Birmingham Car Wash Market Analysis
Birmingham, AL
Data updated · September 26, 2026
A read of Birmingham's car wash market built from 59,538 Google reviews across 600 locations. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 600
- 86% independent
- Chains
- 21
- lead: Shell (16 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.56★
- +0.15 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 1.0%
- 1.6× below national norm
- Cancel friction
- 11.7%
- Top format
- express tunnel
- 50% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 1,181,432
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 460,747
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,969
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 1.1
- above ~1.0 — contested · classified sites
Key findings
- 600 car wash locations operated by 21 chains and 513 independents across 7 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.56★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 59,538 Google reviews, 22,822 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
600 car wash locations across 7 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
Birmingham reads as a balanced car wash market — neither sharply consolidated nor unusually fragmented. 600 locations across 21 chains and 513 independents, distributed across 7 counties. Distinctive patterns show up below at the format and aspect levels.
Headline numbers sit near US-metro norms: rating 4.56★, damage 1.0%, cancel friction 11.7%. Staff strong (0.90); equipment reliability weak (-0.34). 59,538 Google reviews drive the analysis, 22,822 of them processed through the WashIndex LLM extractor.
See the top car wash chains in Birmingham
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Birmingham metro, officially
Fast-growingthe Birmingham metro is one of the faster-growing car-wash job markets: employer establishments grew 16% from 2022 to 2024 — ahead of the ~7% national pace — to 80, now employing about 659 people at a $32,862 average wage.
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 Birmingham metro
Balanced mixSince 2011, the U.S. Small Business Administration has backed 17 car-wash loans in the Birmingham metro worth $27.8M, at a $1,395,000 median per car wash and a 0.0% charge-off rate. Early read: its purpose mix tracks the national pattern — a blend of new builds, acquisitions, and reinvestment by existing operators — with no single signal dominating.
FY2026 annualized from its first 6 months.
- Jefferson 11
- Shelby 5
- Walker 1
- New build / open29% · $2.0M
- Expansion / improvement65% · $1.3M
- Working capital6% · $15K
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 Birmingham car wash market
How many car washes are in the Birmingham metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Birmingham metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Birmingham?
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What is the average customer rating in the Birmingham car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Birmingham?
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What kinds of car washes does Birmingham 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. Birmingham's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.90★ across 37 locations. Lowest-rated: Full Service at 4.10★ (4 locations).
500 (83.3%) of 600 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 | 500 | 83.3% | 13,298 | 4.37 | 1.07% | 23.8% |
| Express Tunnel | 50 | 8.3% | 40,445 | 4.61 | 0.98% | 11.1% |
| Detail Shop | 37 | 6.2% | 3,740 | 4.90 | 0.24% | 0.0% |
| In-Bay Automatic | 8 | 1.3% | 403 | 4.11 | 4.17% | 33.3% |
| Full Service | 4 | 0.7% | 1,506 | 4.10 | 4.05% | 15.4% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 1 | 0.2% | 146 | 4.40 | 0.00% | — |
What is the household income near Birmingham car washes?
Each ZIP in Birmingham is joined to IRS Statistics-of-Income (tax year 2022) and to the per-location Google rating dataset. The scatter below sizes dots by review volume and colors them by format.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 214 qualifying locations: 0.10 — effectively zero. Operating quality dominates over neighborhood income. Scatter mean: $88K AGI/return, 4.34★.
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 | 20 | 96 | 8,175 | 4.54 | Express Tunnel (8) |
| $50K – $75K | 37 | 129 | 15,400 | 4.51 | Express Tunnel (13) |
| $75K – $100K | 17 | 51 | 11,680 | 4.55 | Express Tunnel (8) |
| $100K – $150K | 8 | 74 | 15,520 | 4.56 | Express Tunnel (14) |
| $150K+ | 4 | 35 | 7,110 | 4.62 | Detail Shop (8) |
Income band spread: 35/4.62★ at the highest tier; 96/4.54★ at the lowest. In a balanced market, the per-tier read is most useful as a sanity check on whether the operating quality is income-uniform or income-stratified.
Who operates the most Birmingham car washes?
21 chains alongside 513 independents make up Birmingham's car wash supply. The chain rank below shows the multi-location operators' position; the per-location detail near the bottom of the page captures the independent layer.
| # | Chain | Locations | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage | Cancel | Upsell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shell | 16 | 919 | 3.61 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 12 | 8,095 | 4.74 | 0.72% | 7.2% | 0.58% |
| 3 | Take 5 Car Wash | 9 | 14,141 | 4.44 | 1.34% | 16.6% | 0.88% |
| 4 | Bright Car Detailing | 7 | 427 | 4.85 | 0.00% | — | 0.00% |
| 5 | bp | 7 | 229 | 4.04 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Marc-1 Car Wash | 6 | 4,317 | 4.58 | 1.23% | 12.1% | 0.59% |
| 7 | New Day Car Wash | 5 | 6,232 | 4.92 | 0.42% | 2.6% | 0.18% |
| 8 | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 3 | 858 | 4.48 | 0.88% | 36.4% | 2.06% |
| 9 | Anthony's Full Service & Express Car Wash Pelham | 3 | 1,323 | 4.05 | 4.51% | — | 0.75% |
| 10 | Chevron | 3 | 84 | 3.20 | — | — | — |
| 11 | Mach-1 Express Wash Gadsden | 2 | 161 | 3.89 | — | — | — |
| 12 | Big Drip Auto Spa | Car Wash | 2 | 452 | 4.19 | 2.40% | — | 0.00% |
| 13 | Driver's Way Hwy 280 | 2 | 1,152 | 4.57 | 0.00% | — | 0.00% |
| 14 | Mister Car Wash | 2 | 724 | 3.93 | 1.47% | 17.4% | 3.43% |
| 15 | Blue Rain Express Car Wash | 2 | 1,270 | 4.40 | 2.06% | — | 0.69% |
| 16 | Whitecap Car Wash | 1 | 361 | 4.80 | 1.20% | 16.7% | 0.80% |
| 17 | GooGoo Car Wash | 1 | 23 | 2.50 | — | — | — |
| 18 | Dirty Dog's Car Wash Tampa | 1 | 188 | 4.70 | 1.94% | — | 1.94% |
| 19 | The Car Wash Guys | 1 | 356 | 4.80 | 3.42% | — | 0.00% |
| 20 | Caliber Car Wash | 1 | 2,521 | 4.90 | 0.62% | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| 21 | Circle K | 1 | 104 | 3.80 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Birmingham?
Counties of the Birmingham CBSA are listed below by car wash count. Jefferson 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: 0.88★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County | 358 | 59.7% | 38,604 | 4.57 |
| Shelby County | 100 | 16.7% | 12,078 | 4.56 |
| St. Clair County | 50 | 8.3% | 3,555 | 4.50 |
| Walker County | 39 | 6.5% | 3,261 | 4.49 |
| Blount County | 29 | 4.8% | 1,272 | 4.62 |
| Chilton County | 13 | 2.2% | 657 | 4.25 |
| Bibb County | 11 | 1.8% | 111 | 3.74 |
What do customers love and complain about in Birmingham?
Reading the aspect grid: numbers above 0.3 are strong positives; numbers below -0.1 indicate meaningful friction; in between is mixed signal. staff is the brightest spot here. equipment reliability is the pain point.
Where are all the car washes in the Birmingham metro?
The complete inventory of car wash locations in the Birmingham MSA is captured in the underlying dataset; the table below shows the highest-review-volume sites for at-a-glance comparison. Each row shows operator, address, format, chain affiliation, rating, review count, and the IRS mean AGI for the ZIP.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take 5 Car Wash 400 24th St S | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.5 | 3,043 | $82K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 7641 Crestwood Blvd | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.3 | 2,553 | $77K |
| Caliber Car Wash 596 Fieldstown Rd | Gardendale, AL | Express Tunnel | Caliber Car Wash | 4.9 | 2,521 | $77K |
| New Day Car Wash 4752 Cahaba River Rd | Vestavia Hills, AL | Express Tunnel | New Day Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,726 | $190K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 2979 Viking Dr | Jasper, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.6 | 1,673 | $53K |
| New Day Car Wash 5961 Chalkville Mountain Rd | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | New Day Car Wash | 5.0 | 1,392 | $48K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 4758 US-280 | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.3 | 1,387 | $177K |
| New Day Car Wash 1701 Fulton Rd | Fultondale, AL | Express Tunnel | New Day Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,257 | $56K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 5941 Valley Rd | Trussville, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.8 | 1,225 | $107K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 2888 Allison-Bonnett Memorial Dr | Bessemer, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.2 | 1,216 | $56K |
| Benton Nissan of Bessemer 5487 Academy Way | Bessemer, AL | — | — | 4.6 | 1,206 | $67K |
| New Day Car Wash 5305 US-280 | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | New Day Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,186 | $177K |
| Marc-1 Car Wash 156 Co Rd 304 | Calera, AL | — | — | 4.7 | 1,149 | $64K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 3295 Morrow Rd | Trussville, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.5 | 1,136 | $48K |
| Raindrop Car Wash - Clay 6501 Deerfoot Pkwy | Trussville, AL | Express Tunnel | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 4.9 | 1,122 | $107K |
| Raindrop Car Wash - Trussville 4636 Camp Coleman Rd | Trussville, AL | Express Tunnel | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 4.9 | 1,082 | $107K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 2465 2nd Ave E | Oneonta, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.6 | 1,061 | $70K |
| Driver's Way - Pelham Used Cars 100 Drivers Mart Way | Pelham, AL | — | Driver's Way Hwy 280 | 4.6 | 1,006 | $103K |
| King Acura 1687 Montgomery Hwy | Hoover, AL | — | — | 4.7 | 995 | $123K |
| Marc-1 Car Wash 550 Palisades Blvd | Homewood, AL | Express Tunnel | Marc-1 Car Wash | 4.4 | 995 | $142K |
| Raindrop Car Wash - Grayson Valley 5580 Chalkville Mountain Rd | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 4.8 | 917 | $48K |
| Raindrop Car Wash - Moody 2200 Blueridge Dr | Leeds, AL | Express Tunnel | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 4.6 | 871 | $72K |
| Take 5 Car Wash 1634 Bessemer Rd | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.1 | 847 | $34K |
| Raindrop Car Wash - Roebuck 9221 Parkway E | Birmingham, AL | Express Tunnel | Raindrop Car Wash - Clay | 4.5 | 827 | $39K |
| Marc-1 Car Wash 40 Kent Stone Way | Alabaster, AL | Express Tunnel | Marc-1 Car Wash | 4.6 | 764 | $69K |
Compare Birmingham to other AL 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 2026-09-26. Pick a format and click Copy.
WashIndex. (2026, September 26). Birmingham car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/birmingham
WashIndex. "Birmingham car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified September 26, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/birmingham.
"Birmingham car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Sep. 26, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/birmingham.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_birmingham_2026,
title = {{Birmingham car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Sep},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/birmingham},
urldate = {2026-09-26},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Birmingham, AL CBSA is determined by point-in-polygon test against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024) for the 7 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 22,822 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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