The pitch you read online: "Pressure washing is high-margin, low-overhead, easy to start." All true. But the picture isn't complete. Here's every actual cost a one-truck operator carries in 2026 — and what it means for what you really keep.
One-time startup costs (year 1)
- Pressure washer (commercial 4 GPM / 4000 PSI): $1,800
- Surface cleaner (20-inch): $400
- Hoses, reels, wand, nozzles: $500
- Soft-wash setup (downstream injector + tip kit): $150
- Water tank + bed mount: $700
- Truck signs + door hangers: $200
- LLC registration + business license: $250
- First year insurance: $700
- Initial chemicals (sodium hypochlorite, surfactants, degreaser): $300
- Booking page + software (annual upfront): $300
Total year-1 startup: ~$5,300. Cheaper than starting almost any other service business. Some operators go higher with a trailer rig — but that's a year-3 upgrade, not year-1.
Recurring monthly costs (steady state)
- Insurance: $60–$100/month ($720–$1,200/year)
- Chemicals (volume scales with revenue, ~5–8% of gross): $200–$500
- Software (CRM, invoicing, booking): $30–$80
- Truck gas + maintenance (gas-heavy in peak season): $400–$800
- Phone (business line, optional): $25–$50
- Marketing (Google Ads, door hangers, occasional Facebook): $100–$400
- Accountant / bookkeeper (quarterly, average monthly): $50–$150
- Equipment maintenance + repair fund: $100/month
Total recurring: $965–$2,180/month. Call it $1,500/mo average for a steady solo operator.
Annual + occasional
- Pressure washer pump rebuild (every 200–300 hrs): $200–$400
- Replacement hoses (annually): $200
- New surface cleaner pads/swivels: $100
- Tax prep: $400–$800
- License renewal: $100–$200
- Truck — major repair fund (annual average): $1,000
Add ~$2,000–$3,500/year in occasional + replacement costs.
The hidden costs nobody talks about
- Chargebacks + non-payments: 1–3% of gross. Build it into pricing.
- Damaged-property repairs (rare but real): a broken siding panel is $200–$500, a killed plant is $50–$200. Most insurance covers, but the deductible adds up.
- Time off (sickness, weather, family): not a cash cost, but missed-revenue cost. Solo operators average 6–8 weeks off/year (peak weeks of revenue, mostly weather-driven).
- Quote-to-no-book ghosting: 30–40% of quotes don't convert. The hour you spent quoting is unpaid.
- Truck depreciation: if you use a personal truck, the work-use depreciation hits resale value. ~$0.30/mile of business use is the rough number.
What this means for take-home
A solo operator grossing $80K/year:
- Gross revenue: $80,000
- Recurring monthly costs ($1,500 × 12): -$18,000
- Annual + occasional: -$3,000
- Hidden costs (5%): -$4,000
- Self-employment tax (15.3% on ~$55K net): -$8,400
- Federal income tax (varies, ~10% effective on this net): -$5,000
- State income tax: -$2,000
- True take-home: ~$39,600
$80K gross = $40K net to live on. That's the honest math.
A solo operator at $150K gross? About $85K net. The margin gets better with scale because most fixed costs (insurance, software, truck) don't scale with revenue.
How to improve the margin
- Raise prices. 5% price hike = ~3% gross margin improvement (no extra cost).
- Add commercial accounts. Recurring contracts with monthly invoicing reduce quote-time leakage.
- Tighten your service zone. Less drive time = more billable hours = more revenue per gas dollar.
- Get the AI / inquiry-capture stack right. Lost leads are the biggest hidden cost. Don't lose another inquiry.
The bottom line
Pressure washing IS high-margin compared to most trades. But "low overhead" doesn't mean "no overhead." Plan for $1,500–$2,000/mo recurring + $5K startup + 30% of net to taxes. Operators who do this math up front survive year two. Operators who don't quit by month 18.