Yuba City Car Wash Market Analysis
Yuba City, CA
Data updated · June 9, 2026
A read of Yuba City's car wash market built from 5,534 Google reviews across 114 locations. Format mix, operator rank, geographic distribution, income overlay, customer-experience signals.
Snapshot
- Locations
- 114
- 92% independent
- Chains
- 8
- lead: Surf Thru Express Car Wash (2 sites)
- Avg rating
- 4.18★
- -0.23 vs national MSA median
- Damage rate
- 2.4%
- 1.5× national MSA norm
- Cancel friction
- 29.0%
- Top format
- detail shop
- 63% of classified inventory
- Median single wash
- $22
- range $8–$32
- Median unlimited
- $16/mo
- cheapest $16/mo at Surf Thru Express Car Wash
Market Quality snapshot
- Population
- 182,050
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Households
- 61,303
- ACS 2023 5-year
- Residents per wash
- 1,597
- 1.2× denser than the national MSA median
- Express tunnels per 10K households
- 0.5
- below the ~0.5 expandable band · classified sites
Key findings
- 114 car wash locations operated by 8 chains and 105 independents across 2 counties.
- Weighted Google rating 4.18★ across the market; structural concentration and format mix sit near US-metro norms.
- Built from 5,534 Google reviews, 1,313 of them AI-extracted across 55 dimensions.
114 car wash locations across 2 counties · dots colored by format · sized by review volume
No single structural signal jumps out for Yuba City — it's a mid-shape car wash market. 114 locations across 8 chains and 105 independents, distributed across 2 counties. Distinctive patterns show up below at the format and aspect levels.
Weighted rating 4.18★; damage 2.4%; membership-cancel friction 29.0%. Staff is the brightest aspect signal (0.68/+1). 5,534 Google reviews drive the analysis, 1,313 of them processed through the WashIndex LLM extractor.
Published pricing across the 6 of 114 Yuba City locations with menus available: median single car wash $22 (range $8–$32), median unlimited membership $16/month (range $16–$18/mo). The cheapest unlimited membership in the metro is $16/mo at Surf Thru Express Car Wash (Good Auto-Recharge).
See the top car wash chains in Yuba City
Ranked by location count in the metro
What does a car wash cost in the Yuba City metro?
Published menu pricing for car washes in the Yuba City metropolitan area, captured from operator websites and the WashIndex AI calling agent. 6 of 114 tracked locations have usable published pricing (5% coverage).
| Cheapest unlimited memberships in Yuba City | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surf Thru Express Car Wash Good Auto-Recharge | $16 per mo |
| 2 | BLUESTAR XPRESS CAR WASH Express Wash | $16 per mo |
| 3 | Surf Thru Express Car Wash Good Wash | $18 per mo |
| Cheapest single car washes in Yuba City | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BLUESTAR XPRESS CAR WASH Express Wash | $8 |
| 2 | Yuba City Car Wash & Auto Detail Express Exterior Wash | $9.95 |
| 3 | Surf Thru Express Car Wash Ceramic Wash | $22 |
| 4 | Zays Mobile Auto Detailing Pet Hair Removal | $25 |
| 5 | 99 Truck Wash And Smog Check Smog Check with Free Car Wash | $32 |
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 Yuba City metro, officially
Low-wageCar-wash wages in the Yuba City metro run about 30% below the national average ($22,840 vs. $32,560), across 12 employer establishments and roughly 80 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 Yuba City car wash market
How many car washes are in the Yuba City metro?
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What is the best-rated car wash in the Yuba City metro?
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Which car wash chain has the most locations in Yuba City?
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What is the average customer rating in the Yuba City car wash market?
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What is the typical household income near car washes in Yuba City?
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How much does a car wash cost in Yuba City?
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How much does an unlimited car wash membership cost in Yuba City?
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What is the cheapest car wash in Yuba City?
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What kinds of car washes does Yuba City have?
Format counts below split Yuba City's 114 car wash locations by operating concept. Each format serves a different customer occasion — express tunnels for throughput, full-service for staffed convenience, detail shops for hand-finished work — and the rating column lets you read whether each format is meeting its own expectations here.
Highest-rated format: Detail Shop at 4.79★ across 12 locations. Lowest-rated: Full Service at 3.40★ (1 locations).
95 (83.3%) of 114 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 | 95 | 83.3% | 1,919 | 3.98 | 1.82% | 100.0% |
| Detail Shop | 12 | 10.5% | 1,423 | 4.79 | 0.41% | 0.0% |
| Express Tunnel | 3 | 2.6% | 1,749 | 4.02 | 6.12% | 28.3% |
| In-Bay Automatic | 3 | 2.6% | 285 | 3.86 | 0.00% | — |
| Full Service | 1 | 0.9% | 158 | 3.40 | 11.54% | — |
What is the household income near Yuba City car washes?
Read together with the format mix above, the income scatter below tells you whether car wash quality in Yuba City tracks neighborhood income, format mix, or neither. Operating quality usually dominates this picture.
Pearson r between ZIP income and Google rating across 38 qualifying locations: -0.13 — mild negative. Higher-income ZIPs in this market host slightly lower-rated washes on average, which is unusual. Scatter mean: $64K AGI/return, 4.21★.
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 | 16 | 3.70 | — |
| $50K – $75K | 4 | 49 | 3,566 | 4.23 | Detail Shop (10) |
| $75K – $100K | 3 | 20 | 1,865 | 4.04 | Detail Shop (2) |
| $100K – $150K | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | — |
| $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 3.70★ 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 Yuba City car washes?
The table below ranks the top 25 chains operating in Yuba City 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 | Surf Thru Express Car Wash | 2 | 1,506 | 4.01 | 7.20% | 28.1% | 0.00% |
| 2 | Stealth Window Tint In Chico | 1 | 480 | 4.90 | — | — | — |
| 3 | Hunter's Mobile Detailing | 1 | 23 | 5.00 | — | — | — |
| 4 | CKDetailing | 1 | 15 | 5.00 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Blue Star Xpress Wash | 1 | 243 | 4.10 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Power Market | 1 | 167 | 4.10 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Shell | 1 | 75 | 3.70 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Circle K | 1 | 43 | 3.20 | — | — | — |
Which counties have the most car washes in Yuba City?
Counties of the Yuba City CBSA are listed below by car wash count. Sutter County is the most density-concentrated. Reading the rating column tells you whether quality is uniform across the metro or whether specific counties pull in either direction.
Cross-county rating dispersion: 0.02★ between the highest- and lowest-rated counties with meaningful sample size.
| County | Locations | % of MSA | Reviews | Avg Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutter County | 66 | 57.9% | 3,440 | 4.18 |
| Yuba County | 48 | 42.1% | 2,094 | 4.16 |
What do customers love and complain about in Yuba City?
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 Yuba City metro?
The complete inventory of car wash locations in the Yuba 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf Thru Express Car Wash 1501 Colusa Hwy | Yuba City, CA | Express Tunnel | Surf Thru Express Car Wash | 3.9 | 978 | $78K |
| Surf Thru Express Car Wash 601 5th St | Marysville, CA | Express Tunnel | Surf Thru Express Car Wash | 4.2 | 528 | $59K |
| Stealth Window Tint - Ceramic Coating, PPF, Vinyl Wrap, Automotive Detail 2913 Colusa Hwy Unit A | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | Stealth Window Tint In Chico | 4.9 | 480 | $78K |
| Lakeview Center 1111 B St | Marysville, CA | — | — | 4.4 | 365 | $59K |
| Highway 99 Car Wash 1265 Hunn Rd | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 3.5 | 303 | $60K |
| 99 Truck Wash And Smog Check 4142 CA-99 | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 4.7 | 267 | $60K |
| BLUESTAR XPRESS CAR WASH 1009 B St | Marysville, CA | Express Tunnel | Blue Star Xpress Wash | 4.1 | 243 | $59K |
| Detail Pros 584 Franklin Ave suite b | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | — | 4.9 | 220 | $60K |
| Apex Mobile Detail LLC 1215 Colusa Ave | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 210 | $60K |
| Highway 20 Car Wash 6 E 12th St | Marysville, CA | — | — | 3.9 | 190 | $59K |
| Smiley's Car Wash 1928 McGowan Pkwy | Olivehurst, CA | Detail Shop | — | 3.7 | 176 | $66K |
| Raintree Car Wash of Yuba City, CA 970 Tharp Rd | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 2.9 | 168 | $78K |
| Power Market 4217 Arboga Rd | Olivehurst, CA | In-Bay Automatic | Power Market | 4.1 | 167 | $66K |
| Yuba City Car Wash & Auto Detail 400 Colusa Ave | Yuba City, CA | Full Service | — | 3.4 | 158 | $60K |
| Stabler Lane Wash 1075 Stabler Ln | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 3.3 | 142 | $78K |
| L & R Gas & Food 9545 Live Oak Blvd | Live Oak, CA | — | — | 3.7 | 100 | $62K |
| At-Ease Detailing, Ceramic Coatings & Paint Corrections 1413 Thames Ct | Plumas Lake, CA | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 93 | $66K |
| Shell 5380 Lindhurst Ave | Marysville, CA | In-Bay Automatic | Shell | 3.7 | 75 | $59K |
| 530 Mobile Auto Detailing 260 Garden Hwy | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | — | 4.9 | 67 | $60K |
| Raintree Express Car Wash 551 Plumas St | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 3.6 | 51 | $60K |
| Shaun & T's Vehicle Detailing 1427 Youngs Ln | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 50 | $60K |
| Circle K 1111 B St | Marysville, CA | In-Bay Automatic | Circle K | 3.2 | 43 | $59K |
| Purity Auto Hygienics 1624 Starr Dr Unit 2 | Yuba City, CA | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 35 | $78K |
| Zays Mobile Auto Detailing 6328 Trevor Dr | Marysville, CA | Detail Shop | — | 5.0 | 35 | $59K |
| Evolution Customz 540 Teesdale Rd | Yuba City, CA | — | — | 5.0 | 26 | $60K |
Compare Yuba City to other CA 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). Yuba City car wash market analysis. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/yuba-city
WashIndex. "Yuba City car wash market analysis." WashIndex. Last modified June 9, 2026. https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/yuba-city.
"Yuba City car wash market analysis." WashIndex, Jun. 9, 2026, https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/yuba-city.
@misc{washindex_car_wash_markets_yuba_city_2026,
title = {{Yuba City car wash market analysis}},
author = {{WashIndex}},
year = {2026},
month = {Jun},
url = {https://washindex.com/car-wash-markets/yuba-city},
urldate = {2026-06-09},
} About this analysis
Car wash inventory for the Yuba City, CA 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 1,313 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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