What Is a Laundromat Worth?
A laundromat is worth its normalized owner earnings times a market multiple, less the cost of near-term equipment replacement. Across 855 sales reported to BizBuySell for 2021-2025, the median sale price was $250,000 on median owner earnings of $76,560 — a 3.50x median multiple, with the middle half between 2.72x and 4.50x.
Key takeaways
- Median sale price $250,000 on $76,560 median owner earnings, across 855 reported sales for 2021-2025 (Source: BizBuySell).
- Middle half of deals: 2.72x-4.50x earnings — roughly a $136,000 spread on the median store.
- Median asking price was $275,000 against that $250,000 median sale price, and 2025's sale-to-ask ratio was 0.91.
- Value is earnings-driven. Revenue multiples (1.21x median) are a cross-check, not a method.
- Equipment does not get added on top. Near-term replacement cost is subtracted, not added.
The Short Answer
The median laundromat sold for $250,000. Yours is worth your earnings times a multiple between roughly 2.7x and 4.5x, minus what the machines will cost to replace.
The Market Evidence
| Measure | Result (855 sales, 2021-2025) |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $250,000 |
| Median asking price | $275,000 |
| Median annual revenue | $219,878 |
| Median owner earnings | $76,560 |
| Median earnings multiple | 3.50x |
| Lower / upper quartile | 2.72x / 4.50x |
| Median revenue multiple | 1.21x |
| Median days on market | 139 |
Source: BizBuySell Valuation Benchmarks, 2021-2025. Transactions reported to one platform.
For 2025 alone, the same source reports a 4.12x average earnings multiple, a $287,000 median sale price, and a 0.91 sale-to-ask ratio.
What Moves a Specific Store
Five drivers, roughly in order of impact:
- Remaining controllable lease term. Base term plus options the tenant can exercise. When it runs shorter than a buyer's ten-year loan, financed buyers disappear and the multiple collapses toward the bottom of the range.
- Evidence quality. How many independent sources document the revenue: tax returns, bank deposits, card-processor settlements, machine-level exports, collection logs, and a physical rebuild.
- Equipment remaining life. Not age as a percentage discount, but a costed replacement schedule for years one through three.
- Utility cost share. Utilities ran a median 20% of gross revenue among CLA survey respondents. A store materially above that has a cause, and the cause determines whether it is fixable.
- Owner dependence. A store that survives replacing the owner's labor with a market-rate person is worth more than one that does not.
Three Stores, Same Earnings
Illustrative. Each produces $85,000 of normalized SDE.
| Store A | Store B | Store C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controllable lease years | 13 | 8 | 4 |
| Independent revenue sources | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Retool due | Year 7 | Year 4 | Now |
| Utilities as % of revenue | 19% | 23% | 29% |
| Selected multiple | 4.4x | 3.5x | 2.7x |
| Indicated value before capex | $374,000 | $297,500 | $229,500 |
| Less capex, discounted | ($18,000) | ($52,000) | ($130,000) |
| Indicated value | $356,000 | $245,500 | $99,500 |
Same earnings, more than a threefold difference in value. That is not an exaggeration for effect — it is the ordinary arithmetic of an asset where the lease, the evidence, and the equipment all compound in the same direction.
What the Number Is Not
Not the asking price. Median asking was $275,000 against a $250,000 median sale.
Not price per machine. A 62-machine store doing $180,000 of revenue and a 62-machine store doing $400,000 are not worth the same, and the closed-sale data does not support per-machine pricing as a method.
Not equipment value plus goodwill. An earnings multiple already prices the assets producing the earnings. Adding an equipment appraisal on top double-counts.
Not what the owner needs for retirement. Buyers pay for cash flow they can finance and defend.
What Would Move Your Store Within the Range?
Five things, and they are not evenly weighted.
Verifiable revenue is the largest. A store whose earnings can be established from independent sources attracts more buyers, finances more easily, and survives diligence without the discount uncertainty produces. A store where revenue rests on the owner's word is not cheap — it is unpriceable.
Controllable lease term is second, and it decides how many buyers can transact at all. A lender will not write a ten-year loan against premises you control for six.
Equipment position comes off as a deduction rather than a multiple adjustment. Build the schedule and the deduction is finite; leave it undocumented and the buyer estimates it conservatively.
Owner dependence affects both terms. Earnings that include the owner's unpaid labour are smaller once normalised, and a business requiring its owner is riskier for whoever comes next.
Utility position shows up in the earnings. Diagnose whether a high ratio is waste, machines or the local rate structure, because those three produce very different offers on the same bills.
What Is the Number Not?
Three things it is frequently mistaken for.
Not an asking price. An asking price is a marketing decision that may sit above what evidence supports; closed-sale data shows what buyers actually paid.
Not a formal appraisal. Divorce, partnership separation, estate and tax settings have standards of value and valuation dates set by law or agreement, and require a credentialed appraiser working to those standards. A figure produced for marketing will not withstand that scrutiny.
Not a guarantee of a buyer. A defensible number on a store with a short lease and unverifiable revenue is still a number nobody can finance. Value and marketability are different questions, and the second is answered by the lease and the documentation.
How Do You Use the Number?
Differently depending on the decision, and using it for the wrong one is a common error.
Deciding whether to sell. Compare net proceeds — after debt, transaction costs and tax — against what the store produces if you keep it, with the market cost of your own labour deducted from the keep case. Run honestly, that comparison often favours keeping.
Setting an asking price. The number is the floor of the argument, not the argument. Show the working: earnings basis, the multiple and why it sits there, the capital deduction. A price with visible workings survives a challenge.
Planning an exit two or three years out. Here the most valuable output is not the number — it is the list of things suppressing it, because those are what respond to effort.
What Should You Do Next?
Pull three documents — the last two federal returns, a current P&L, and the complete lease with every amendment. Those establish most of a defensible range in about an hour. Add 24 months of original utility bills and an equipment list with serial numbers and the range gets narrow.
The Next Step
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the median sale price the same as what my store is worth?
No. The $250,000 median across 855 reported sales describes the middle of a wide distribution, and your store's earnings, lease, and equipment decide where it sits in that distribution. The median is a starting anchor for a conversation, not an appraisal of any particular business.
What is a laundromat with no earnings worth?
Something closer to the used value of its equipment in place, less the cost of removal or restoration and less any lease liability, rather than a multiple of nothing. A store losing money can still have real value if the lease is attractive, the location is strong, or the equipment is recent, and those are three different buyers.
Does the building change the answer?
Yes, and the two assets are valued separately. The business is valued on earnings after charging a market-rate rent even if the owner pays themselves less, and the building is valued by appraisal, income, or comparable sales. Blending them either inflates the business or understates the property.
How fast does the number change?
Slowly on the market side and quickly on the store side. Closed-sale multiples move over years. A single lease renewal, a documented year of clean reporting, or a boiler failure can move an individual store's value by tens of thousands within months.
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.