- The middle half earn between $17.91 and $22.00 an hour.
- Only 2 states pay auto detailers more at the median.
- Washington pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 8,270 auto detailers on payrolls in Washington.
- At the state median wage, a detailing business needs to bill about $104.41 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Auto Detailer pay in Washington, bottom to top
BLS has no separate figure for auto detailers. These are its numbers for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, the group that holds auto detailers along with car wash attendants and equipment cleaners.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.05 | $35,470 | $13.17 |
| 25th percentile | $17.91 | $37,260 | $14.62 |
| Median | $19.26 | $40,070 | $17.23 |
| 75th percentile | $22.00 | $45,750 | $19.73 |
| 90th percentile | $25.06 | $52,120 | $22.89 |
| Average (mean) | $20.58 | $42,800 | $17.78 |
Pay is bunched up in Washington. The top tenth earn $25.06 an hour or more, about 1.5 times the $17.05 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.7 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $17.05 against $13.17 at the bottom tenth, and $25.06 against $22.89 at the top.
The average, $20.58, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Washington compares with other states
Over a full year, the Washington median of $40,070 is $4,240 more than the national $35,830.
In the state ranking, Washington sits 3rd, between Alaska ($19.33) and Colorado ($19.04). The range runs from $13.27 in Louisiana to $20.53 in the District of Columbia.
Washington pays auto detailers more than any of its neighboring states, Idaho and Oregon. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Washington. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many auto detailers work in Washington
About 8,270 auto detailers work on payrolls in Washington, 2.2% of the 380,430 nationwide, the 15th largest count among the states.
That is 2.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Washington, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a detailing business in Washington should charge
Higher wages in Washington go straight into the price. Take a detailing business in Washington paying the state median of $19.26 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $19.26 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $43,125 |
| Break-even rate | ($43,125 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $88.75 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $88.75 ÷ 0.85 | $104.41 |
That is $104.41 per billable hour, 5.4 times the wage, and $3.57 more than the $100.85 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $22.00 in Washington, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $109.22.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.91, the rate only drops to $102.04.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an auto detailer in Washington
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how detailers run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 53-7061, cleaners of vehicles and equipment, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: auto detailer salary by state.