What Multiple Do Laundromats Sell For?
The multiple laundromats sell for is a median 3.50x owner earnings, with a lower quartile of 2.72x and an upper quartile of 4.50x, across 855 coin-laundry sales reported to BizBuySell for 2021-2025. The average was 3.65x. Where a store lands is decided by lease term, evidence quality, and equipment condition.
Key takeaways
- Median 3.50x, average 3.65x, middle half 2.72x-4.50x across 855 reported sales for 2021-2025 (Source: BizBuySell).
- On the dataset's $76,560 median owner earnings, the quartile spread is about $136,000 of purchase price on the same store.
- The revenue multiple cross-check: 1.21x median, middle half 0.93x-1.64x.
- 2025 alone averaged 4.12x with a $287,000 median sale price and a 0.91 sale-to-ask ratio — a single-year figure that should always carry its year.
- Multiples apply to normalized SDE, not to revenue and not to reported net income.
The Short Answer
3.50x owner earnings at the median. Half of all reported sales fell between 2.72x and 4.50x.
The Distribution
| Measure | Result (855 sales, 2021-2025) |
|---|---|
| Average earnings multiple | 3.65x |
| Median earnings multiple | 3.50x |
| Lower quartile | 2.72x |
| Upper quartile | 4.50x |
| Average revenue multiple | 1.33x |
| Median revenue multiple | 1.21x |
| Lower / upper quartile revenue multiple | 0.93x / 1.64x |
| Median sale price | $250,000 |
| Median owner earnings | $76,560 |
| Median days on market | 139 |
Source: BizBuySell Valuation Benchmarks, 2021-2025 closed sales. These are transactions reported to one platform, not a census of every U.S. laundromat sale.
The same source reports a 2025 average earnings multiple of 4.12x, a 2025 median sale price of $287,000, and a 2025 sale-to-ask ratio of 0.91. Use the five-year distribution for durable guidance and label any annual figure with its year.
What Decides Where a Store Lands
| Factor | Toward 4.5x and above | Toward 2.7x and below |
|---|---|---|
| Controllable lease term | 10+ years including tenant-controlled options | Under 5 years, or landlord controls the options |
| Revenue evidence | Returns, deposits, card settlements, and machine exports all agree | One source, or undocumented cash |
| Equipment | Documented serials and service history, no near-term retool | Unknown ages, out-of-order machines, retool due |
| Utilities | At or below the surveyed 20% median share of revenue | Above 25%, or unexplained consumption swings |
| Owner dependence | Runs without the owner | Owner does collections, repairs, and cleaning |
| Service mix | Diversified wash-dry-fold with documented margin | One commercial account with no contract |
| Competition | Stable trade area | New capacity opened or under construction nearby |
BizBuySell identifies consistent financial performance, larger earnings, growth, lower owner dependence, competitive advantages, and seller financing among the factors associated with higher multiples generally. For laundromats, those translate into the specific evidence above.
What the Multiple Is Applied To
Normalized seller's discretionary earnings: net income from the tax return, plus one working owner's compensation and payroll taxes, plus depreciation and interest, plus documented personal and genuinely non-recurring expenses.
Not reported net income. Not revenue. Not "cash flow" as a seller describes it verbally.
For multi-store operations that already carry market-rate management, EBITDA becomes the more useful measure, and EBITDA multiples for the same business look different from SDE multiples because the earnings base is smaller. Mixing the two is the most common cause of a valuation argument in which both parties are calculating correctly.
And What Gets Subtracted After
The multiple produces an indicated value. The near-term capital program is then subtracted.
If four washers and the water heater need replacing within three years, the buyer is funding both the business and that program. The correct treatment is an installed distributor quote for the specific replacement, discounted to present value, deducted from the earnings-based number — not a percentage haircut chosen by argument. The CLA's valuation discussion frames retools on a 15-20 year horizon and notes they can exceed $200,000.
A Worked Illustration
| Store A | Store B | |
|---|---|---|
| Normalized SDE | $90,000 | $90,000 |
| Controllable lease years | 12 | 4 |
| Independent revenue sources | 4 | 1 |
| Retool due | Year 6 | Year 1 |
| Selected multiple | 4.4x | 2.8x |
| Indicated value before capex | $396,000 | $252,000 |
| Less near-term capex, discounted | ($22,000) | ($95,000) |
| Indicated value | $374,000 | $157,000 |
Identical earnings. Illustrative figures, but the shape is real: the multiple and the capex deduction compound in the same direction, which is why evidence and lease term matter more than most sellers expect.
What to Do Next
Do not price a store off a multiple until the earnings are normalized and the lease is read. Both take a few hours and both move the number more than the multiple you pick.
The Next Step
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the multiple applied to revenue or to profit?
To normalized owner earnings, in almost every laundromat transaction. Revenue multiples exist as a cross-check — median 1.21x with the middle half between 0.93x and 1.64x — but identical revenue produces very different earnings after rent, utilities, labor, and repairs, and buyers finance earnings rather than revenue.
Why is the range so wide?
Because the spread encodes risk. A store with eleven controllable lease years, revenue documented across four independent sources, and no retool due is a different asset from one with four lease years and a story about cash. On the dataset's median earnings, the gap between 2.72x and 4.50x is roughly $136,000 of price.
Do bigger laundromats get higher multiples?
Larger earnings generally attract higher multiples, because a bigger store can support paid management and reaches a wider buyer pool including groups. BizBuySell lists consistent performance, larger earnings, growth, lower owner dependence, competitive advantage, and seller financing among the factors associated with higher multiples.
Should equipment value be added on top of the multiple?
No. The multiple already prices the asset base producing the earnings, so adding an equipment appraisal double-counts. Equipment affects value in the opposite direction: remaining useful life and the cost of the next replacement program reduce what a buyer can pay.
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.