Laundromat Valuation Calculator
This laundromat valuation calculator normalizes your earnings to SDE, places a multiple inside the 2.72x-4.50x range of 855 reported sales based on seven risk factors, then subtracts the discounted cost of near-term equipment replacement. It runs entirely in your browser and stores nothing.
Key takeaways
- Anchored on real closed-sale data: 3.50x median, 2.72x lower quartile, 4.50x upper quartile across 855 sales (Source: BizBuySell, 2021-2025).
- Seven factors move the multiple, weighted by how much they actually change a laundromat deal — lease term carries the most weight.
- Equipment is subtracted, not added. The replacement program is discounted at 8% to the year you expect to fund it.
- Nothing is transmitted or stored. No form submission, no logging.
- It cannot see your documents, which is why the result is a starting range rather than a valuation.
How the Calculation Works
Step 1 — Normalize. Net income from the filed return, plus one working owner's compensation and payroll taxes, plus depreciation, plus interest, plus documented personal expenses, plus genuinely non-recurring items. That is seller's discretionary earnings.
The calculator deliberately gives you one owner-compensation field rather than several. SDE is defined on the basis of a single working owner; if the store needs two people and a buyer will have to pay for the second, that cost stays in the expenses.
Step 2 — Place the multiple. It starts at the 3.50x median from 855 reported sales and moves on seven factor scores, each weighted by how much it actually changes a laundromat deal:
| Factor | Weight | Why this weight |
|---|---|---|
| Lease controllable term | 0.42 | The largest single driver; it decides whether financed buyers can bid at all |
| Revenue evidence | 0.34 | Decides what a lender will underwrite |
| Equipment condition | 0.22 | Partly captured again in the capex deduction, so weighted below evidence |
| Utilities as % of revenue | 0.14 | A cost signal and a revenue cross-check at once |
| Owner dependence | 0.14 | Determines whether earnings survive replacing the owner |
| Competition | 0.14 | Trade-area capacity, largely outside your control |
| Service revenue mix | 0.10 | Real, but smaller than the others at typical deal sizes |
The result is clamped to the 2.72x-4.50x quartile range, because the calculator should not produce a multiple the market has not paid.
Step 3 — Subtract the capital program. The installed cost of the replacement you expect to fund, discounted at 8% to the year you expect to fund it. This is why equipment reduces value rather than adding to it: an earnings multiple already prices the assets producing the earnings.
Step 4 — Cross-check. The implied revenue multiple is compared against the 0.93x-1.64x quartile range from the same dataset. A result far outside that band usually means a normalization error, not an unusual store.
What the Inputs Mean
Net income should come from the filed federal return. Using a bookkeeping P&L that includes personal spending, or excludes it inconsistently, is the most common way this calculation goes wrong.
Add-backs each need a source document. A payroll record for the compensation. A mileage log and registration for the vehicle. An invoice for the one-time legal fee. Every add-back a buyer's lender strikes reduces the price by its amount times the multiple — roughly $3.50 of price for every dollar struck at the median.
Do not add back ordinary repairs, routine cleaning, card-processing fees, insurance, family labor a buyer must replace, or deferred maintenance. And unreported cash is not an add-back at all: buyers pay for what they can prove and lenders underwrite documented cash flow.
The replacement program should come from an installed distributor quote, not a machine sticker price. Installed means freight, rigging, demolition and disposal, pads and bases, plumbing and drains, gas, electrical, venting, permits, payment hardware, and downtime. Public market guides currently place many commercial washers around $3,500-$15,000 per unit and stacked dryers around $6,000-$12,000 per cabinet before any site work, with medium 25-40 machine packages often described around $100,000-$300,000. Those are secondary-source planning ranges for framing a conversation, not quotes for a transaction.
What This Calculator Cannot Tell You
- Whether your revenue is documentable. It takes your earnings figure at face value. A lender will not.
- Whether the lease survives a buyer's loan. The factor score is a proxy; the clause language is the reality, including who controls the options and whether the landlord can recapture the premises on assignment.
- What a specific machine is about to cost you. Only an inspection and a quote establish that.
- What the market in your trade area is doing. New competing capacity two blocks away does not appear in any input here.
- What a buyer will actually pay. The median asking price across the same dataset was $275,000 against a $250,000 median sale price, and 2025's sale-to-ask ratio was 0.91.
Limits and Disclaimer
This tool produces an illustrative range for discussion. It is not an appraisal, not a broker opinion of value, and not legal, tax, or investment advice. Valuation outcomes depend on documents, the specific lease, the equipment's actual condition, local market conditions, and the buyer pool available at the time of sale. Nothing here guarantees a sale price or a financing outcome. Confirm tax treatment with your CPA and legal questions with your attorney.
What to Do Next
Run the calculator, then do the two things that move the number more than any input on this page: read your lease and count how many independent sources document your revenue. If the answer to the second question is fewer than three, that is the highest-return work available to you.
The Next Step
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is this calculator?
It produces a defensible starting range, not an appraisal. It cannot see whether your revenue is documentable, whether your lease outlasts a buyer's loan, whether a boiler is near failure, or whether your add-backs have receipts. Those four items routinely move a laundromat's price more than the multiple you select.
Where do the multiples come from?
From 855 laundromat and coin-laundry sales reported to BizBuySell for 2021-2025: a 3.50x median earnings multiple, a 2.72x lower quartile, and a 4.50x upper quartile. The calculator anchors on the median and moves within the quartile range based on the seven factor scores you set.
Why does it subtract the equipment cost instead of adding it?
Because an earnings multiple already prices the assets producing those earnings. Adding an equipment appraisal on top double-counts. Equipment enters valuation through remaining useful life: the cost of the replacement program you will actually fund, discounted to today, reduces what a buyer can pay.
Is my data stored anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is transmitted, logged, or saved, and there is no form submission. Close the tab and the numbers are gone.
What should I do with the result?
Treat it as the opening of a conversation, not the end of one. Then do the two things that move the number more than any input here: read your lease and count how many independent sources document your revenue.
Sources
- BizBuySell, Laundromat and Coin Laundry Valuation Benchmarks, 2021-2025 closed sales — https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/laundromats-coin-laundry/
- Coin Laundry Association, How Much Is Your Laundromat Worth? — https://laundryassociation.org/fullcycle/2026/08/how-much-is-your-laundromat-worth-2/
- Coin Laundry Association, 2024 Laundry Industry Survey — https://member.laundryassociation.org/hubfs/IndustrySurvey24.pdf
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.