Winston Car Wash Market Analysis
Winston-Salem, NC
Data updated · June 9, 2026
39,402 Google reviews across 378 car washes in 5 Winston counties. Format mix, operator rank, county breakdown, rating vs. income, aspect-level customer signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 378
- 85% independent
- Chains
- 12
- lead: bp (24 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.46★
- +0.05 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 1.3%
- near national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 13.3%
- Top format
- in-bay automatic
- 35% of classified inventory
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 683,637
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 275,395
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,809
- near the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.6
- in the 0.5–1.0 filling band · classified sites
Key findings
- 378 car wash locations operated by 12 chains and 320 independents across 5 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.46★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 39,402 Google reviews, 9,419 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
378 car wash locations across 5 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
No single structural signal jumps out for Winston — it's a mid-shape car wash market. 378 locations across 12 chains and 320 independents, distributed across 5 counties. Customer-experience signals across 9,419 AI-extracted reviews produce the distinct read on this market.
Weighted rating 4.46★; damage 1.3%; membership-cancel friction 13.3%. Equipment reliability runs as the sharpest friction (-0.48). Per-operator and per-format cuts below are more informative than the aggregates.
See the top car wash chains in Winston
Ranked by location count in the metro
The car wash industry in the Winston metro, officially
Low-wageCar-wash wages in the Winston metro run about 20% below the national average ($25,887 vs. $32,560), across 42 employer establishments and roughly 308 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 Winston car wash market
How many car washes are in the Winston metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Winston metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Winston?
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What is the average customer rating in the Winston car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Winston?
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What kinds of car washes does Winston 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. Winston's mix sits close to the US-metro median shape.
Highest-rated format: Express Tunnel at 4.70★ across 17 locations. Lowest-rated: In-Bay Automatic at 3.98★ (23 locations).
| Format | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating | Damage Rate | Cancel Friction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-Bay Automatic | 23 | 6.1% | 1,289 | 3.98 | 0.00% | — |
| Detail Shop | 21 | 5.6% | 2,086 | 4.64 | 2.13% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 17 | 4.5% | 14,394 | 4.70 | 1.57% | 13.9% |
| Self-Serve Bay | 2 | 0.5% | 479 | 4.34 | 1.92% | 0.0% |
| Full Service | 2 | 0.5% | 400 | 4.31 | 4.00% | — |
What is the household income near Winston car washes?
Each ZIP in Winston 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 158 qualifying locations: -0.07 — effectively zero. Operating quality dominates over neighborhood income. Scatter mean: $71K 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 | 22 | 1,585 | 4.47 | Detail Shop (2) |
| $50K – $75K | 21 | 157 | 19,584 | 4.44 | In-Bay Automatic (17) |
| $75K – $100K | 4 | 35 | 10,176 | 4.44 | Detail Shop (3) |
| $100K – $150K | 5 | 40 | 7,110 | 4.48 | In-Bay Automatic (5) |
| $150K+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — |
The highest-income tier ($150K+) contains 0 car washes across 0 ZIPs at 0.00★, against 22 sites across 1 ZIPs at 4.47★ 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 Winston car washes?
12 chains alongside 320 independents make up Winston'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 | bp | 24 | 1,324 | 3.97 | 0.00% | — | 0.00% |
| 2 | Sheetz | 17 | 7,375 | 4.17 | 0.20% | — | 0.20% |
| 3 | ModWash | 5 | 8,134 | 4.89 | 0.85% | 12.7% | 0.27% |
| 4 | Flow Luxury Paint and Body | 3 | 349 | 4.08 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Whistle Express Car Wash | 2 | 1,854 | 4.59 | 2.66% | 13.8% | 0.00% |
| 6 | Carz Auto Spa | 1 | 72 | 3.90 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Sam's Xpress Car Wash | 1 | 583 | 4.50 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 1 | 743 | 4.30 | 2.49% | — | 0.00% |
| 9 | Royal Rinse Car Wash | 1 | 136 | 4.20 | — | — | — |
| 10 | Zips Car Wash | 1 | 1,025 | 4.40 | 1.75% | 15.2% | 1.17% |
| 11 | Sud Stop Car Wash | 1 | 407 | 4.70 | 3.39% | 7.9% | 0.42% |
| 12 | Han-Dee Hugo's | 1 | 41 | 4.10 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Winston?
Winston's 378 car washes distribute across 5 counties. Forsyth County leads with 209 locations (55.3%). Cross-county rating dispersion is usually narrow at this scale.
Cross-county rating dispersion: 0.61★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forsyth County | 209 | 55.3% | 25,891 | 4.43 |
| Davidson County | 98 | 25.9% | 9,271 | 4.55 |
| Davie County | 32 | 8.5% | 3,017 | 4.59 |
| Yadkin County | 23 | 6.1% | 446 | 4.10 |
| Stokes County | 20 | 5.3% | 777 | 3.98 |
What do customers love and complain about in Winston?
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 Winston metro?
Top 25 car washes by review volume in Winston. The full set of 378 is available in the underlying dataset.
| Location | City | Format | Chain | Rating | Reviews | ZIP AGI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kernersville Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram 950 NC-66 South | Kernersville, NC | — | — | 4.5 | 6,139 | $80K |
| ModWash 1806 Liberty Dr | Thomasville, NC | Express Tunnel | ModWash | 4.9 | 2,263 | $56K |
| ModWash 5235 Beauchamp Ln | Winston-Salem, NC | Express Tunnel | ModWash | 4.9 | 2,137 | $150K |
| ModWash 150 Lowes Blvd | Lexington, NC | Express Tunnel | ModWash | 4.9 | 1,902 | $60K |
| Sheetz 5198 Reidsville Rd | Walkertown, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.3 | 1,691 | $59K |
| Whistle Express Car Wash 1535 Peters Creek Pkwy | Winston-Salem, NC | Express Tunnel | Whistle Express Car Wash | 4.7 | 1,443 | $67K |
| ModWash 117 Town Commons Drive | Mocksville, NC | Express Tunnel | ModWash | 4.9 | 1,165 | $69K |
| Zips Car Wash 6317 Stadium Dr | Clemmons, NC | Express Tunnel | Zips Car Wash | 4.4 | 1,025 | $102K |
| Sheetz 5230 Beauchamp Ln | Winston-Salem, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.3 | 884 | $150K |
| Sheetz 1551 Glenn Center Dr | Kernersville, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.3 | 875 | $80K |
| Sheetz 5034 Raven Rd | Winston-Salem, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.3 | 803 | $37K |
| Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash 1121 S Main St | Kernersville, NC | Express Tunnel | Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Car Wash | 4.3 | 743 | $80K |
| Sam's Car Wash Lexington NC 300 N Main St | Lexington, NC | Express Tunnel | — | 4.2 | 668 | $60K |
| ModWash 3551 Martins Trail Ln | Walkertown, NC | Express Tunnel | ModWash | 4.8 | 667 | $59K |
| Marco's Car Wash & Lube 4883 Country Club Rd | Winston-Salem, NC | Detail Shop | — | 4.3 | 644 | $150K |
| Sam's Xpress Car Wash 4965 University Pkwy | Winston-Salem, NC | Express Tunnel | Sam's Xpress Car Wash | 4.5 | 583 | $109K |
| Sheetz 286 NC-801 | Bermuda Run, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.3 | 498 | $122K |
| Sheetz 12290 North Carolina Hwy 150 | Winston-Salem, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.4 | 477 | $55K |
| HBi Auto - Porsche Specialist 137 Southpark Pl | Mocksville, NC | — | — | 4.9 | 460 | $69K |
| HarCo Detailing - Paint Protection Film, Ceramic Coating, Detailing & Window Tinting 1105 E Mountain St A | Kernersville, NC | — | — | 5.0 | 422 | $80K |
| Sheetz 2985 Fairlawn Dr | Winston-Salem, NC | — | Sheetz | 4.1 | 421 | $109K |
| Magnum Auto Wash 1500 Silas Creek Pkwy | Winston-Salem, NC | — | — | 3.8 | 416 | $55K |
| Whistle Express Car Wash 1940 Healy Dr | Winston-Salem, NC | Express Tunnel | Whistle Express Car Wash | 4.2 | 411 | $67K |
| Sud Stop Car Wash 1491 Glenn Center Dr | Kernersville, NC | Express Tunnel | Sud Stop Car Wash | 4.7 | 407 | $80K |
| Havoline Xpress 725 NC-66 | Kernersville, NC | Full Service | — | 4.3 | 382 | $80K |
Compare Winston to other NC 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). Winston car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/winston
WashIndex. "Winston car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/winston.
"Winston car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/winston.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_winston_2026,
title = {{Winston car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/winston},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Winston-Salem, NC CBSA is determined by point-in-polygon test against the official US Census county boundaries (TIGER/Line, 2024) for the 5 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 9,419 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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