Daphne Car Wash Market Analysis
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL
Data updated · June 9, 2026
A read of Daphne's car wash market built from 6,939 Google reviews across 155 locations. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 155
- 91% independent
- Chains
- 5
- lead: Rich's Car Wash (6 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.36★
- near national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 1.5%
- near national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 18.6%
- Top format
- express tunnel
- 45% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 239,945
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 94,642
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,548
- 1.2× denser than the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 1.1
- above ~1.0 — contested · classified sites
Key findings
- 155 car wash locations operated by 5 chains and 141 independents across 1 county.
- Weighted Google rating 4.36★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 6,939 Google reviews, 2,264 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
155 car wash locations across 1 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
Daphne sits near the center of the US-metro distribution on concentration, format mix, and rating. 155 locations across 5 chains and 141 independents, distributed across 1 counties. Customer-experience signals across 2,264 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Average rating across the 155-location market weighs in at 4.36★; damage rate 1.5%; cancel friction 18.6%. 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 Daphne
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Daphne metro, officially
Low-wageCar-wash wages in the Daphne metro run about 18% below the national average ($26,741 vs. $32,560), across 13 employer establishments and roughly 73 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.
About the Daphne car wash market
How many car washes are in the Daphne metro?
+
What is the best-rated car wash in the Daphne metro?
+
Which car wash chain has the most locations in Daphne?
+
What is the average customer rating in the Daphne car wash market?
+
What is the typical household income near car washes in Daphne?
+
What kinds of car washes does Daphne 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. Daphne's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.92★ across 10 locations. Lowest-rated: In-Bay Automatic at 2.60★ (1 locations).
| Format | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage Rate | Cancel Friction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Express Tunnel | 10 | 6.5% | 3,897 | 4.40 | 2.43% | 20.3% |
| Detail Shop | 10 | 6.5% | 655 | 4.92 | 0.25% | 0.0% |
| In-Bay Automatic | 1 | 0.6% | 311 | 2.60 | 1.89% | — |
| Full Service | 1 | 0.6% | 297 | 4.10 | 2.60% | 0.0% |
What is the household income near Daphne car washes?
Read together with the format mix above, the income scatter below tells you whether car wash quality in Daphne tracks neighborhood income, format mix, or neither. Operating quality usually dominates this picture.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 39 qualifying locations: 0.12 — mild positive. Higher-income ZIPs host slightly better-rated washes, but operator execution still dominates. Scatter mean: $87K AGI/return, 4.41★.
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 | 6 | 31 | 2,501 | 4.33 | Detail Shop (5) |
| $75K – $100K | 4 | 19 | 2,119 | 4.12 | Express Tunnel (2) |
| $100K – $150K | 2 | 13 | 1,129 | 4.50 | Express Tunnel (3) |
| $150K+ | 1 | 4 | 592 | 4.55 | Detail Shop (2) |
Income band spread: 4/4.55★ at the highest tier; 0/0.00★ 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 Daphne car washes?
5 chains alongside 141 independents make up Daphne'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 | Rich's Car Wash | 6 | 1,590 | 4.36 | 2.99% | 18.4% | 1.71% |
| 2 | Shell | 3 | 145 | 3.08 | — | — | — |
| 3 | On Site Detailing & Ceramic Coating | 2 | 115 | 4.74 | — | — | — |
| 4 | PitStop Car Wash | 2 | 1,464 | 4.45 | 1.29% | 16.4% | 0.43% |
| 5 | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 1 | 320 | 4.20 | 6.09% | — | 2.61% |
Which counties have the most car washes in Daphne?
Daphne's 155 car washes distribute across 1 counties. Baldwin County leads with 157 locations (101.3%). Cross-county rating dispersion is usually narrow at this scale.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin County | 157 | 101.3% | 6,939 | 4.36 |
What do customers love and complain about in Daphne?
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 Daphne metro?
155 car washes are tracked in Daphne; 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PitStop Car Wash 809 Fairhope Ave | Fairhope, AL | Express Tunnel | PitStop Car Wash | 4.6 | 756 | $125K |
| PitStop Car Wash 817 S McKenzie St | Foley, AL | Express Tunnel | PitStop Car Wash | 4.3 | 708 | $58K |
| Da' Carwash 24130 Canal Rd | Orange Beach, AL | Express Tunnel | — | 4.5 | 523 | $155K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Daphne 28823 US-98 | Daphne, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 4.5 | 518 | $92K |
| Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash 2550 S McKenzie St | Foley, AL | Express Tunnel | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 4.2 | 320 | $58K |
| Tropical Suds Car Wash 3300 Gulf Shores Pkwy | Gulf Shores, AL | In-Bay Automatic | — | 2.6 | 311 | $89K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Robertsdale 21141 AL-59 #2 | Robertsdale, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 4.3 | 298 | $58K |
| Blue Moose Auto Spa 3890 Gulf Shores Pkwy | Gulf Shores, AL | Full Service | — | 4.1 | 297 | $89K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Daphne (Olde Towne) 1806 US-98 | Daphne, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 4.4 | 276 | $92K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Bay Minette 501 McMeans Ave | Bay Minette, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 4.3 | 243 | $62K |
| Foley Car Wash 715 N McKenzie St | Foley, AL | — | — | 4.1 | 190 | $58K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Spanish Fort 30390 State Hwy 181 | Spanish Fort, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 4.4 | 168 | $119K |
| Zippy's Car Wash 2011 S McKenzie St | Foley, AL | — | — | 4.1 | 152 | $58K |
| Ryza Mobile Detailing 29683 Frederick Blvd | Daphne, AL | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 151 | $92K |
| Ramsey Auto Pros - Ceramic Coating, PPF, Tinting, Detailing 25476 Friendship Rd Unit G | Daphne, AL | Detail Shop | — | 4.8 | 126 | $92K |
| SouthernShine Mobile Detailing 1212 Sweet Laurel St | Foley, AL | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 119 | $58K |
| Car Wash 120 E 20th Ave | Gulf Shores, AL | — | — | 3.7 | 107 | $89K |
| Tj's Auto Detailing & Cleaning Services | , AL | — | — | 5.0 | 100 | — |
| Diamond Auto Care LLC 9731 Co Rd 65 unit 74 | Foley, AL | Detail Shop | — | 4.9 | 92 | $58K |
| Rich's Car Wash - Fairhope 20310 State Hwy 181 | Fairhope, AL | Express Tunnel | Rich's Car Wash | 3.7 | 87 | $125K |
| Bay Car Wash | Robertsdale, AL | — | — | 4.1 | 73 | $58K |
| 4 Lane Auto Sales 3230 S McKenzie St | Foley, AL | — | — | 4.3 | 66 | $58K |
| DETAILING UNLIMITED &Ceramic Coating 19451 Oak Rd W | Gulf Shores, AL | — | On Site Detailing & Ceramic Coating | 4.6 | 63 | $89K |
| Double Take Detailing | , AL | — | — | 4.9 | 63 | — |
| Lower Alabama Mobile Detailing | , AL | — | — | 5.0 | 63 | — |
Compare Daphne 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 2026-06-09. Pick a format and click Copy.
WashIndex. (2026, June 9). Daphne car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/daphne
WashIndex. "Daphne car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/daphne.
"Daphne car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/daphne.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_daphne_2026,
title = {{Daphne car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/daphne},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL CBSA is determined by point-in-polygon test against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024) for the 1 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 2,264 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
Free tools: ROI calculator · site opportunity · investment guide