Laundromat Valuation: How to Value a Laundromat and What 855 Coin Laundries Sold For
Enter the store's revenue and owner earnings and read a range benchmarked to what laundromats actually closed at, whether you are pricing your own store or checking a listing before you make an offer.
Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
Laundromats sold in the US across the five years to 2025 went for a median of 3.50x seller discretionary earnings, or 1.21x annual revenue, with a lower quartile of 2.72x and an upper quartile of 4.50x. The median laundromat sale price was $250,000, on median revenue of $219,878 and median owner earnings of $76,560, after a median 139 days on the market. Divide the median price by the median earnings and the multiple that clears the market is 3.27x.
The number that matters most if you are buying one: laundromats currently listed ask a median 4.80x on median owner earnings of $114,500, which is 49.6 percent more earnings than the median store that actually sold. The stores that closed were asking about 3.80x. This is a benchmark and an estimator, not a certified appraisal.
Closed transactions
01What laundromats actually sold for
These are sale prices, not asking prices, from 855 laundromats and coin laundries sold across the five years 2021 to 2025. Most laundromat valuation guides quote a band of three to five times cash flow and stop there. The shape of the distribution is more useful: the distance between the lower and upper quartile of owner earnings is $91,730 a year, which is 1.2 times what the median store pays its owner.
Median sale price
$250,000
What the middle laundromat actually closed at
Median asking price
$275,000
What the same sold laundromats were listed at
Median revenue
$219,878
Annual sales of the middle laundromat sold
Median owner earnings (SDE)
$76,560
Seller discretionary earnings of the middle laundromat sold
| Laundromats sold, 2021 to 2025 | Lower quartile | Median | Average | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller discretionary earnings multiple | 2.72x | 3.50x | 3.65x | 4.50x |
| Revenue multiple (multiple of annual sales) | 0.93x | 1.21x | 1.33x | 1.64x |
| Revenue | $144,733 | $219,878 | $286,984 | $355,377 |
| Owner earnings (SDE) | $46,375 | $76,560 | $115,541 | $138,105 |
Source: BizBuySell laundromat and coin laundry valuation benchmarks, laundromats sold on the platform 2021 to 2025, retrieved September 2026. Benchmarks, not quotes. The multiple rows and the dollar rows describe the same population but not the same store, so multiplying a median by a median will not exactly reproduce a quartile. Business value only, before any real estate.
One consequence is worth stating plainly, because a lot of laundromat pricing advice gets it wrong. Half of the laundromats that sold earned between $46,375 and $138,105 for their owner. A store producing $250,000 of owner earnings is not a typical laundromat with a typical multiple. It sits far above the upper quartile, and the source reports that the multiple climbs with size: stores above about $350,000 of revenue can command more than 4x, and stores under $150,000 of revenue trade nearer 2.7x. If you are working out how to calculate SDE for the store in front of you, do that first, then find its row.
Our calculation
02Why most laundromat listings never sell
Laundromats currently listed ask a median 4.80x owner earnings. Laundromats that sold went for a median 3.50x. It is tempting to read that 27 percent gap as haggling. It mostly is not. The sale to ask ratio measures the same store twice, what it asked and what it got. The multiple gap compares two different pools: everything listed against the subset that sold. Divide the sold multiple by the sale to ask ratio and you recover the figure nobody publishes, which is what the sellers who actually closed were asking.
The answer is about 3.80x. So of the 27.1 percent between a typical listing and a typical sale, roughly 20.7 points is selection, stores priced where the market does not trade, and only about 8 points is negotiation. The result holds under all three readings of the ratio.
| Reading of the sale to ask ratio | Whole listing pool asked | Closers were asking | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published average sale to ask, 0.92 | 4.80x | 3.80x | -20.7% | 3.50x | -8.0% | -27.1% |
| Ratio of five-year pooled medians, 0.91 | 4.80x | 3.85x | -19.8% | 3.50x | -9.1% | -27.1% |
| Average of the five yearly median ratios, 0.93 | 4.80x | 3.77x | -21.5% | 3.50x | -7.1% | -27.1% |
The source publishes an average sale to ask ratio of 0.92 for laundromats. Its own medians give 0.91 when pooled across five years and 0.93 when the five yearly median ratios are averaged, because a median of ratios is not a ratio of medians. The components multiply rather than add, so the two percentages do not sum exactly to the total.
Next to the other sectors where we have run the same arithmetic, laundromats carry the widest total gap we have measured, just ahead of restaurants, and at the opposite end from gas stations, which close at their asking price.
| Sector | Pool asked | Closers asked | Selection | Sold at | Negotiation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laundromats | 4.80x | 3.80x | -20.7% | 3.50x | -8.0% | -27.1% |
| Restaurants | 2.50x | 2.06x | -17.8% | 1.85x | -10.0% | -26.0% |
| Accounting and tax practices | 2.32x | 2.10x | -9.3% | 2.04x | -3.0% | -12.1% |
| Gas stations | 2.89x | 3.00x | +3.8% | 3.00x | 0.0% | +3.8% |
For a seller the instruction is to price near what closers ask, about 3.8x verified earnings for a median store, and expect to give up single digits. Listing at 4.8x does not open a negotiation that ends at 3.5x. It usually ends with no sale. For a buyer the instruction is the mirror image: a listing at 4.8x is not a starting point with 8 percent of room in it. It is a store asking for a multiple that roughly three quarters of the gap says the market does not pay. The comparable numbers for the other sectors are on the restaurant valuation and gas station valuation pages.
Our calculation
03Listings report 49.6 percent more owner earnings than stores that sold
The multiple is not the only thing that shrinks between a listing and a sale. The earnings do too. Laundromats on the market today report median owner earnings of $114,500. Laundromats that sold reported $76,560. Listings ask a higher multiple and apply it to a larger earnings figure, and the two effects compound.
| Figure | Laundromats listed now | Laundromats that sold | Listed above sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median revenue | $300,000 | $219,878 | +36.4% |
| Median owner earnings (SDE) | $114,500 | $76,560 | +49.6% |
| Upper quartile owner earnings | $195,000 | $138,105 | +41.2% |
| Lower quartile owner earnings | $57,250 | $46,375 | +23.5% |
| Implied owner margin (computed here) | 38.2% | 34.8% | +3.4 points |
The obvious objection is timing: the listings are recent and the sold pool covers five years. It does not survive the data. Laundromats sold in 2025 reported median owner earnings of $77,104, only 0.7 percent above the five-year figure. So the listings are not simply newer stores in a better year. Either the listed pool holds larger stores that do not trade at their asking multiple, or listing earnings are the seller's figure before a buyer and a lender have tested it. Both readings lead to the same instruction for a buyer: price on earnings you have verified, never on the number in the listing.
For scale, multiplying the median listing multiple by the median listing earnings gives about $549,600. That is not a published asking price, and a median times a median is only approximate, but it is more than twice the $250,000 median sale price. The verification steps that close that gap are ordinary ones: tax returns against the profit and loss statement, bank deposits against reported revenue, card system reports by machine and twelve months of water and gas bills against the claimed volume. A quality of earnings review is the formal version of the same work.
The asking to sold gap runs the same direction at every point of the distribution and on both bases, which is not true of every sector. On gas stations the two bases disagree in sign at the median. On laundromats they agree everywhere.
| Point in the distribution | Asking, earnings | Sold, earnings | Change | Asking, revenue | Sold, revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 3.82x | 2.72x | -28.8% | 1.38x | 0.93x | -32.6% |
| Median | 4.80x | 3.50x | -27.1% | 1.88x | 1.21x | -35.6% |
| Average | 5.66x | 3.65x | -35.5% | 2.26x | 1.33x | -41.2% |
| Upper quartile | 6.17x | 4.50x | -27.1% | 2.70x | 1.64x | -39.3% |
Five year record
04Prices rose 30 percent, and the 2025 jump was multiple, not earnings
Between 2021 and 2025 the median laundromat sale price rose 30.5 percent, from $220,000 to $287,000. Median owner earnings rose 18.6 percent and the average earnings multiple rose 14.1 percent. Owner margins stayed in a narrow band between 34 and 38 percent every year, which is one of the most stable margin records of any sector we hold data for.
| Year sold | Median revenue | Median owner earnings | Owner margin | Earnings multiple | Revenue multiple | Median sale price | Median asking price | Sale to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $189,464 | $65,000 | 34.3% | 3.61x | 1.35x | $220,000 | $245,000 | 0.92 |
| 2022 | $239,326 | $90,000 | 37.6% | 3.55x | 1.32x | $240,000 | $260,000 | 0.93 |
| 2023 | $234,000 | $88,620 | 37.9% | 3.49x | 1.21x | $250,000 | $259,900 | 0.92 |
| 2024 | $204,000 | $74,000 | 36.3% | 3.50x | 1.31x | $270,000 | $299,000 | 0.90 |
| 2025 | $215,500 | $77,104 | 35.8% | 4.12x | 1.45x | $287,000 | $300,000 | 0.91 |
Multiples are the published yearly averages. Revenue, earnings and prices are published yearly medians. The owner margin is published by the source for each year.
Two years carry the story. In 2024, median revenue fell 12.8 percent and median owner earnings fell 16.5 percent, and the median sale price still rose 8.0 percent. In 2025, median earnings recovered only 4.2 percent, but the average earnings multiple jumped from 3.50x to 4.12x, up 17.7 percent in a single year, the largest move in the record. Buyers are paying more per dollar of laundromat earnings than at any point in the five years.
That matters differently depending on which side you are on. A seller in 2026 is being paid for demand, and demand is the part of a price that can reverse without anything changing inside the store. A buyer paying the 2025 multiple is betting that it holds, and should check whether the price still works at the five-year 3.65x average before signing.
Our calculation
05Which published multiple reproduces what a laundromat actually sold for
A benchmark set is only worth using if its own numbers reconcile. Take each published multiple, apply it to the matching published median, and compare the result with the observed median sale price of $250,000.
| Route to a value | Arithmetic | Result | Error against observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median earnings x median earnings multiple | $76,560 x 3.50 | $267,960 | +7.2% |
| Median earnings x average earnings multiple | $76,560 x 3.65 | $279,444 | +11.8% |
| Median revenue x median revenue multiple | $219,878 x 1.21 | $266,052 | +6.4% |
| Median revenue x average revenue multiple | $219,878 x 1.33 | $292,438 | +17.0% |
| Observed median sale price | reported directly | $250,000 | n/a |
Every route overshoots, the median routes by 6 to 7 percent and the average routes by 12 to 17 percent. Dividing the observed median price by the observed median earnings gives 3.27x owner earnings and 1.14x revenue. Those are the multiples to price a typical laundromat against, and neither is printed in the source. Anyone quoting a laundromat at 3.65x is quoting an average multiple against a median store.
The set does reconcile internally in one important way. A revenue multiple is an earnings multiple times the owner margin, and 3.50x times a 34.8 percent margin gives 1.22x, within 0.7 percent of the published 1.21x median. That identity is why the laundromat revenue multiple looks so high next to other service businesses. Buyers are not paying for revenue. They are paying about three and a half times earnings on a business that keeps a third of every sales dollar. Our revenue multiples by industry table shows the same relationship across sectors.
Peer benchmarks
06Laundromats against dry cleaners, commercial laundry and the service set
Twelve service categories sold on the same platform over the same five years. The margin column is ours, median owner earnings divided by median revenue. Laundromats carry the second highest average earnings multiple in the group at 3.65x, behind only funeral homes.
| Category | Median revenue | Median owner earnings | Owner margin | Earnings multiple | Revenue multiple | Median sale price | Sale to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial laundry | $198,000 | $112,000 | 56.6% | 2.83x | 1.25x | $250,000 | 0.92 |
| Pest control | $263,597 | $124,184 | 47.1% | 2.40x | 0.99x | $249,000 | 0.91 |
| Funeral homes | $750,000 | $318,000 | 42.4% | 4.28x | 1.67x | $1,500,000 | 0.85 |
| Dry cleaners | $360,000 | $132,513 | 36.8% | 2.09x | 0.76x | $250,000 | 0.93 |
| Laundromats and coin laundry | $219,878 | $76,560 | 34.8% | 3.65x | 1.33x | $250,000 | 0.92 |
| All service businesses | $455,000 | $146,927 | 32.3% | 2.62x | 0.86x | $325,000 | 0.92 |
| Cleaning and janitorial | $433,327 | $136,326 | 31.5% | 2.19x | 0.70x | $260,000 | 0.92 |
| Property management | $565,658 | $167,000 | 29.5% | 2.70x | 0.93x | $397,500 | 0.94 |
| Medical billing | $614,000 | $180,000 | 29.3% | 3.63x | 1.24x | $500,000 | 1.01 |
| Landscaping and yard service | $708,412 | $187,761 | 26.5% | 2.46x | 0.70x | $425,000 | 0.93 |
| Waste management and recycling | $710,000 | $176,635 | 24.9% | 3.31x | 0.95x | $525,000 | 0.91 |
| Staffing agencies | $1,306,129 | $301,147 | 23.1% | 2.74x | 0.65x | $670,000 | 0.90 |
The cleanest comparison in the table is a dry cleaner. The median dry cleaner and the median laundromat both sold for $250,000, and both were listed at $275,000. The dry cleaner brought 1.64 times the revenue and 1.73 times the owner earnings to that price. Buyers paid an average 3.65x earnings for laundromats and 2.09x for dry cleaners, a 75 percent premium for the same dollar of profit.
The source's own explanation is the business model: customers serve themselves, labor is light, and a laundromat can be run with limited owner time. Buyers pay for the hours they will not have to work. That is also the limit of the premium. A laundromat that depends on a full time owner running wash, dry and fold behind the counter is closer to a dry cleaner than to the benchmark, and it should be priced nearer the lower quartile. Commercial laundry, which runs a 56.6 percent owner margin on route and contract work, sold at 2.83x for the same reason in reverse: the margin is high, but the owner is in the business.
Our calculation
07What an SBA lender will support on a laundromat
Most Main Street laundromats are bought with an SBA 7(a) loan, so the price a buyer can pay is capped by what the earnings will service. Because laundromats are often bought by people who keep another income, the variable that matters is the owner draw rather than a manager salary. The arithmetic takes the median $76,560 of owner earnings, subtracts the draw, divides by a 1.25x coverage requirement, amortizes over 10 years at 10.5 percent and grosses up for a 10 percent equity injection.
| Owner draw assumption | Cash flow to debt service | Supportable purchase price | As a multiple of SDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| No draw, buyer lives on other income | $76,560 | $420,285 | 5.49x |
| Owner draw of $20,000 | $56,560 | $310,492 | 4.06x |
| Owner draw of $30,000 | $46,560 | $255,596 | 3.34x |
| Owner draw of $40,000 | $36,560 | $200,700 | 2.62x |
| Owner draw of $50,000 | $26,560 | $145,804 | 1.90x |
The market pays 3.27x. A buyer drawing $30,000 a year can finance 3.34x. Price and financing capacity sit almost on top of each other, which is consistent with a sale to ask ratio of 0.92: there is not much room to negotiate on a laundromat that is priced where a lender will lend. It also explains why the 2025 jump to 4.12x matters. At that multiple the median store only works for a buyer drawing less than $20,000, so the 2025 buyer pool leans toward people who do not need the store to pay them.
Lenders also decide whether the deal needs a formal valuation. Under the current SBA rules the test runs on the intangible portion of what is financed, after appraised real estate and equipment are taken out, and above $250,000 an independent valuation is required. Laundromats are equipment heavy, so the answer depends on the equipment appraisal as much as on the price. Our guide to business valuation for an SBA loan covers the threshold and who pays, and what a business valuation costs covers the fee.
Illustrative. The prime rate was reported at 6.75 percent in September 2026 and 7(a) rates vary by lender, loan size and deal. Coverage requirements, injection and the owner draw a lender will accept all change what a specific store can support.
Price ladder
08What your laundromat is worth at your owner earnings
Find the row closest to the store's verified seller discretionary earnings. The conservative column uses 2.72x, the lower quartile of what sold, which is where a short lease, old machines or cash revenue that cannot be tied to deposits puts a store. The typical column uses 3.27x, the multiple that reproduces the median sale. The strong column uses 4.50x, the upper quartile, which is where a larger store with a long lease and verifiable card revenue lands. All three exclude real estate.
| Owner earnings (SDE) | Conservative, 2.72x | Typical, 3.27x | Strong, 4.50x |
|---|---|---|---|
| $46,375 (lower quartile sold) | $126,140 | $151,646 | $208,688 |
| $76,560 (median sold) | $208,243 | $250,351 | $344,520 |
| $100,000 | $272,000 | $327,000 | $450,000 |
| $115,541 (average sold) | $314,272 | $377,819 | $519,934 |
| $138,105 (upper quartile sold) | $375,646 | $451,603 | $621,472 |
| $175,000 | $476,000 | $572,250 | $787,500 |
If you are a seller and the earnings in the first column are not something you could hand a lender in tax returns and bank statements, read the conservative column as your answer. If you are a buyer looking at a listing, run the listing's earnings through this table and then run the earnings you can actually verify, and offer on the second number.
Inside the range
09What moves a laundromat from one column to the next
Revenue volume
The source reports that the multiple climbs with size: laundromats above about $350,000 of revenue can command more than 4x owner earnings, while stores under $150,000 of revenue trade nearer 2.7x. Size is the one driver with a published number attached, and it is the first thing to check before choosing a column in the ladder.
Lease term against loan term
A laundromat is plumbing, venting and gas service bolted into a specific building, so it cannot move. A lender will not amortize a 10 year loan against a 4 year lease, which means a short lease shrinks the buyer pool before it touches the price. Remaining term plus options is the second thing a buyer asks for.
Equipment age
Machines near the end of their service life are a capital bill the buyer inherits in the first years of ownership. Buyers deduct that bill from the price, so a seller who has not priced it themselves reads the resulting offer as a lowball rather than as arithmetic.
Verifiable revenue
Coin revenue is cash, and cash is the hardest income for a buyer or a lender to accept. Card and app payment systems produce machine level reports that can be tied to bank deposits, which is why stores with them are easier to finance at the full multiple.
Utilities and water
Utilities are the largest variable cost, and water use tracks machine turns. Buyers use twelve months of water and gas bills as an independent check on the revenue the seller reports, so bills that do not fit the claimed volume cost more than the bills themselves.
Wash, dry and fold and commercial accounts
Drop off service and commercial contracts add revenue a competitor opening nearby cannot take as easily. They also add labor, so buyers want them documented and systematized rather than dependent on one long serving attendant.
If the seller owns the building, price it as a second asset on market rent at a capitalization rate rather than folding it into the earnings multiple. The same trap catches car wash and gas station owners who control their own property, and it produces asking prices that no buyer and no lender will meet.
Questions
Laundromat valuation questions people actually ask
How much is a laundromat worth?
The median US laundromat sold over the five years to 2025 went for $250,000, on median revenue of $219,878 and median owner earnings of $76,560, across 855 closed sales. That is 3.27 times owner earnings on the reported medians. The published median multiple is 3.50x and half of all laundromats sold between 2.72x and 4.50x, before any real estate.
What multiple do laundromats sell for?
Laundromats sold at a median of 3.50 times seller discretionary earnings and an average of 3.65 times, with a lower quartile of 2.72x and an upper quartile of 4.50x. On revenue the median was 1.21x and the average 1.33x. The average multiple rose to 4.12x in 2025, the highest of the five years.
How do you value a laundromat?
Start from verified seller discretionary earnings: net profit plus the owner salary, owner benefits, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. Apply a multiple between about 2.7x and 4.5x depending on revenue size, lease term, equipment age and how verifiable the revenue is. Value any owned building separately. On the median sold store, $76,560 of owner earnings at 3.27x gives $250,000.
How much do laundromats sell for?
The median laundromat sold for $250,000 across 2021 to 2025, and the yearly median rose from $220,000 in 2021 to $287,000 in 2025. Median asking prices went from $245,000 to $300,000 over the same years. Those are business prices; where the building is included it is priced as a second asset on top.
How much does a laundromat make a year?
The middle laundromat that sold reported $76,560 of seller discretionary earnings on $219,878 of revenue, a 34.8 percent owner margin. The lower quartile earned $46,375 and the upper quartile $138,105. In 2025 the median store earned $77,104 on $215,500 of revenue.
Do laundromats sell for the asking price?
Not quite. The reported average sale to ask ratio is 0.92, so a laundromat that sells typically closes about 8 percent under its asking price. The bigger gap is elsewhere: laundromats currently listed ask a median 4.80x owner earnings, while the stores that close were asking about 3.80x and sold at 3.50x.
How long does it take to sell a laundromat?
The median laundromat that sold spent 139 days on the market. That figure only counts stores that sold, so it describes a correctly priced laundromat rather than every listing. Lease assignment and lender review of the revenue records are the two items that most often stretch a sale past five months.
Can you get an SBA loan to buy a laundromat?
Yes. At 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x debt service coverage and a 10 percent injection, the median $76,560 of owner earnings supports a purchase price of about $255,596 if the buyer draws $30,000 a year, which is 3.34x. The market pays 3.27x, so for laundromats financing capacity and price sit almost on top of each other.
Why are laundromats worth more than dry cleaners?
Because buyers pay for self-service. Laundromats and dry cleaners both had a median sale price of $250,000, but the median dry cleaner produced 1.73 times the owner earnings of the median laundromat. Buyers paid an average 3.65x earnings for laundromats against 2.09x for dry cleaners, a 75 percent premium for a business customers largely run themselves.
Does the price of a laundromat include the building?
The benchmarks on this page are business values. When a seller owns the building, the property is a separate asset valued on market rent at a capitalization rate, and it can be worth more than the laundromat itself. Rolling both into one earnings multiple produces an asking price no buyer or lender will meet.
How much does a laundromat appraisal cost?
A formal business valuation for a small business commonly runs $1,500 to $8,000 for a calculation engagement and $5,000 to $15,000 for a full conclusion of value. On a $250,000 laundromat, a $5,000 to $15,000 engagement is 2.0 to 6.0 percent of the sale price. Our cost breakdown compares the options by provider.
Asked another way
What buyers and owners ask when they are deciding
These come up once the numbers are understood and the decision is the actual problem, whether that is making an offer or setting a price. Answered against the same closed-transaction data as the rest of this page.
Is a laundromat listed at 5x cash flow overpriced?
On the transaction record, usually yes. Half of laundromats that sold closed between 2.72x and 4.50x, and the stores that closed were asking about 3.80x. A 5x listing is priced in the part of the market that mostly does not trade. It can be justified by revenue well above $350,000, a long lease and verifiable card revenue, and not by much else.
Should I trust the cash flow in a laundromat listing?
Verify it before you price it. Laundromats currently listed report a median $114,500 of owner earnings against $76,560 for stores that sold, 49.6 percent more, and timing does not explain the gap because 2025 sold stores earned $77,104. Tie the claimed revenue to tax returns, bank deposits and twelve months of water bills.
Is now a good time to sell a laundromat?
Prices are the highest in the five-year record: the median sale price reached $287,000 in 2025 and the average earnings multiple jumped from 3.50x to 4.12x in one year while median earnings rose only 4.2 percent. That jump is multiple expansion rather than earnings growth, which is the part of a price that can reverse.
Do I need a formal appraisal or is an estimate enough?
An estimate is enough to decide whether to list, to set an asking range or to decide whether a listing deserves an offer. A formal appraisal becomes necessary for an SBA loan above the lender threshold, a partner buyout, estate or gift tax filings and litigation. This page and the estimator on it are benchmarks against closed sales, not a certified appraisal.
What is a small laundromat worth compared with a large one?
More per dollar of earnings as it gets bigger. The source reports stores above about $350,000 of revenue can command over 4x owner earnings and stores under $150,000 trade nearer 2.7x. At the lower quartile of $46,375 of earnings a store is worth roughly $126,000 to $152,000; at the upper quartile of $138,105, roughly $452,000 to $621,000.
Benchmarks behind the estimate
Find out where in the range a laundromat sits
Enter revenue and owner earnings, for your own store or for a listing you are considering, and read a value range against real laundromat sales. An educational estimate, not a certified appraisal.