Johnson City Car Wash Market Analysis
Johnson City, TN
Data updated · June 9, 2026
7,972 Google reviews across 119 car washes in 3 Johnson City counties. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 119
- 88% independent
- Chains
- 10
- lead: Ultimate Shine Car Wash (3 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.45★
- near national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 1.8%
- near national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 19.4%
- Top format
- express tunnel
- 58% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 208,934
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 88,225
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,756
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 1.2
- above ~1.0 — contested · classified sites
Key findings
- 119 car wash locations operated by 10 chains and 105 independents across 3 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.45★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 7,972 Google reviews, 2,493 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
119 car wash locations across 3 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
No single structural signal jumps out for Johnson City — it's a mid-shape car wash market. 10 chains compete alongside 105 independents — typical mix for a market of 119 car washes. Customer-experience signals across 2,493 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Average rating across the 119-location market weighs in at 4.45★; damage rate 1.8%; cancel friction 19.4%. Staff strong (0.83); equipment reliability weak (-0.47). Per-operator and per-format cuts below are more informative than the aggregates.
See the top car wash chains in Johnson City
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Johnson City metro, officially
Low-wageCar-wash wages in the Johnson City metro run about 100% below the national average ($0 vs. $32,560), across 14 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.
About the Johnson City car wash market
How many car washes are in the Johnson City metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Johnson City metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Johnson City?
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What is the average customer rating in the Johnson City car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Johnson City?
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What kinds of car washes does Johnson City 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. Johnson City's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.99★ across 6 locations. Lowest-rated: Self-Serve Bay at 4.40★ (1 locations).
100 (84.0%) of 119 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 | 100 | 84.0% | 2,416 | 4.22 | 1.67% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 11 | 9.2% | 4,604 | 4.51 | 2.54% | 19.9% |
| Detail Shop | 6 | 5.0% | 591 | 4.99 | 0.00% | 0.0% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 1 | 0.8% | 305 | 4.40 | 0.00% | — |
| In-Bay Automatic | 1 | 0.8% | 56 | 4.20 | 0.00% | — |
What is the household income near Johnson City car washes?
Each ZIP in Johnson City 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 39 qualifying locations: 0.03 — effectively zero. Operating quality dominates over neighborhood income. Scatter mean: $70K AGI/return, 4.20★.
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 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5.00 | — |
| $50K – $75K | 8 | 46 | 6,736 | 4.43 | Express Tunnel (8) |
| $75K – $100K | 2 | 15 | 1,004 | 4.51 | Express Tunnel (3) |
| $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 at 0.00★, against 1 sites across 1 ZIPs at 5.00★ in the lowest. Middle-income tiers typically host the densest express-tunnel concentrations — the part of the income curve where that format's unit economics are strongest.
Who operates the most Johnson City car washes?
10 chains run sites in Johnson City; 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 | Ultimate Shine Car Wash | 3 | 1,948 | 4.33 | 7.73% | 38.7% | 0.00% |
| 2 | The Car Wash | 2 | 222 | 4.20 | — | — | — |
| 3 | Wash N Roll Car Wash | 2 | 233 | 3.44 | 4.52% | 20.4% | 15.48% |
| 4 | JD Car Detailing | 1 | 57 | 5.00 | — | — | — |
| 5 | The RipTide Car Wash | 1 | 143 | 4.80 | 0.00% | — | 0.00% |
| 6 | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 1 | 228 | 4.70 | 1.33% | — | 0.67% |
| 7 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 1 | 428 | 4.60 | 3.50% | 9.4% | 0.32% |
| 8 | Take 5 Car Wash | 1 | 1,402 | 4.90 | 0.21% | 19.0% | 0.42% |
| 9 | Shell | 1 | 76 | 3.80 | — | — | — |
| 10 | bp | 1 | 56 | 4.20 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Johnson City?
Johnson City's 119 car washes distribute across 3 counties. Washington County leads with 97 locations (81.5%). Cross-county rating dispersion is usually narrow at this scale.
Cross-county rating dispersion: 0.71★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 97 | 81.5% | 6,879 | 4.48 |
| Carter County | 18 | 15.1% | 984 | 4.31 |
| Unicoi County | 4 | 3.4% | 109 | 3.77 |
What do customers love and complain about in Johnson City?
Seven aspects, 2,493 reviews, 119 locations. The grid below gives a quick read on which dimensions of the experience Johnson City's car wash market does well at and which generate friction.
Where are all the car washes in the Johnson City metro?
The complete inventory of car wash locations in the Johnson City 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 2304 Browns Mill Rd | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Take 5 Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,402 | $64K |
| Ultimate Shine Car Wash 1005 Over Mountain Dr | Elizabethton, TN | Express Tunnel | Ultimate Shine Car Wash | 4.3 | 692 | $55K |
| Ultimate Shine Car Wash 3105 W Market St | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Ultimate Shine Car Wash | 4.3 | 640 | $72K |
| Ultimate Shine Car Wash 304 W Oakland Ave | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Ultimate Shine Car Wash | 4.4 | 616 | $64K |
| Tommy's Express® Car Wash 1407 Sunset Dr | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 4.6 | 428 | $72K |
| Southern Classic Auto Wash and Lube 518 W Oakland Ave | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.1 | 368 | $72K |
| Automan Collision & Repair LLC 114 Industrial Rd | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.8 | 339 | $95K |
| Pit Stop Wash Center 2530 E Oakland Ave | Johnson City, TN | Self-Serve Bay | — | 4.4 | 305 | $64K |
| Wash Depot 3900 Bristol Hwy #5 | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.4 | 293 | $64K |
| YOUR NEXT auto detailer / Window Tinting 3314 W Market St | Johnson City, TN | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 235 | $72K |
| Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash 604 Leisure Ln | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 4.7 | 228 | $72K |
| TruShine Car Wash III 3033 Boones Creek Rd | Gray, TN | Express Tunnel | The Car Wash | 4.2 | 201 | $95K |
| West Side Carwash 603 Leisure Ln | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 3.4 | 192 | $72K |
| Mark's Car Wash | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 3.6 | 153 | $72K |
| The RipTide Car Wash 980 Over Mountain Dr | Elizabethton, TN | Express Tunnel | The RipTide Car Wash | 4.8 | 143 | $55K |
| Prestige Auto Detailing LLC 681 Gray Station Rd | Gray, TN | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 134 | $95K |
| Wash’N’Roll car wash Jonesborough, TN 167 Headtown Rd | Jonesborough, TN | Express Tunnel | Wash N Roll Car Wash | 3.7 | 131 | $80K |
| East Tennessee Car Detailing 4106 N Roan St | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.7 | 127 | $64K |
| Wash N' Roll Car Wash - Johnson City, TN 518 W Oakland Ave | Johnson City, TN | Express Tunnel | Wash N Roll Car Wash | 3.1 | 102 | $72K |
| Johnson City Detail 3319 Wayfield Dr | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.9 | 102 | $64K |
| Tri-City Auto Detailers-Accessories 4 Worth Cir #4 | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 4.5 | 92 | $64K |
| To Go Mobile Detailing 2378 Hwy 81 S | Jonesborough, TN | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 78 | $80K |
| Shell 607 Twin Oaks Dr | Johnson City, TN | — | Shell | 3.8 | 76 | $64K |
| Super Hydro-Pressure Car Wash 300 N Broadway St | Johnson City, TN | — | — | 3.9 | 68 | $64K |
| Microclean Detailing | Window tint 100 E Chilhowie Ave | Johnson City, TN | Detail Shop | JD Car Detailing | 5.0 | 57 | $64K |
Compare Johnson City to other TN 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). Johnson City car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/johnson-city
WashIndex. "Johnson City car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/johnson-city.
"Johnson City car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/johnson-city.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_johnson_city_2026,
title = {{Johnson City car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/johnson-city},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Johnson City, TN 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 2,493 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.
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