Exterior cleaning · United States
How to Start a Pressure Washing Business (Costs, Permits, and Job Pricing)
Price the surface, the drive, and where the wash water goes before you buy a second machine.
- 18,069NAICS 561790 establishments, Census 2023
- 73.6%of those have fewer than 5 employees (13,290 ÷ 18,069)
- $25Fort Worth business permit, page captured April 4, 2025
- $73/mogeneral liability in the Insureon sample
Decision summary
- Census County Business Patterns 2023, U.S. total, legal form
-, NAICS 561790: 18,069 establishments and 90,169 employees. Read from cbp23us.zip on November 6, 2026. The code is Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings, wider than pressure washing. The Census classification page returned HTTP 403, so an index line was not copied from census.gov. - Of those establishments, 13,290 have fewer than 5 employees. That works out to 73.6% (13,290 ÷ 18,069).
- Fort Worth’s mobile commercial cosmetic-cleaning page, in the April 4, 2025 capture, lists a $25 business permit and $25 per wash unit. The live city URL returned HTTP 403 on November 6, 2026, so the fee was not re-read from the live site that day.
- Insureon’s pressure-washing page, read November 6, 2026, says customers pay on average $73 a month for general liability. Insureon. The page does not show an updated date.
On this page
0. One set of driveways
- Pick flat surfaces you can reach from the ground: driveways, walks, or walls. A roof is a different job.
- Ask where the wash water will go before you quote the work. A storm drain and a sanitary sewer are not the same pipe.
- Read the insurance sample below, then get a quote that names the surfaces you will actually wash.
Pressure washing startup costs
A national startup total is not on this page. The washer shelf price was not read: Home Depot’s page for internet #312241124 returned HTTP 403 on November 6, 2026. Simpson’s menu lists the PowerShot PS60869 as a 49-state model in the Commercial PowerShot series, and the product page opened that day did not show a price. Hoses, a surface cleaner, a trailer, and a water tank sit outside both of those pages.
| Line | Figure | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|
| General liability, monthly average | $73 | Insureon pressure-washing customers, read November 6, 2026. Not a quote. |
| Commercial auto, monthly average | $262 | Same Insureon page. A separate policy from general liability. |
| Workers’ compensation, monthly average | $147 | Same Insureon page. A separate policy. Do not add the three rows into one premium. |
| Fort Worth business permit | $25 | City page as captured April 4, 2025. One year. Issued to the business. |
| Fort Worth registration, per wash unit | $25 | Same capture. Valid for the term of the permit. Non-transferable. |
Proof of insurance for the vehicles and trailers is one of Fort Worth’s application items. That is a document, not a dollar amount on this page.
Permits and where the water goes
These are two official pages, not a 50-state fee table. Every other state is Not yet researched.
| Place | What the page says | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Worth, Texas | A person or business doing mobile commercial cosmetic cleaning needs a permit. The ordinance definition covers power washing, steam cleaning, and other mobile cosmetic cleaning of vehicles or exterior surfaces for commercial purposes. Facilities that use their own employees are not in the permit, and they still cannot discharge pollutants to the storm sewer. The fee is $25 for the business and $25 per wash unit. Failure to get the permit or meet the discharge rules can be fined up to $2,000 per occurrence. Wastewater may not leave the property. Opening a manhole is against the law. The city’s FAQ says the EPA has exempted residential driveway car washing, so a private citizen does not need this permit. | April 4, 2025 capture. Live page returned HTTP 403 on November 6, 2026. |
| Michigan | EGLE’s mobile power-washing guide (Rev. 11/2023) gives four paths: permission to use a sanitary or combined sewer, hauling the water to a facility that accepts it, a groundwater discharge permit or a listed exemption, or an NPDES permit before any discharge to a river, lake, stream, or a separate storm sewer. A separate NPDES permit is typically not needed for routine external building washdown, when paint is not being removed, or for pavement washing without detergents where toxic spills have not occurred, at sites already under an industrial stormwater permit. Sediment controls still apply. Vehicle and equipment washing that reaches a water body needs an NPDES permit first, and a separate permit may be needed for each site. Household wash water is exempt from the liquid-industrial-by-product rules. Commercial wash water is co-generated with the customer. | PDF read November 6, 2026. |
| Other states and cities | Not yet researched. Do not copy Fort Worth’s $25 or Michigan’s permit paths onto another map. | Not opened. |
Michigan’s groundwater exemption for a commercial operator is narrow: water only, removing non-polluting substances, with no additives. The guide defines additives to include cleaning soaps, degreasers, mold and algae removers, bleach, acids, and biodegradable products. Additive wash water discharged to the ground needs a permit. One common permit, Rule 2211(e), limits the work to dirt and grime on an exterior, caps the discharge at 1,000 gallons a month per acre, and requires a three-year log of date, location, item washed, and additive.
Insurance
Insureon’s pressure-washing page says its customers, on average, pay $73 a month for general liability, $262 a month for commercial auto, and $147 a month for workers’ compensation. Read November 6, 2026. The page says general liability often covers accidental damage such as broken fixtures or siding, and then lists limits: a “your work” exclusion that can leave damage to the surface you were hired to clean uncovered, and chemical or runoff damage that may need pollution liability. A typical limit on that page is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. Get the quote in writing for the surfaces and the chemicals you will use. Fort Worth also asks for proof of insurance on the vehicles and trailers before it issues the permit.
Soft wash, chemicals, and roofs
A driveway washed with water is a different discharge from a wall washed with soap. Michigan counts biodegradable soap as an additive. Paint removal is not a routine building washdown in that guide. Roof work adds fall protection and a place for the water to land, and neither was priced here. Keep roof and fleet work off the offer until they have their own prices and a named place for the water.
Is the job profitable?
Profit on a single job is the price minus paid minutes minus chemical or fuel. Profit for the month also has to clear the fixed costs you type: insurance, the permit, the truck, and the washer once you know what you paid. The industry count does not set the price. No average weekly income was opened.
Price one job
Type the price, the minutes on the surface, the minutes driving, and what you spend on chemical or fuel for that job. Empty stays unknown.
10. A second machine
Buy another wash unit when paid jobs already overflow the week and the contribution still covers the machine, the extra registration, and the drive. In Fort Worth that registration is another $25. The section number is an outline label, not a headcount. A crew wage was not taken from a Bureau of Labor Statistics table for this trade, because a matching occupation page was not opened.
First 90 days
- Days 1–14: pick driveways or flat walls you can reach. Ask the local stormwater office which drains are storm drains and which are sanitary.
- Days 15–45: price insurance and the city’s permit. Fort Worth’s two $25 fees are one city’s schedule, read from an April 4, 2025 capture.
- Days 46–90: time real jobs in the tool. Buy the washer only after a shelf page actually opens, and buy a second unit only after those jobs cover labor, chemical, and the month’s fixed costs.
When to stop
Stop selling a surface when the minutes and the chemical use up the price, or when you cannot say where the water will be collected. The tool hides the break-even job count in the first case. A biodegradable label is not permission to use the storm drain.
Questions people ask
How do you start a pressure washing business?
Pick ground-level surfaces you can reach, then price the minutes, the chemical, and where the wash water goes. Census County Business Patterns 2023 counts 18,069 employer establishments in NAICS 561790, Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings. That code is wider than pressure washing. A machine shelf price was not read on November 6, 2026, because the Home Depot page returned HTTP 403.
How much does it cost to start pressure washing?
The lines opened on this page are insurance and one city’s permit, not a national startup total. Insureon’s pressure-washing customers pay on average $73 a month for general liability, $262 a month for commercial auto, and $147 a month for workers’ compensation. Fort Worth’s April 4, 2025 page lists a $25 business permit and $25 per wash unit. A washer price was not copied because the store page did not open.
Is pressure washing profitable?
On this page, a job pays when the price covers paid minutes and chemical, and the month’s jobs cover the fixed costs you type. The tool prints a break-even job count only when that contribution is positive. No national profit rate or average weekly income was opened.
How many pressure-washing businesses are there?
Census County Business Patterns 2023 counts 18,069 employer establishments and 90,169 employees in NAICS 561790, Other Services to Buildings and Dwellings. 13,290 of those establishments have fewer than 5 employees, which is 13,290 ÷ 18,069, or 73.6%. The Census NAICS detail page returned HTTP 403, so an index line placing pressure washing inside that code was not copied from census.gov. Treat 18,069 as the whole industry.
Do I need a pressure-washing permit?
Fort Worth requires a permit for mobile commercial cosmetic cleaning, which its ordinance defines as power washing, steam cleaning, and any other mobile cosmetic cleaning of vehicles or exterior surfaces for commercial purposes. The April 4, 2025 capture of the city page lists $25 for the business and $25 per wash unit, valid one year. Michigan’s environment department says a discharge of wash water to a river, lake, or storm sewer generally needs an NPDES permit before it happens, with a narrower path for some routine building washdowns and pavement washing without detergents. Other states are not yet researched.
How much is pressure-washing insurance?
Insureon’s pressure-washing page, read November 6, 2026, says its customers pay on average $73 a month for general liability, $262 a month for commercial auto, and $147 a month for workers’ compensation. Those are three samples. The page does not say to add them into one premium, and it has no “updated” date.
Can wash water go to the storm drain?
Fort Worth’s page says the permit program exists to limit detergent and other pollutants in the storm drain, and that discharging wastewater off the property has been illegal there. Its FAQ says a biodegradable detergent can still kill fish in a creek, and that opening a manhole is against the law. Michigan says you should not discharge to a drain until you know whether it is a storm sewer or a sanitary sewer.
Is soft washing a different startup from pressure washing?
Michigan treats soaps, degreasers, mold removers, bleach, acids, and biodegradable products as additives. A commercial operator discharging additive wash water to the ground needs a groundwater permit. Water-only washing of non-polluting substances can meet an exemption. Paint removal is not a routine building washdown in that same guide. This page’s tool prices minutes and a chemical dollar amount. It does not price a roof kit or fall protection.
How do you price a driveway?
Type the price, the minutes on the surface, the paid drive minutes, a loaded hourly rate, and the chemical or fuel for that job. Empty stays unknown. Break-even jobs appear only after you also type the month’s fixed costs and the contribution is still positive.
When should I buy a second machine?
When paid jobs already overflow the week and the contribution still covers another washer, another wash-unit registration, and the drive. Fort Worth charges another $25 for each wash unit. A shelf price for the first washer was not read on November 6, 2026.
Still open
- No separate Census count for pressure washing alone. 18,069 is all of NAICS 561790.
- No washer shelf price. Home Depot returned HTTP 403 on November 6, 2026, and Simpson’s product page showed no price.
- No 50-state wash-water table. Fort Worth and Michigan are the two official pages read. Other states are not yet researched.
- No Bureau of Labor Statistics wage for this trade was opened.