Coin-operated Laundries NAICS 812310

Aug 22, 2025 - Growth in Labor Costs, Employment

• Employment and wage costs for coin-operated laundries and dry cleaners increased in June 2025, year over year, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Employment by coin-operated laundries and dry cleaners rose 3% in June 2025 compared to a year ago, per the BLS. In the past decade, employment by coin-operated and dry cleaners was up 18.6%, faster than the 13.6% growth in overall private employment in the same period. Average wages for nonsupervisory employees at dry cleaning and laundry services increased 4.7% in June 2025 compared to a year ago. Wages were up nearly 7% over the past three years, though lower than the 13.4% overall private wage growth. According to the Consumer Price Index released by the BLS, the cost of laundry and dry cleaning services increased 5% in July 2025 compared to a year ago and grew 0.3% from the previous month.
• According to a report in Planet Laundry, more laundromat owners are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiencies by assisting with crafting marketing messages, managing support tickets, and booking deliveries. The goal is to free up an owner’s time for human-focused service and strategy by leveraging AI as a tool to take on a variety of business tasks. The AI can be trained on real business data, learning operator preferences and the business routine. One tool that some laundromats are using is a virtual assistant or automated customer service on the phone and in chat. According to Cents’ Alex Jekowsky, “AI is most powerful when it knows your business.”

• Gauges measuring the collective mood of US consumers show mixed signals, with consumer confidence levels slightly up and consumer sentiment falling. Consumer confidence levels, an indicator of discretionary expenditures, improved in July 2025, month over month, rising by 2 points, according to the Consumer Confidence Index. Consumer confidence levels have stabilized since May but remain lower than last year’s, according to The Conference Board, which publishes the monthly index. July’s gain can be attributed to consumers over 35 years old and shared across all income groups, except the lowest income group earning below $15K. In addition, the consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan dropped in August 2025 for the first time in four months. The index fell to 58.6 in preliminary August data from 61.7 in July. Year-ahead inflation expectation results were higher monthly, as consumers convey lingering anxiety about prices amid tariff impacts. The index serves as a predictor of consumer spending as it indicates consumers’ perception of their financial prospects and the broader economy.
• According to a recent American Co-Op Your Views Survey, self-service laundry operators can improve the industry from a customer perspective in several key ways: keeping all equipment in working order (45%), providing a comfortable, safe environment (22%), and keeping an attendant on duty (11%). Nearly a third of self-service laundry owners said that if their average customer had one complaint, it would be that the store’s vending pricing is too high and the drying time is too short. About 23% of respondents said the average customer’s top complaint is that the store is too small, which can create discomfort when busy. Other complaints highlighted in the survey include the store being unattended or the attendant on duty not being helpful (9%), too many machines not working (7%), and not enough attention paid to customer comfort (5%).