Coating 6512 Western Wy Unit 4 | Billings, MT | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 181 | $142K |
| MasterLube 2650 4th Ave N | Billings, MT | — | MasterLube | 4.8 | 168 | $65K |
| Don's Car Wash 1125 Grand Ave | Billings, MT | In-Bay Automatic | Don's Car Wash | 4.1 | 151 | $78K |
| Smitty’s Car Wash 1011 Main St | Billings, MT | Express Tunnel | Smitty's Car Wash | 4.6 | 147 | $73K |
| Im Automotive 5230 Holiday Ave | Billings, MT | — | — | 5.0 | 146 | $65K |
| Bubble Bath Car Wash 840 Central Ave | Billings, MT | — | — | 3.7 | 142 | $78K |
| Circle K|Car Wash 790 S Billings Blvd | Billings, MT | In-Bay Automatic | Circle K | 4.2 | 139 | $65K |
| Don's Car Wash 1433 Main St | Billings, MT | In-Bay Automatic | Don's Car Wash | 4.1 | 122 | $73K |
| Bubble Bath Car Wash 324 S 27th St | Billings, MT | — | — | 4.1 | 118 | $65K |
| Little Details Mobile Detailing Service 580 Jackson St | Billings, MT | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 118 | $65K |
| Avalanche Car Wash 1634 St Andrews Dr | Billings, MT | — | — | 4.2 | 103 | $73K |
| Holiday Self Service Car Wash 3226 Rosebud Dr | Billings, MT | In-Bay Automatic | Holiday Stationstores | 3.2 | 102 | $78K |
| Auto Detail 2 LLC. Please Drive To The Back Lot Through A Gate, 2910 Hannon Rd | Billings, MT | — | — | 5.0 | 100 | $65K |
| MasterLube Hand Car Wash 2646 4th Ave N | Billings, MT | — | MasterLube | 4.3 | 82 | $65K |
Compare Billings to other MT car wash markets
Each link drills into a full per-metro analysis — operator concentration, format mix, and customer-experience signals against the same methodology.
Data as of 2026-06-09. Pick a format and click Copy.
WashIndex. (2026, June 9). Billings car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/billings
WashIndex. "Billings car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/billings.
"Billings car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/billings.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_billings_2026,
title = {{Billings car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/billings},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Billings, MT CBSA is determined by point-in-polygon test against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024) for the 3 counties that make up the MSA. Each location was verified to fall inside one of those county polygons; lat/lng comes from Google Maps metadata.
Operating-quality signals are derived from 1,622 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. Term definitions in the glossary.
Machine-readable: JSON ↓ · API root
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