Cedar Rapids Car Wash Market Analysis
Cedar Rapids, IA
Data updated · June 9, 2026
A read of Cedar Rapids's car wash market built from 9,855 Google reviews across 160 locations. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 160
- 84% independent
- Chains
- 7
- lead: bp (9 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.28★
- -0.13 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 2.4%
- 1.5× national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 9.1%
- Top format
- detail shop
- 33% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 275,960
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 113,271
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,725
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.6
- in the 0.5–1.0 filling band · classified sites
Key findings
- 160 car wash locations operated by 7 chains and 134 independents across 3 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.28★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 9,855 Google reviews, 2,415 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
160 car wash locations across 3 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
Tracked at 160 car wash locations, Cedar Rapids matches the structural profile of the typical US metro of comparable size. 7 chains compete alongside 134 independents — typical mix for a market of 160 car washes. Customer-experience signals across 2,415 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Headline numbers sit near US-metro norms: rating 4.28★, damage 2.4%, cancel friction 9.1%. Equipment reliability runs as the sharpest friction (-0.70). Per-operator and per-format cuts below are more informative than the aggregates.
See the top car wash chains in Cedar Rapids
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Cedar Rapids metro, officially
the Cedar Rapids metro has 25 car-wash employer establishments employing about 212 people, at a $33,590 average annual 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.
About the Cedar Rapids car wash market
How many car washes are in the Cedar Rapids metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Cedar Rapids metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Cedar Rapids?
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What is the average customer rating in the Cedar Rapids car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Cedar Rapids?
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What kinds of car washes does Cedar Rapids have?
The format mix in Cedar Rapids reads as a typical mid-market US metro — express tunnels and detail shops carrying the bulk of supply, with full-service and self-serve layered in. The bar chart pairs location count with per-format average rating.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.74★ across 8 locations. Lowest-rated: Express Tunnel at 4.16★ (7 locations).
136 (85.0%) of 160 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 | 136 | 85.0% | 5,525 | 4.29 | 0.86% | 9.1% |
| Detail Shop | 8 | 5.0% | 535 | 4.74 | 1.09% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 7 | 4.4% | 2,399 | 4.16 | 8.15% | 7.6% |
| In-Bay Automatic | 4 | 2.5% | 205 | 4.25 | 0.00% | — |
| Full Service | 3 | 1.9% | 985 | 4.22 | 1.22% | 33.3% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 2 | 1.3% | 206 | 4.28 | 0.00% | — |
What is the household income near Cedar Rapids car washes?
Each ZIP in Cedar Rapids 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 74 qualifying locations: 0.01 — effectively zero. Operating quality dominates over neighborhood income. Scatter mean: $81K AGI/return, 4.03★.
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 | 8 | 63 | 5,408 | 4.20 | Express Tunnel (5) |
| $75K – $100K | 11 | 39 | 2,041 | 4.20 | Detail Shop (3) |
| $100K – $150K | 4 | 11 | 221 | 3.35 | Detail Shop (1) |
| $150K+ | 1 | 3 | 1,694 | 4.55 | Express Tunnel (1) |
Top-tier 3 sites, 4.55★ avg; bottom-tier 0 sites, 0.00★. Across Cedar Rapids's 74 qualifying locations, the income gradient correlates only weakly with rating — operator execution dominates.
Who operates the most Cedar Rapids car washes?
7 chains run sites in Cedar Rapids; the top 25 are listed below by location count, with their per-chain operating-quality numbers next to them. Useful for narrowing competitive-set considerations or for M&A evaluation.
| # | Chain | Locations | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage | Cancel | Upsell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bp | 9 | 303 | 4.12 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Kwik Trip | 6 | 989 | 4.39 | 0.65% | — | 0.00% |
| 3 | Mister Car Wash | 4 | 1,492 | 4.24 | 6.86% | 7.4% | 2.89% |
| 4 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 2 | 618 | 3.98 | 12.21% | 7.9% | 4.07% |
| 5 | Hy-Vee Car Wash | 2 | 27 | 3.60 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Casey's | 2 | 169 | 4.03 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Blue Grass Car Wash | 1 | 194 | 4.30 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Cedar Rapids?
Counties of the Cedar Rapids CBSA are listed below by car wash count. Linn 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: 0.60★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linn County | 138 | 86.3% | 9,107 | 4.27 |
| Benton County | 13 | 8.1% | 561 | 4.48 |
| Jones County | 9 | 5.6% | 187 | 3.88 |
What do customers love and complain about in Cedar Rapids?
Seven aspects, 2,415 reviews, 160 locations. The grid below gives a quick read on which dimensions of the experience Cedar Rapids's car wash market does well at and which generate friction.
Where are all the car washes in the Cedar Rapids metro?
Top 25 car washes by review volume in Cedar Rapids. The full set of 160 is available in the underlying dataset.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Kuehl Honda Cars 4835 Edgewood Rd NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | — | 4.6 | 1,315 | $176K |
| Mister Car Wash 5055 Northland Ave NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.0 | 635 | $73K |
| Rooster Auto Sales + Trailers 410 H Ave | Vinton, IA | — | — | 4.6 | 478 | $73K |
| Johnny Boy's Car Wash 1317 1st Ave SE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Full Service | — | 4.4 | 397 | $73K |
| Mister Car Wash 5520 Edgewood Rd NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.4 | 376 | $176K |
| Tommy's Express® Car Wash 4420 Westdale Pkwy SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 3.7 | 329 | $61K |
| Mister Car Wash 3405 Williams Blvd SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.5 | 302 | $61K |
| Wright Wash 755 N Center Point Rd | Hiawatha, IA | Full Service | — | 4.2 | 295 | $90K |
| Kwik Star 962 62nd St | Marion, IA | — | Kwik Trip | 4.6 | 295 | $90K |
| Sparkling Image Car Wash 3218 1st Ave NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Full Service | — | 4.0 | 293 | $73K |
| Aces Truck Wash 555 French Ct SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | — | 4.1 | 289 | $61K |
| Tommy's Express® Car Wash 4035 1st Ave SE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Express Tunnel | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 4.3 | 289 | $73K |
| Kwik Star 3730 Williams Blvd SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | Kwik Trip | 4.5 | 227 | $61K |
| Car Detailing Cedar Rapids 1921 Rosehill Dr SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | Detail Shop | — | 4.9 | 201 | $61K |
| Blue Lagoon Storage and Car Wash 288 Blairs Ferry Rd NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | Self-Serve Bay | Blue Grass Car Wash | 4.3 | 194 | $73K |
| Mister Car Wash 3957 Katz Dr | Marion, IA | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.3 | 179 | $90K |
| Detail Plus, Inc 4650 8th Ave | Marion, IA | — | — | 4.8 | 174 | $90K |
| Brittany's Interior Detailing LLC | , IA | — | — | 5.0 | 171 | — |
| Kwik Star 251 Avenue Southwest | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | Kwik Trip | 4.1 | 164 | $61K |
| Clean Car Inc 95 Center Point Rd | Hiawatha, IA | — | — | 4.0 | 163 | $90K |
| Casey's 3625 Edgewood Rd SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | Casey's | 4.1 | 153 | $61K |
| Westdale Car Wash 4115 Wilson Ave SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | — | 4.1 | 145 | $61K |
| Kwik Star 1001 Blairs Ferry Rd NE | Cedar Rapids, IA | — | Kwik Trip | 4.1 | 133 | $73K |
| bp 2601 Williams Blvd SW | Cedar Rapids, IA | In-Bay Automatic | bp | 4.3 | 133 | $61K |
| R&W Auto Detailing | , IA | — | — | 5.0 | 112 | — |
Compare Cedar Rapids to other IA 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). Cedar Rapids car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/cedar-rapids
WashIndex. "Cedar Rapids car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/cedar-rapids.
"Cedar Rapids car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/cedar-rapids.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_cedar_rapids_2026,
title = {{Cedar Rapids car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/cedar-rapids},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Cedar Rapids, IA 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 2,415 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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