HOW MANY
LAUNDROMATS
ARE IN THE US?

CLA, The Laundry Association, publishes an estimate of about 29,500 coin laundries in the United States. Its industry overview does not identify a reference year for that estimate. Treat it as an attributed industry estimate, not a verified census of open storefronts in 2026.

For a defined government measure, the Census Bureau's industry profile reports 10,890 employer establishments for NAICS 812310 in 2023. That category and its employer-only coverage differ from a retail laundromat estimate. The two figures cannot be treated as a trend, averaged, or added.

Compare the measure before comparing the number

Download the source comparison as CSV. It contains the two reported figures, units, reference periods, source URLs and limitations. It is not a directory of businesses or a newly calculated national count.

Separate storefronts, businesses and establishments

A retail laundromat is a customer-facing place to use self-service laundry equipment. A company can own more than one location. A count of companies therefore need not equal a count of storefronts.

The Census industry definition for NAICS 812310 includes operating self-service laundry or drycleaning facilities and supplying or servicing similar equipment in properties operated by others, such as apartments and dormitories. That is broader than a list of public storefronts in one respect, even while employer-only coverage narrows the population in another. The definition is included on the industry profile.

County Business Patterns covers establishments with paid employees. Owner-operated activity without paid employees is addressed through a separate Nonemployer Statistics program. Those units still require careful definition and reconciliation before anyone attempts a storefront total.

How this comparison was assembled

1. Fix the geography. Both figures shown here refer to the United States, not North America or a single state.
2. Record the publisher's number. Transcribe the figure without rounding an exact count into a different claim. Retain “about” for the CLA estimate.
3. Record the unit and period. Store the Census year separately from the date this article checked the source. Leave an unstated reference year unknown.
4. Keep the definitions visible. Mark the employer-only scope and the industry category. Do not label all establishments “open laundromat stores.”
5. Do not combine incompatible figures. This article makes no arithmetic adjustment to either total and does not estimate a missing nonemployer population.
6. Preserve the source trail. Use the source links and downloadable comparison to inspect the figures when they are updated.

To reproduce the government lookup, open the linked Census industry profile, confirm NAICS 812310 and United States geography, then inspect “Total Employer Establishments” and its 2023 CB2300CBP source. Check the year again if the profile starts displaying a newer release.

The Census count was also checked against the 2023 national CBP download: select the row with naics=812310 and lfo=- (all legal forms), then read est=10890. Do not sum that total row with its legal-form breakdowns.

For a time series, use one consistent Census table, comparable industry definitions and equivalent geography across years. Investigate classification or publication changes before describing any movement as laundromat openings or closures.

What these sources do not establish

They do not identify an exact number of currently operating retail storefronts on the date you read this. The CLA estimate has no stated reference year beside it, while the Census figure describes 2023 and a defined statistical category. Neither is a live map listing.

A commercial directory may count listings, brands, domains or physical addresses. Duplicate profiles, closures, mixed laundry/dry-cleaning operations and apartment laundry rooms can affect that count. Request the provider's collection date, inclusion rules and duplicate-removal method before using it as a comparison.

Do not calculate a “missing store count” by subtracting 10,890 from 29,500. The difference is not an estimate of nonemployers because the two measures were not assembled on a common basis.

Use national data for context, then check the local market

For an operator evaluating search demand, a national estimate cannot tell you whether a particular neighborhood needs another store or whether a delivery route is viable. Build a local inventory of the businesses customers can actually use.

• Record real addresses and verify whether each business is open.
• Separate self-service, drop-off, pickup and commercial offers.
• Check current hours, public price information and service coverage.
• Note duplicate listings and businesses that operate under several names.
• Combine that research with actual inquiries and the operation's capacity.

The keyword research guide explains how service intent changes the query list. Our local SEO service uses the actual business and service area to scope pages and profile work. Use the laundry SEO guide for the implementation sequence.

How to cite the figures accurately

For the association estimate, identify CLA, retain the approximate wording and say that its overview does not state the estimate's reference year. For the Census figure, include 2023, United States, employer establishments and NAICS 812310. Those details let another reader locate the same measure.

This comparison was checked on 4 September 2026. Its next substantive update should replace or extend the source records when a comparable release is available, while preserving the distinction between reference year and access date. If your question is about local search competition rather than national market size, request a local search audit.