How Much Do Car Detailers Make?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) files detailers with car wash attendants, under the title "Cleaners of vehicles and equipment", and counts employees only. So a car wash wage and a mobile detailer's income are two different numbers.
A mobile detailer is paid per job, and four published price lists put a full detail on a sedan between $170 and about $250 before costs. Below are three figures side by side, a ZIP code tool and a calculator.
Which of these you would be depends on whether you draw an hourly wage or price your own jobs.
Employed vehicle cleaners in Seattle earn a median of $42,750, against $35,830 nationally
Every US ZIP code is matched to a figure. Of the 528 BLS areas, 524 publish a median for this group, and the state figure stands in for the other 4. Detailers and car wash attendants are counted together, employees only.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 53-7061, by area, employees only; Census ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes. No agency publishes self-employed pay by area, so the calculator's price for a ZIP code follows what employees are paid in that area. The lookup runs in your browser. It loads a small file for the first three digits of your ZIP code from this site and sends nothing else.
The District of Columbia pays employed vehicle cleaners a median of $42,710; Louisiana pays $27,600
The table shows the national figure, the five highest and five lowest state medians for employees, and states where many people do this work. Texas, one of the four largest, sits with the lowest five. The second column is a wider group than detailing and counts one-person businesses before expenses.
| State | Employed vehicle cleaners, median a year (BLS May 2025) | One-person business in the wider auto maintenance group, average gross (Census 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $35,830 | $48,647 |
| Highest five | ||
| District of Columbia | $42,710 | $38,312 |
| Alaska | $40,210 | $81,500 |
| Washington | $40,070 | $46,846 |
| Colorado | $39,610 | $71,175 |
| Vermont | $39,530 | $51,789 |
| Lowest five | ||
| Louisiana | $27,600 | $40,420 |
| Mississippi | $28,640 | $26,792 |
| Alabama | $29,360 | $38,759 |
| West Virginia | $29,390 | $43,801 |
| Texas | $29,450 | $45,954 |
| Most people employed in this job | ||
| California | $37,920 | $51,933 |
| Florida | $33,380 | $38,488 |
| New York | $39,390 | $55,361 |
| Illinois | $35,930 | $61,444 |
| North Carolina | $33,470 | $42,755 |
| Ohio | $35,230 | $54,238 |
First column: BLS OEWS May 2025 state medians for SOC 53-7061, employees only, with detailers grouped with car wash attendants. Second column: Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, average receipts of one-person businesses in NAICS 81119, other automotive repair and maintenance, before expenses. That group covers car washes, oil change, glass and other maintenance together. Census does not publish car washes alone.
An employee's median is $17.23 an hour; a mobile detailer's full detail on a sedan lists at $170 to about $250
A wage is what an employee is paid. A price list shows what a customer pays a detailer before any cost comes out. The two cannot be compared directly.
Ceramic coating is the upsell: Spade lists $299 on a sedan and Alloy $599; with a polish first, Spade's is $699. Those are two companies' prices, not a norm. In the wider Census group, 105,290 one-person businesses in other automotive repair and maintenance average $48,647 gross, before costs. That group holds car washes, oil change and glass shops, so this is an outer marker, not a detailer figure. What owners with crews take home is not public, and we found no trade-body survey of detailer income with a published sample.
Work out what a year of detailing jobs brings in before tax
Put in your own price, jobs, days and weeks. Nothing in the result is a prediction: the starting values are examples to change, and you subtract your own costs from the total.
- Job income in a year$79,200
- Your share$79,200
- Card fees− $2,376
Checked November 2026. Supplies, insurance, vehicle and fuel costs are not deducted, so subtract your own costs. With a ZIP code, the price follows that area's pay level.
The IRS lists auto detailers as a tipped job, entry 805
The IRS list is the firmest fact available on tips in this work. It says the job is tipped, not how much.
Entry 805 reads "Personal vehicle and equipment cleaners. Wash or otherwise clean personal vehicles and equipment. Car wash attendant, auto detailer, boat waxer 53-7061". It uses the same code as the BLS pay figures above.
Employees and the self-employed can both claim it, and the tips must be voluntary. The deduction phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 joint). For the self-employed, it cannot exceed the net income of the business.
The IRS says the report is due by the 10th of the next month.
So this page gives no tip percentage for detailers.
One new mobile detailer on YouTube reported $915 for one month
This is one person's month from their first months in business, and it does not say gross or net. We found no detailer publishing a full year who was not also selling a course or a paid community.
Says "For the month of August I made $915", and reports $2,297 in total in about three months since starting.
The lowest-paid tenth of employed vehicle cleaners earn under $27,380
BLS reports $27,380 a year at the 10th percentile and $30,420 at the 25th for employed vehicle cleaners, May 2025. These are the closest official figures for someone starting out, and they count employees only.
That is the BLS 25th percentile for May 2025. It counts employees only, and it mixes detailers with car wash attendants.
OutTheTrunkDetailing said "For the month of August I made $915" on YouTube, about three months after starting. It is the one new-business figure we found and one person's month, and the video does not say whether it is gross or net.
We found no state that licenses car detailing as a trade in the rules we read, and Texas's licensing agency does not list it. That agency does license barbers and cosmetologists, massage therapists and tow truck operators.
Labor Code section 2054 applies to employers, and its definition of "car washing and polishing" names detailing: "washing, cleaning, drying, polishing, detailing, servicing, or otherwise providing cosmetic care to vehicles".
Wash water from commercial mobile washing "is prohibited from entering the City's stormwater system, streets, or right-of-way". Mobile washing businesses must apply for a Mobile Washer Discharge Authorization to discharge to the sewer.
Mobile car wash wastewater may not go into the storm sewer if it contains pollutants or cleaning compounds. Portland and Austin are two cities' rules, so check your city before you wash on site.
Measured by us in November 2026. Courses and certification were measured but left off the chart.
Car detailer pay questions
If you run your own detailing business, let customers book and pay online between jobs.
Set up your services and prices once, then share one booking link.
- A booking page that works as the link in your bio.
- Each service with its own length and price, like a full detail, an interior detail or a ceramic coating.
- A deposit at booking, or a card on file for later.
- Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card in person.
Sources
Where every number on this page comes from, by publisher and date. Web pages were read in November 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment (53-7061), national, state and area, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-05-15 Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. Detailers are filed with car wash attendants. Coverage: 524 of the 528 BLS areas, with the state figure shown in the other 4.
- Nonemployer Statistics 2024: Other Automotive Repair and Maintenance (NAICS 81119), national and state, U.S. Census Bureau, 2026-09-29 Gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. Car washes, oil change, glass and other maintenance are counted together; Census does not publish car washes alone.
- Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09 Treasury Tipped Occupation Code entry 805, personal vehicle and equipment cleaners.
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act: tax deductions for working Americans and seniors (no tax on tips), Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09 The cap, tax years, income limits and voluntary-tip condition of the deduction.
- Topic no. 761, Tips: withholding and reporting, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-11-09 The monthly cash tip reporting rule for employees.
- Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 The card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator.
- Licenses and regulated industries, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 2026-11-09 Car detailing and car washing are not among the industries listed.
- Car wash registration instructions, Labor Code section 2054, California Labor Commissioner, 2026-11-09 Annual registration for car wash employers; the definition of car washing and polishing names detailing.
- Mobile washer program, City of Portland, Oregon, 2026-11-09 Wash water rules and the Mobile Washer Discharge Authorization.
- Wastewater disposal for power washers and mobile car washes, City of Austin, Texas, 2026-11-09 Storm sewer limits and the fine for unauthorized sanitary sewer discharge.
- OutTheTrunkDetailing on YouTube, published September 2025, OutTheTrunkDetailing, 2026-11-09 One person's month, August 2025. Gross or net not stated.
- C&T Auto Detailing, services and pricing, C&T Auto Detailing, 2026-11-09 Conifer, Colorado. One detailer's own page, not a survey.
- R&M Mobile Auto Detailing, services, R&M Mobile Auto Detailing, 2026-11-09 Camas and Vancouver. One detailer's own page, not a survey.
- Spade Detailing, all pricing, Spade Detailing, 2026-11-09 Its pages do not state a city. Not a survey.
- Alloy Mobile Detailers, booking page, Alloy Mobile Detailers, 2026-11-09 Its booking page does not state a city. One company's own prices, not a survey.
Not tax, legal or financial advice. Prices, pay and what you keep vary by state and city, licensing rules differ by state, and the tax rules on tips have conditions. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.