What the counts can and can’t tell you

  • Where to look. Pressure washing is coded NAICS 561790, Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings. County Business Patterns counts establishments with paid employees; Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with none. Both publish county and metro files for free.
  • They aren’t only washers. The same code holds other building services, such as chimney, duct and gutter cleaning, so read the numbers as a trend line, not a competitor list.
  • They lag. The files we used are for 2023 (employers) and 2024 (solo operators), so this spring’s new rig isn’t in them yet.
  • They miss the untaxed. Nonemployer Statistics covers businesses subject to federal income tax. One forum poster said a neighborhood-app request for a deck wash drew 26 replies, with a lot of students among them, and such side-gig washers may never show up in a count.
  • Your own three numbers decide it. If the Census trend is flat but your close rate, repeat share and average ticket are all falling, look at your pitch and channels before you blame the market. Our guide to close rates and booked-out weeks explains how to read the first one.

The price line. One Jacksonville company publishes roof soft washing from $399 and driveway cleaning from $89 on its own site, which gives customers a fixed number to compare quotes against.

Matching the lowest bid is the one move that tells customers price is the only difference. Spend the effort where a new rig can’t follow: reviews and referrals (see where pressure washing leads come from), commercial work that asks for insurance and references (bidding commercial jobs), and tighter zones with a far-zone minimum (trip charges and job minimums). How we check sources: methodology.

Sources

Based on 9 sources · How we price