Rockford Car Wash Market Analysis
Rockford, IL
Data updated · June 9, 2026
15,475 Google reviews across 169 car wash locations in this chain-consolidated metro. Operator concentration, per-chain quality, format mix, customer-experience signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 169
- 79% independent
- Chains
- 12
- lead: bp (8 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.37★
- near national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 2.9%
- 1.9× national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 10.2%
- Top format
- in-bay automatic
- 44% of classified inventory
- Median single wash
- $10
- range $5.50–$50
- Median unlimited
- $24/mo
- cheapest $15/mo at Swift Wash
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 336,605
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 134,604
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,992
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.7
- in the 0.5–1.0 filling band · classified sites
Key findings
- 169 car wash locations operated by 12 chains and 133 independents across 2 counties.
- Top 10 chains control 20.1% of locations — above the 11.4% US-metro median, led by bp (8 sites).
- Built from 15,475 Google reviews, 2,824 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
169 car wash locations across 2 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
This is one of the more roll-up-shaped car wash markets in the WashIndex national index. Across 169 tracked locations, the top ten operators control 20.1% of supply — above the 11.4% US-metro median, with bp the largest at 8 sites. The headline averages below behave like chain averages — the per-chain table is the right cut to read.
Operating-quality aggregates: rating 4.37★, damage 2.9%, membership-cancel friction 10.2%. Aspect spread: Staff (0.68) on the positive side, equipment reliability (-0.55) on the friction side. Because the operator mix is concentrated, those numbers behave more like chain averages than market averages.
Published pricing across the 18 of 170 Rockford locations with menus available: median single car wash $10 (range $5.50–$50), median unlimited membership $24/month (range $15–$100/mo). The cheapest unlimited membership in the metro is $15/mo at Swift Wash (Basic).
See the top car wash chains in Rockford
Ranked by location count in the metro
What does a car wash cost in the Rockford metro?
Published menu pricing for car washes in the Rockford metropolitan area, captured from operator websites and the WashIndex AI calling agent. 18 of 170 tracked locations have usable published pricing (11% coverage).
| Cheapest unlimited memberships in Rockford | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swift Wash Basic | $15 per mo |
| 2 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash QUALITY | $19.99 per mo |
| 3 | Tsunami Express Car Wash The Big Wave | $19.99 per mo |
| 4 | Mister Car Wash BASE | $22.99 per mo |
| 5 | Mister Car Wash BASE | $22.99 per mo |
| Cheapest single car washes in Rockford | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auto Tech & Niles Marketing, LLC Jumbo Wash Mitt With Cuff | $5.50 |
| 2 | Auburn Car Wash Touchless Automatic - Maximum | $6 |
| 3 | Ultimate Car Wash & Detail Center Exterior Wash | $10 |
| 4 | Mister Car Wash Base | $10 |
| 5 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash QUALITY | $10 |
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 Rockford metro, officially
the Rockford metro has 12 car-wash employer establishments employing about 103 people, at a $30,755 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 Rockford car wash market
How many car washes are in the Rockford metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Rockford metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Rockford?
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What is the average customer rating in the Rockford car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Rockford?
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How much does a car wash cost in Rockford?
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How much does an unlimited car wash membership cost in Rockford?
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What is the cheapest car wash in Rockford?
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What kinds of car washes does Rockford have?
Because chain operators have consolidated supply here, format counts below skew toward the formats those chains build at scale. The lowest-rated format is usually a long-tail mix of small operators rather than a meaningful share of the market.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.56★ across 12 locations. Lowest-rated: Self-Serve Bay at 3.68★ (5 locations).
| Format | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage Rate | Cancel Friction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-Bay Automatic | 23 | 13.6% | 7,064 | 4.49 | 0.00% | 0.0% |
| Detail Shop | 12 | 7.1% | 1,586 | 4.56 | 0.70% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 9 | 5.3% | 3,294 | 4.21 | 6.47% | 10.9% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 5 | 3.0% | 920 | 3.68 | 5.17% | 12.5% |
| Full Service | 3 | 1.8% | 1,063 | 4.52 | 3.90% | — |
What is the household income near Rockford car washes?
In a chain-consolidated market like Rockford, ZIP-level income tells you more about where chains chose to deploy capital than about how customers actually rate the wash. Rollups tend to anchor expansion in the $75K–$150K AGI band; below that range, supply is thinner.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 71 qualifying locations: -0.26 — mild negative. Higher-income ZIPs in this market host slightly lower-rated washes on average, which is unusual. Scatter mean: $67K AGI/return, 4.18★.
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 | 3 | 11 | 1,282 | 4.61 | Detail Shop (3) |
| $50K – $75K | 6 | 70 | 6,497 | 4.19 | In-Bay Automatic (14) |
| $75K – $100K | 9 | 31 | 1,100 | 3.97 | In-Bay Automatic (5) |
| $100K – $150K | 1 | 5 | 6,233 | 4.55 | In-Bay Automatic (2) |
| $150K+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — |
The highest-income tier ($150K+) holds 0 car washes across 0 ZIPs at 0.00★; the lowest-income tier (Under $50K) holds 11 across 3 ZIPs at 4.61★. In a chain-consolidated market like Rockford, the income mix mostly reads as a record of where the top operators chose to deploy — middle-income ZIPs typically anchor the densest rollouts.
Who operates the most Rockford car washes?
The chain rank below is the more important section of this page given Rockford's consolidation. Top 10 operators control 20.1% of 169 locations, anchored by bp's 8-site footprint. Per-chain quality variance below explains most of the market-wide quality variance.
| # | Chain | Locations | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage | Cancel | Upsell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bp | 8 | 309 | 3.76 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Kelley's Market | 7 | 261 | 4.05 | — | — | — |
| 3 | WOW Wash Car Wash | 4 | 820 | 3.66 | 5.33% | — | 1.18% |
| 4 | Circle K | 3 | 69 | 4.16 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Mister Car Wash | 3 | 965 | 3.95 | 3.46% | 7.3% | 1.73% |
| 6 | Phillips 66 | 3 | 375 | 3.94 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Woodman's Gas Station | 2 | 6,050 | 4.59 | 0.00% | — | 0.23% |
| 8 | Club Car Wash | 2 | 311 | 4.38 | 9.22% | 8.5% | 0.92% |
| 9 | Tsunami Express Car Wash | 1 | 100 | 4.50 | — | — | — |
| 10 | Rainstorm Car Wash | 1 | 1,095 | 4.20 | — | — | — |
| 11 | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 1 | 237 | 4.00 | 12.75% | — | 0.00% |
| 12 | Swift Wash | 1 | 586 | 4.60 | 2.58% | 11.9% | 2.58% |
Which counties have the most car washes in Rockford?
Rockford's 2 counties carry different shares of the metro's car wash supply. In a consolidated market, chain operators tend to concentrate in the densest counties — the table below shows where they did.
Cross-county rating dispersion: 0.13★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnebago County | 150 | 88.8% | 14,191 | 4.36 |
| Boone County | 20 | 11.8% | 1,284 | 4.49 |
What do customers love and complain about in Rockford?
Staff is the strongest signal here (0.68); equipment reliability runs as the sharpest pain (-0.55). Useful as a quick check on which aspects Rockford's consolidated supply does well at vs. poorly.
Where are all the car washes in the Rockford metro?
Top locations by review volume in Rockford are listed below. In a consolidated market, the top of the list is typically dominated by the largest chains' anchor sites; chain affiliation is called out in the Chain column.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodman's Food Market 3155 McFarland Rd | Rockford, IL | In-Bay Automatic | Woodman's Gas Station | 4.6 | 5,728 | $104K |
| Rainstorm Car Wash 5051 E State St | Rockford, IL | Express Tunnel | Rainstorm Car Wash | 4.2 | 1,095 | $56K |
| Ultimate Car Wash & Detail Center 2121 N State St | Belvidere, IL | Full Service | — | 4.6 | 761 | $74K |
| Mister Car Wash 3708 E State St | Rockford, IL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 3.8 | 693 | $56K |
| WOW Wash Car Wash 999 S Perryville Rd | Rockford, IL | Self-Serve Bay | WOW Wash Car Wash | 3.9 | 600 | $56K |
| Swift Wash 3901 W Riverside Blvd | Rockford, IL | Express Tunnel | Swift Wash | 4.6 | 586 | $45K |
| Woodman's Gas Station 3155 McFarland Rd | Rockford, IL | In-Bay Automatic | Woodman's Gas Station | 4.4 | 322 | $104K |
| Phillips 66 4415 Sandy Hollow Rd | Rockford, IL | In-Bay Automatic | Phillips 66 | 4.0 | 255 | $53K |
| Royal Car Wash & Detail Center 4815 Bluestem Rd | Roscoe, IL | — | — | 3.7 | 251 | $97K |
| Tommy's Express® Car Wash 6803 Forest Hills Rd | Loves Park, IL | Express Tunnel | Tommy's Express® Car Wash | 4.0 | 237 | $67K |
| VIP Mobile Shop Detail 2616 Kilburn Ave | Rockford, IL | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 226 | $45K |
| Windsor Hand Wash Detail 518 Windsor Rd | Loves Park, IL | Full Service | — | 4.4 | 219 | $67K |
| Club Car Wash 2002 Gateway Center Dr | Belvidere, IL | Express Tunnel | Club Car Wash | 4.5 | 186 | $74K |
| Mister Car Wash 9733 N Alpine Rd | Machesney Park, IL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.5 | 167 | $59K |
| Personal Pride Car Wash 925 Logan Ave | Belvidere, IL | Detail Shop | — | 4.4 | 160 | $74K |
| WOW Car Wash Riverside 1729 E Riverside Blvd | Rockford, IL | Self-Serve Bay | WOW Wash Car Wash | 3.1 | 149 | $104K |
| Die Hard Detailing 2013 Harrison Ave | Rockford, IL | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 130 | $33K |
| Club Car Wash 9572 Forest Hills Rd | Loves Park, IL | Express Tunnel | Club Car Wash | 4.2 | 125 | $67K |
| Perfect Hand Car Wash & Detail 540 Blackhawk Blvd | South Beloit, IL | — | — | 4.3 | 120 | $76K |
| Autoland Outlets 13156 Love Rd | Roscoe, IL | — | — | 4.3 | 116 | $97K |
| Kelley's Market 550 Southrock Dr | Rockford, IL | In-Bay Automatic | Kelley's Market | 4.2 | 110 | $47K |
| Fleet Details | , IL | — | — | 4.9 | 108 | — |
| Precision Auto Wash 690 Russ Ave | Machesney Park, IL | Detail Shop | — | 3.8 | 107 | $59K |
| Mister Car Wash 7422 E Riverside Blvd | Loves Park, IL | Express Tunnel | Mister Car Wash | 4.1 | 105 | $67K |
| Auburn Car Wash 2521 Auburn St | Rockford, IL | Self-Serve Bay | — | 3.8 | 100 | $45K |
Compare Rockford to other IL 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). Rockford car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/rockford
WashIndex. "Rockford car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/rockford.
"Rockford car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/rockford.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_rockford_2026,
title = {{Rockford car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/rockford},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Rockford, IL CBSA is determined by point-in-polygon test against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024) for the 2 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 2,824 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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