How Much Revenue Does One Laundromat Machine Make?
Laundromat revenue per machine per day works out at roughly $14.80 at the median store — $335,000 of gross revenue across 62 machines (Source: CLA, 2024). That is arithmetic on a median rather than a benchmark, and it conceals the two things that actually decide it: your machine mix and your turns.
Key takeaways
- About $14.80 per machine per day derived from the CLA's median store (Source: CLA, 2024).
- The average mixes washers with dryers and 60-pound machines with small top-loaders, so it describes no real machine.
- Turns × vend price is the actual formula. Everything else is a consequence of those two.
- More machines is not more revenue unless demand is waiting at peak.
Where Does the Figure Come From?
The Coin Laundry Association's 2024 survey of 377 owner-operators reported, for 2023 operations, a median gross revenue of $335,000 and a median of 62 machines in a 2,740 square foot store (Source: CLA, 2024).
Dividing gives about $5,400 per machine per year, or roughly $14.80 per machine per day.
Two cautions on using it. It is a ratio of two medians, which is not the median of the ratio — the arithmetic is indicative rather than exact. And it averages across every machine in the store, which is the more serious limitation.
Why Does the Average Describe Nothing?
Because the machines are not alike.
| Machine type | Why it differs |
|---|---|
| Small top-loader | Lowest vend price; often the most substitutable capacity |
| Mid-size front-loader | The volume workhorse in most stores |
| Large-capacity washer | Highest vend price, often the busiest at peak |
| Dryers | Priced by time, and revenue depends on how efficiently they dry |
A store weighted toward large-capacity machines earns a very different figure from one weighted toward small top-loaders, at the same total machine count. And dryer revenue depends on airflow: a dryer with restricted ducts takes longer, which occupies the machine and can either raise or lower revenue depending on whether customers pay for the extra time.
How Do You Calculate Your Own?
With a card or app system, directly. Pull machine-level starts for a defined period, multiply each machine's starts by its vend price, and divide by the number of days. That gives you revenue per machine per day by machine, which is far more useful than a store average.
In a coin store, you build it. Collections give the total; observed turns and machine counts apportion it. Count turns yourself, on several days, at the hours you actually operate — see turns per day.
What to do with the answer:
- Compare machines against each other. A bank consistently below its peers is telling you something — position, condition, or price.
- Compare peak against off-peak. Machines full at peak and idle midweek are a scheduling and pricing question, not a capacity one.
- Compare against your vend price. Revenue per machine divided by vend price is turns, and turns is the number that shows whether the store is busy.
What Actually Moves It?
Two variables, multiplied: turns per day and vend price.
Turns respond to demand, capacity at peak, machine availability, and how quickly customers can complete a visit — which is why folding space and dryer performance matter to washer revenue. Vend price responds to your market and your costs, and is covered in raising vend prices.
The interaction is where owners go wrong in both directions. Raising price without checking turns can push customers to a competitor. Adding machines without checking peak demand spreads existing turns thinner and lowers revenue per machine while raising the store's cost — see how many machines does a laundromat need.
Why Does a Buyer Ask?
Because it is one of the few independent checks on claimed revenue.
Machines × capacity × vend price × observed turns × 365 produces a ceiling. Reported revenue above that ceiling is not credible, and reported revenue far below it suggests either a store underperforming its equipment or figures that have not been fully declared. Either way it is a question worth asking — see how to verify laundromat income.
That check is also why a store with machine-level payment data is easier to sell than a coin store: the evidence already exists rather than having to be reconstructed.
What Actually Drives the Figure?
Three things, and only one is about the machine.
Turns per day, which is set by the trade area and by availability. A machine in a busy store in a dense area runs many times; the identical machine two miles away may not.
Vend price, which is a decision the owner makes and frequently has not revisited in years.
Capacity and mix, because a large front-loader and a small top-loader produce different revenue per turn and appeal to different loads.
Multiply three variables each with a wide spread and per-machine revenue across real stores spans a wide range. That is why the useful exercise is computing it for your own store — machine starts from the payment system, or observed turns across several visits, times the price on the board.
What Is This Number Good For?
Two things, and one thing it is not.
A capacity ceiling. Machine count times realistic turns times vend price sets an arithmetic limit on what a store can produce. A claimed revenue figure above that ceiling is impossible whatever any document says, which makes this the check that catches the largest overstatements.
A mix decision. Starts by machine size show which capacities are at capacity and which sit idle. Replacing like with like at the next retool is a default rather than a decision, and this data is what makes the alternative visible.
What it is not is a valuation shortcut. Price per machine fails as a valuation method because it measures capacity rather than production — two stores with the same machine count can differ by a factor of three in what those machines earn.
Summary
About $14.80 per machine per day at the median store, derived from survey medians rather than measured directly, and it describes no actual machine. Compute your own from machine-level starts if you have them, or from collections and counted turns if you do not. Then treat it as two numbers — turns and vend price — because those are the only ones you can actually move.
The Next Step
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average revenue per machine per day?
Dividing the Coin Laundry Association's median figures — $335,000 of gross revenue across 62 machines — gives roughly $14.80 per machine per day (Source: CLA, 2024). That is arithmetic on a median, not a benchmark. It mixes washers with dryers and large machines with small.
Why is the average not useful?
Because a 60-pound washer and a small top-loader do not earn similar amounts, and dryers earn differently again. A store's actual figure depends on its machine mix, its vend prices and its turns, and any of those can move the number by a factor of two.
How do I calculate my own?
Take machine-level starts from your payment system for a period, multiply by the vend price for that machine, and divide by the days. A card or app system gives you this directly. A coin store has to build it from collections and observed turns instead.
What drives the number?
Turns per day and vend price, multiplied. Turns are set by demand and capacity at peak; vend price is set by your market and your costs. Neither can be raised in isolation without checking the other.
Is more machines always more revenue?
No. Adding machines to a store already meeting its peak demand spreads the same turns across more equipment, lowering revenue per machine while raising the cost of the store. Capacity only earns when there is demand waiting for it.
Why do buyers care about this figure?
It is one of the cross-checks on claimed revenue. Machines times capacity times vend price times observed turns gives a ceiling that reported revenue cannot credibly exceed, which is a useful independent test during diligence.
Sources
- Coin Laundry Association, 2024 Laundry Industry Survey (377 owner respondents, 2023 operations) — https://member.laundryassociation.org/hubfs/IndustrySurvey24.pdf
- BizBuySell, Laundromat and Coin Laundry Valuation Benchmarks, 2021-2025 closed sales — https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/laundromats-coin-laundry/
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.