Palm Bay Car Wash Market Analysis
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
Data updated · September 26, 2026
34,836 Google reviews across 438 car washes in 1 Palm Bay counties. Format mix, operator rank, geographic distribution, income overlay, customer-experience signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 438
- 91% independent
- Chains
- 16
- lead: Car Wash (6 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.56★
- +0.15 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 1.3%
- near national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 10.9%
- Top format
- detail shop
- 49% of classified inventory
- Median single wash
- $10
- range $6–$29.99
- Median unlimited
- $22.99/mo
- cheapest $15/mo at Profesional Movible Car Detailing Gali’s
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 620,533
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 251,889
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,417
- 1.4× denser than the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.7
- in the 0.5–1.0 filling band · classified sites
Key findings
- 438 car wash locations operated by 16 chains and 400 independents across 1 county.
- Weighted Google rating 4.56★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 34,836 Google reviews, 13,954 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
438 car wash locations across 1 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
Palm Bay reads as a balanced car wash market — neither sharply consolidated nor unusually fragmented. 16 chains compete alongside 400 independents — typical mix for a market of 438 car washes. Customer-experience signals across 13,954 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Headline numbers sit near US-metro norms: rating 4.56★, damage 1.3%, cancel friction 10.9%. Equipment reliability runs as the sharpest friction (-0.36). Per-operator and per-format cuts below are more informative than the aggregates.
Published pricing across the 31 of 442 Palm Bay locations with menus available: median single car wash $10 (range $6–$29.99), median unlimited membership $22.99/month (range $15–$75/mo). The cheapest unlimited membership in the metro is $15/mo at Profesional Movible Car Detailing Gali’s (Pro).
See the top car wash chains in Palm Bay
Ranked by location count in the metro
What does a car wash cost in the Palm Bay metro?
Published menu pricing for car washes in the Palm Bay metropolitan area, captured from operator websites and the WashIndex AI calling agent. 31 of 442 tracked locations have usable published pricing (7% coverage).
| Cheapest unlimited memberships in Palm Bay | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Profesional Movible Car Detailing Gali’s Pro | $15 per mo |
| 2 | Dolphin Car Wash Basic Wash | $18 per mo |
| 3 | AquaShine Express Car Wash Includes | $19.99 per mo |
| 4 | Top Shelf Car Wash Unlimited Washes | $20 per mo |
| 5 | Ocean Spray Car Wash & Detail Center # 5 | $22 per mo |
| Cheapest single car washes in Palm Bay | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pristine Car Wash and Detail Basic | $6 |
| 2 | Profesional Movible Car Detailing Gali’s Starter | $6 |
| 3 | Top Shelf Car Wash Wacky Wednesday | $7 |
| 4 | Beachside Car Wash Express Touchless Wash | $8 |
| 5 | Dolphin Car Wash Basic Wash | $8 |
Pricing scraped from operator websites where published; the WashIndex AI calling agent rings up locations that don’t publish menus online to capture pricing directly.
The car wash industry in the Palm Bay metro, officially
Fast-growingthe Palm Bay metro is one of the faster-growing car-wash job markets: employer establishments grew 19% from 2022 to 2024 — ahead of the ~7% national pace — to 56, now employing about 371 people at a $32,877 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 Palm Bay metro
Build-out marketSince 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration has backed 19 car-wash loans in the Palm Bay metro worth $16.1M, at a $495,000 median per car wash and a 14.3% charge-off rate. Early read: the mix tilts toward new construction — 53% of loans funded brand-new washes — pointing to a market where operators are still adding supply.
- Brevard 19
- New build / open53% · $1.1M
- Acquisition5% · $567K
- Expansion / improvement32% · $371K
- Working capital11% · $49K
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 Palm Bay car wash market
How many car washes are in the Palm Bay metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Palm Bay metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Palm Bay?
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What is the average customer rating in the Palm Bay car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Palm Bay?
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How much does a car wash cost in Palm Bay?
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How much does an unlimited car wash membership cost in Palm Bay?
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What is the cheapest car wash in Palm Bay?
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What kinds of car washes does Palm Bay 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. Palm Bay's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.89★ across 37 locations. Lowest-rated: In-Bay Automatic at 3.47★ (8 locations).
362 (82.6%) of 438 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 | 362 | 82.6% | 19,086 | 4.61 | 0.96% | 9.2% |
| Detail Shop | 37 | 8.4% | 3,495 | 4.89 | 0.44% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 17 | 3.9% | 8,630 | 4.54 | 2.37% | 12.9% |
| Full Service | 10 | 2.3% | 2,328 | 4.14 | 1.85% | 5.9% |
| In-Bay Automatic | 8 | 1.8% | 287 | 3.47 | 1.23% | 50.0% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 4 | 0.9% | 1,010 | 3.94 | 1.94% | 0.0% |
What is the household income near Palm Bay car washes?
Read together with the format mix above, the income scatter below tells you whether car wash quality in Palm Bay tracks neighborhood income, format mix, or neither. Operating quality usually dominates this picture.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 136 qualifying locations: -0.05 — effectively zero. Operating quality dominates over neighborhood income. Scatter mean: $85K AGI/return, 4.48★.
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 | 10 | 621 | 4.21 | In-Bay Automatic (1) |
| $50K – $75K | 12 | 106 | 11,248 | 4.46 | Detail Shop (18) |
| $75K – $100K | 6 | 43 | 12,160 | 4.60 | Detail Shop (10) |
| $100K – $150K | 5 | 52 | 7,662 | 4.54 | Detail Shop (8) |
| $150K+ | 2 | 8 | 195 | 3.79 | Full Service (1) |
Top-tier 8 sites, 3.79★ avg; bottom-tier 10 sites, 4.21★. Across Palm Bay's 136 qualifying locations, the income gradient correlates only weakly with rating — operator execution dominates.
Who operates the most Palm Bay car washes?
The table below ranks the top 25 chains operating in Palm Bay 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 | Car Wash | 6 | 10,183 | 4.68 | 0.97% | 8.9% | 0.34% |
| 2 | Ocean Spray Car Wash | 5 | 827 | 4.15 | — | — | — |
| 3 | bp | 5 | 144 | 3.58 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Circle K | 4 | 166 | 3.32 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Mister Car Wash | 4 | 2,373 | 4.24 | 2.08% | 9.0% | 1.11% |
| 6 | Caliber Car Wash | 2 | 1,002 | 4.75 | 3.97% | 18.6% | 0.53% |
| 7 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 2 | 508 | 4.50 | 4.41% | 9.7% | 0.74% |
| 8 | Dirty Dog's Car Wash Tampa | 2 | 1,689 | 4.83 | 1.36% | 10.1% | 0.50% |
| 9 | Shiny Shell Carwash | 1 | 304 | 4.50 | — | — | — |
| 10 | SUNSHINE Detailing Full Service Hand Car Wash | 1 | 26 | 5.00 | — | — | — |
| 11 | TNT Car Wash North | 1 | 185 | 4.20 | — | — | — |
| 12 | Twins Car Wash - Fort Pierce | 1 | 467 | 4.70 | 0.69% | 7.3% | 0.00% |
| 13 | Whistle Express Car Wash | 1 | 1,181 | 4.60 | 3.94% | 14.9% | 0.93% |
| 14 | Kilo Two Alpha Automotive Detailing | 1 | 29 | 4.90 | — | — | — |
| 15 | AquaShine Express Car Wash | 1 | 444 | 4.80 | 0.54% | 13.0% | 0.00% |
| 16 | Diamond Cars | 1 | 10 | 5.00 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Palm Bay?
The table below splits the metro's car wash inventory across the 1 counties of the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL CBSA, with location count, total reviews, and weighted-average rating per county.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard County | 438 | 100.0% | 34,836 | 4.56 |
What do customers love and complain about in Palm Bay?
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 Palm Bay metro?
Top 25 car washes by review volume in Palm Bay. The full set of 438 is available in the underlying dataset.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Car Wash - Palm Bay 4555 Durham Dr | West Melbourne, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.5 | 3,111 | $79K |
| El Car Wash - New Haven 3620 W New Haven Ave | Melbourne, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.6 | 2,150 | $79K |
| El Car Wash - Malabar 5985 Babcock St NE | Palm Bay, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.8 | 1,854 | $57K |
| El Car Wash - Rockledge 3720 S Fiske Blvd | Rockledge, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,346 | $90K |
| El Car Wash - Merritt Island 525 E Merritt Island Cswy | Merritt Island, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.9 | 1,256 | $119K |
| Whistle Express Car Wash 4860 N Wickham Rd | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | Whistle Express Car Wash | 4.6 | 1,181 | $129K |
| Dirty Dog's Car Wash Melbourne 10 W New Haven Ave | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | Dirty Dog's Car Wash Tampa | 4.8 | 1,139 | $58K |
| Mister Car Wash 7940 N Wickham Rd | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.1 | 1,051 | $129K |
| Empire Car Wash 1195 S Wickham Rd | Melbourne, FL | Full Service | — | 4.4 | 660 | $79K |
| Mister Car Wash 3353 Columbia Blvd | Titusville, FL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.2 | 604 | $70K |
| Ocean Spray Car Wash & Detail Center 520 E Eau Gallie Blvd | Indian Harbour Beach, FL | Full Service | Ocean Spray Car Wash | 4.3 | 595 | $138K |
| Tranzformer Auto Detailing | , FL | — | — | 5.0 | 568 | — |
| Top Shelf Car Wash 3530 S Washington Ave | Titusville, FL | Express Tunnel | — | 4.2 | 550 | $70K |
| Dirty Dog’s Car Wash Melbourne West 4539 W Eau Gallie Blvd | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | Dirty Dog's Car Wash Tampa | 4.9 | 550 | $98K |
| Caliber Car Wash 5050 NW Minton Rd | Palm Bay, FL | Express Tunnel | Caliber Car Wash | 4.8 | 526 | $57K |
| Pit Stop Express Car Wash 950 N Harbor City Blvd | Melbourne, FL | — | — | 4.3 | 514 | $56K |
| Palm Bay Auto Spa and Dawg Wash 1350 Palm Bay Rd NE | Palm Bay, FL | — | — | 4.2 | 479 | $51K |
| Beachside Car Wash 8095 Astronaut Blvd | Cape Canaveral, FL | Self-Serve Bay | — | 4.1 | 478 | $88K |
| Caliber Car Wash 600 E Eau Gallie Blvd | Indian Harbour Beach, FL | Express Tunnel | Caliber Car Wash | 4.7 | 476 | $138K |
| Twins Car Wash - Merritt Island 2240 N Courtenay Pkwy | Merritt Island, FL | Express Tunnel | Twins Car Wash - Fort Pierce | 4.7 | 467 | $92K |
| El Car Wash 5881 FL-507 | Palm Bay, FL | — | Car Wash | 4.6 | 466 | $57K |
| AquaShine Express Car Wash 3055 W New Haven Ave | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | AquaShine Express Car Wash | 4.8 | 444 | $79K |
| Mister Car Wash 1955 Viera Blvd | Rockledge, FL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.4 | 432 | $90K |
| Palm Bay Car Wash & Detail Center 4800 Babcock St NE | Palm Bay, FL | Full Service | — | 3.7 | 417 | $51K |
| Tommy's Express® Car Wash 2800 Veterans Way | Melbourne, FL | Express Tunnel | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 4.5 | 384 | $129K |
Compare Palm Bay to other FL 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). Palm Bay car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/palm-bay
WashIndex. "Palm Bay car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified September 26, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/palm-bay.
"Palm Bay car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Sep. 26, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/palm-bay.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_palm_bay_2026,
title = {{Palm Bay car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Sep},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/palm-bay},
urldate = {2026-09-26},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 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 13,954 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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