Buy a Laundromat in Memphis, TN

By Jason Taken, business broker · HedgeStone Business Advisors · Updated 2026-09-25 · 7 min read

What local records should buyers check in Memphis, TN?

Request authorized monthly kWh, measured/billed kW, contract-demand information and the rate code, not only total dollars. Compare the seller's load history with a professionally assessed proposed equipment plan. A machine's advertised energy savings do not reveal coincident peak demand, contractual terms or tariff minimums.

Authority findings and limits

• The current commercial-rate index links GSA effective for meters read on or after January 5, 2026 and separately lists adjustment schedules. An index date is not a complete bill calculation. Sources: Memphis Light, Gas and Water.
• Pages 1–2 distinguish service/energy categories using contract or historical demand and monthly energy thresholds. Page 2 defines the metered demand interval as 30 consecutive minutes and includes a billing-demand floor tied to contract or preceding-12-month demand. It also has minimum-monthly-bill terms and fuel/purchased-power adjustments. Both pages were rendered and visually inspected. No account is assigned to a category and no complete rate is quoted here. Sources: Memphis Light, Gas and Water.

Sources checked 2026-09-25. The opening paragraph is our transaction-preparation analysis; the cited findings describe the authorities' published guidance. This focused review does not establish a property's compliance, account classification or transaction clearance. Have the relevant authority and your advisers confirm current terms for the actual entity, address and proposed work.

What does the Memphis, TN household data show?

Source: ACS 2020–2024 five-year estimates via Census Reporter. Margins of error apply to the published estimates. Renter tenure does not measure access to a washer, and household income is not an attendant wage.

What should the Memphis, TN figures prompt you to investigate?

The Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area population of 1,341,924 is much larger than a single store's travel area. Memphis, TN contributes 46.1% of those residents but 67.6% of its renter households. Begin an address-level screen inside the intended catchment rather than treating all 206,526 metro renter households as prospective customers.

Portland, OR has the closest renter-household count to Memphis, TN among the 80 cities covered here (139,059 versus 139,512). The housing mix differs: 25.5% of Memphis, TN's units are in five-plus-unit buildings, 7.8 percentage points below Portland, OR. This is a demographic comparison, not a ranking of investment returns or evidence of equivalent competitors.

The biggest gap across pre-1980 housing, small multifamily housing and renter vehicle access is renter households without a vehicle: Memphis, TN records 15.3%, versus 24.8% in Portland, OR. That suggests a concrete inspection question about walking access, safe crossings and realistic parking alternatives. It does not answer that question. The comparison uses point estimates and has not been tested for statistical significance.

Older housing is a prominent feature of the Memphis, TN extract: 67.0% of units predate 1980. Ask separately about apartment laundry retrofits and the candidate property's utility improvements. The housing-age statistic does not establish either condition, so obtain plans, inspections or direct observations.

Start checking the selected postal records at ZIP 38111, with 4 employer establishments; ZIP 38104, with 3 employer establishments; ZIP 38115, with 3 employer establishments. These sum to 10 of the 13 matched records, or 76.9%. Confirm addresses and operating status before plotting competition for a Memphis, TN candidate; the ZIP selection is not the candidate's travel area.

The employer records associated with Memphis, TN do not produce one interchangeable store count: CBP lists 29 establishments for 2023, while QCEW lists 17 for 2024. Coverage and timing differ. Request a current operating competitor list rather than treating the difference as growth or decline. The reported QCEW weekly wage, $479, combines jobs and hours rather than quoting an attendant shift.

Sources: ACS 2020–2024, Census CBP 2023, ZIP Business Patterns 2023 where shown, and BLS QCEW 2024. The linked geography extracts below reproduce the demographic comparisons. Read the methodology before using them in a transaction.

Which geographic boundary fits a Memphis search?

Source: ACS 2020–2024 and Census CBP 2023, NAICS 812310. Memphis's renter share differs from the metro by 15.6 percentage points. These boundaries describe different populations. A regional count is too broad to choose a store. Draw the travel area around each candidate address and record operating competitors and machine capacity.

What is reported for the counties around Memphis?

Source: Census CBP 2023 and ACS 2020–2024. Shelby County, TN is the selected county context, not the city itself. The ratio divides household estimates by employer establishments; it measures neither store utilization nor unmet laundry demand. See the data definitions and limits.

Where should a Memphis competitor survey begin?

Source: Census ZIP Business Patterns 2023, matched by ZIP code to the 2020 ZCTA-place crosswalk. The selected 27 ZCTAs each have at least half their land inside Memphis; 4 have a matched industry record, totaling 13 establishments. Postal ZIPs and Census ZCTAs are different geographies. Whole-ZIP totals can include establishments outside the city and omit others inside it, so this is neither a city count nor a lower bound. Verify each competing business at street level before assigning it to the catchment.

Which housing features should a Memphis, TN buyer investigate?

Source: ACS 2020–2024, tables B25024, B25034, B25044 and B25064. During a Memphis, TN site visit, check apartment laundry facilities, walking routes, parking and bus access. Building age and vehicle availability identify questions to investigate; they do not establish laundry access or customer behavior.

What can Shelby County, TN employer records tell a buyer?

Source: BLS QCEW 2024 annual averages, NAICS 812310, private ownership. The location quotient compares industry concentration with the national business base. It does not measure capacity or unmet demand in Shelby County, TN. Build payroll from required shifts, local hiring evidence and employer costs; the industry average is neither an hourly quote nor a full-time attendant salary.

How should Tennessee utility costs be tested?

Tennessee's 2024 all-sector average retail electricity price was 10.9 cents per kWh (Source: EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024). An all-sector average is not a commercial tariff or your store's effective rate. Obtain the address-specific tariffs, fixed charges and demand charges, and compare them with actual bills and machine usage.

Other Tennessee markets to compare

• Nashville, TN

Cities can share county or metro statistics. Compare the city household and housing tables before treating the pages as independent market observations.

What must a Memphis, TN buyer verify before an offer?

Use the due-diligence checklist and income-verification method to turn unanswered questions into offer conditions. Municipal permits, water/sewer prices and local wage rules have not been verified for a particular address here. The lender and your advisors must confirm applicable terms before you waive a contingency.

The Next Step If You Are Looking to Buy

This page is general information about laundromat transactions, not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a guarantee of sale price, timing, or financing approval. Verify current rules with your own CPA, attorney, lender, and the relevant state or municipal agency before acting.