15% of US car washes with employees9.3% of US body shops4.8% of US dental offices belong to groups backed by private equity.
We counted more than 11,000 locations of the largest chains in car washes, collision repair and dentistry on their own websites and compared them with the government's count of businesses in each industry.
The findings in seven sentences.
- Groups backed by private equity run 15% of US car washes with employees, 9.3% of body shops and 4.8% of dental offices.
- In Arizona, four chains backed by private equity run 39% of car washes: Super Star, Cobblestone, Mister and Quick Quack.
- Caliber Collision alone runs 5.3% of the country's body shops.
- In Maryland, chains backed by private equity run 17% of body shops.
- Counting the dental groups that don't list their offices, at the size each one states, private equity's share of dental offices rises from 2.0% to 4.8%. At its stated size, Heartland Dental, the largest, runs 1.4% of them.
- Lender-owned groups, former private equity roll-ups now held by their lenders, run 0.9% of dental offices and 0.9% of car washes.
- Adding the family-owned, public and lender-owned chains, multi-site groups run 17% of car washes, 13% of body shops and 6.7% of dental offices.
How much of each industry private equity owns.
Chains backed by private equity run 15% to 16% of US car washes, 9.3% to 9.6% of body shops and 2.0% to 4.8% of dental offices. The higher figure adds the groups that don't list their locations, at the size each one states.
Who owns the most car washes.
Mister Car Wash runs 2.8% of US car washes, Whistle Express 2.4% and Club Car Wash and Express Wash Concepts 1.9%.
- Mister Car Wash: 2.8%Leonard Green & Partners
- Whistle Express: 2.4%Oaktree Capital Management
- Club Car Wash and Express Wash Concepts: 1.9%Wildcat Capital Management
- Quick Quack: 1.9%Seidler Equity Partners and the founders
- Tidal Wave Auto Spa: 1.7%Golden Gate Capital
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Who owns the most body shops.
Caliber Collision runs 5.3% of US body shops, Gerber Collision & Glass 3.4% and Crash Champions 1.9%.
- Caliber Collision: 5.3%Hellman & Friedman
- Gerber Collision & Glass: 3.4%Boyd Group Services, publicly traded
- Crash Champions: 1.9%Clearlake Capital
- Classic Collision: 1.0%TPG
- CollisionRight: 0.3%Summit Partners
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Who owns the most dental offices.
At its stated size, Heartland Dental runs 1.4% of US dental offices. Aspen Dental, the largest group that lists its offices, runs 0.8%.
- Heartland Dental: 1.4%, at the size it statesKKR
- Aspen Dental: 0.8%Leonard Green & Partners and Ares Management
- PDS Health: 0.7%, at the size it statesPrivately held
- MB2 Dental: 0.6%, at the size it statesCharlesbank Capital Partners
- Smile Doctors: 0.3%Linden Capital Partners and THL
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Where private equity owns the most car washes.
Arizona leads at 39%, then Tennessee, Colorado, Utah and Texas at 27% to 30%.
- ALAlabama: 25%
- AKAlaska: Fewer than 100 car washes
- AZArizona: 39%
- ARArkansas: 18%
- CACalifornia: 11%
- COColorado: 30%
- CTConnecticut: 13%
- DEDelaware: Fewer than 100 car washes
- DCDistrict of Columbia: Fewer than 100 car washes
- FLFlorida: 18%
- GAGeorgia: 21%
- HIHawaii: Fewer than 100 car washes
- IDIdaho: 14%
- ILIllinois: 4.6%
- INIndiana: 1.8%
- IAIowa: 12%
- KSKansas: 22%
- KYKentucky: 9.1%
- LALouisiana: 12%
- MEMaine: Fewer than 100 car washes
- MDMaryland: 0.7%
- MAMassachusetts: 0.0%
- MIMichigan: 13%
- MNMinnesota: 19%
- MSMississippi: 23%
- MOMissouri: 23%
- MTMontana: 2.8%
- NENebraska: 19%
- NVNevada: 4.9%
- NHNew Hampshire: Fewer than 100 car washes
- NJNew Jersey: 3.3%
- NMNew Mexico: 20%
- NYNew York: 3.7%
- NCNorth Carolina: 12%
- NDNorth Dakota: Fewer than 100 car washes
- OHOhio: 13%
- OKOklahoma: 19%
- OROregon: 2.0%
- PAPennsylvania: 3.9%
- RIRhode Island: Fewer than 100 car washes
- SCSouth Carolina: 24%
- SDSouth Dakota: Fewer than 100 car washes
- TNTennessee: 30%
- TXTexas: 27%
- UTUtah: 29%
- VTVermont: Fewer than 100 car washes
- VAVirginia: 16%
- WAWashington: 6.5%
- WVWest Virginia: Fewer than 100 car washes
- WIWisconsin: 14%
- WYWyoming: Fewer than 100 car washes
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Software for a roll-up.
A roll-up runs the same work at every site it buys, from booking and estimates to billing and payroll. We write the software those sites share, one process at a time, and the owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We counted the locations on September 30, 2026.
How we did it
We counted the US locations of the largest multi-site groups in car washes, collision repair and dentistry on September 30, 2026, from each group's own website: its sitemap, its location finder or its location pages. That came to 11,327 locations of 35 groups, out of 52 groups studied. Each location counts once. Pages for a region rather than one location are out, and so are locations outside the US and sites marked as coming soon.
17 groups don't list their locations in one place, among them Heartland Dental and MB2 Dental, whose offices keep their own names. We use the size each one states, show those groups apart and leave them out of the state figures. Tommy's Express, whose washes are mostly franchised, counts its company-owned sites only.
A group counts as backed by private equity when a private equity firm or a similar investment firm controls it. Groups their lenders took over in a restructuring count apart, as lender-owned. Publicly traded, family-owned and dentist-owned groups count as multi-site groups, not as private equity. A franchise sign isn't ownership, so franchised CARSTAR, Fix Auto or ABRA shops count as independent.
The number of businesses in each industry is the Bureau of Labor Statistics count of private establishments with employees for the first quarter of 2026: 20,042 car washes (NAICS 811192), 35,392 body shops (811121) and 138,982 dental offices (621210). Car washes without staff aren't in that count. The Census Bureau's 2023 counts are within 2% of these.
We read each location's state from its website. A state's count of businesses is the larger of the Bureau of Labor Statistics count for the first quarter of 2026 and the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns count. The first can fold a chain's sites in a state into one report, and the second misses sites opened since 2023, so the larger count keeps a state's share from running high. Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming use the first count only. A state is charted when it has at least 100 establishments in the industry, and the tables show every state. 34 locations have no state and count only in the national figures.
Owners are as reported by the groups' investors and the trade press, checked against sources from 2025 and 2026. A firm is named when its source is clear, otherwise the owner reads as private equity.
Published counts line up with these where they measure the same thing. Focus Advisors' 2025 counts of the largest collision repair groups are within 2% of ours, and a 2024 Health Affairs study found almost 5% of US dental offices affiliated with private equity in 2021. The American Dental Association's 16.1% for 2024 is higher because it counts dentists rather than offices, in practices tied to any dental service organization.
These shares are floors. Groups we didn't count, and brands of counted groups that don't list their locations, aren't in them. Car Wash Advisory puts private equity and other institutional investors at 61% of the highest-volume express car washes in 2025, which shows how much of that end of the market sits with owners beyond the largest chains. A location is a place a group lists on its website.
Every industry
| Industry | Establishments | Private equity | With stated sizes | All multi-site groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car washes | 20,042 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Body shops | 35,392 | 9.3% | 9.6% | 13% |
| Dental offices | 138,982 | 2.0% | 4.8% | 6.7% |
Every group
| Group | Owner | Locations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car washes | |||
| Mister Car Wash | Leonard Green & Partners | 557 | 2.8% |
| Whistle Express | Oaktree Capital Management | 488 | 2.4% |
| Club Car Wash and Express Wash Concepts | Wildcat Capital Management | 386 | 1.9% |
| Quick Quack | Seidler Equity Partners and the founders | 381 | 1.9% |
| Tidal Wave Auto Spa | Golden Gate Capital | 342 | 1.7% |
| MOJO Family of Brands (Mammoth Holdings) | Private equity | 250 stated | 1.2% |
| ZIPS Car Wash | Owned by its lenders | 188 | 0.9% |
| GO Car Wash | Imperial Capital | 156 | 0.8% |
| WhiteWater Express | Freeman Spogli | 153 | 0.8% |
| Spotless Brands (Cobblestone, Flagship) | Access Holdings | 151 | 0.8% |
| ModWash | Founder-owned | 136 | 0.7% |
| Super Star Car Wash | TSG Consumer Partners | 116 | 0.6% |
| Summit Wash (Russell Speeder's, Waters) | New Mountain Capital | 99 | 0.5% |
| Autobell | Family-owned | 95 | 0.5% |
| El Car Wash | Warburg Pincus | 95 | 0.5% |
| Caliber Car Wash | Private equity | 64 | 0.3% |
| Tommy's Express | Family-owned franchisor, company sites only | 30 stated | 0.1% |
| Body shops | |||
| Caliber Collision | Hellman & Friedman | 1,887 | 5.3% |
| Gerber Collision & Glass | Boyd Group Services, publicly traded | 1,205 | 3.4% |
| Crash Champions | Clearlake Capital | 661 | 1.9% |
| Classic Collision | TPG | 348 | 1.0% |
| CollisionRight | Summit Partners | 118 | 0.3% |
| Quality Collision Group | Private equity | 95 | 0.3% |
| VIVE Collision | Greenbriar Equity Group | 82 | 0.2% |
| G&C Auto Body | Family-owned | 65 | 0.2% |
| Puget Collision | Eagle Merchant Partners | 64 stated | 0.2% |
| Kaizen Collision Center | Kinderhook Industries | 46 | 0.1% |
| OpenRoad Collision | Private equity | 41 | 0.1% |
| BrightPoint | Private equity | 36 stated | 0.1% |
| Chilton Auto Body | Trive Capital | 26 | 0.1% |
| Dental offices | |||
| Heartland Dental | KKR | 1,900 stated | 1.4% |
| Aspen Dental | Leonard Green & Partners and Ares Management | 1,093 | 0.8% |
| PDS Health | Privately held | 1,000 stated | 0.7% |
| MB2 Dental | Charlesbank Capital Partners | 800 stated | 0.6% |
| Smile Doctors | Linden Capital Partners and THL | 463 | 0.3% |
| Smile Brands (Bright Now!, Castle, Monarch, Midwest) | Private equity | 452 | 0.3% |
| Dental Care Alliance | Owned by its lenders | 400 stated | 0.3% |
| Sonrava (Western Dental, Brident) | New Mountain Capital | 386 | 0.3% |
| Affordable Care (Affordable Dentures & Implants) | Owned by its lenders | 365 | 0.3% |
| SGA Dental Partners | Thurston Group | 250 stated | 0.2% |
| Specialized Dental Partners | Quad-C | 250 stated | 0.2% |
| Specialty Dental Brands | Owned by its lenders | 250 stated | 0.2% |
| US Oral Surgery Management | Private equity | 242 stated | 0.2% |
| Great Expressions | Owned by its lenders | 224 | 0.2% |
| North American Dental Group | Privately held | 200 stated | 0.1% |
| SALT Dental Partners | Latticework Capital | 200 stated | 0.1% |
| Specialty1 Partners | Private equity | 200 stated | 0.1% |
| Guardian Dentistry Partners | Family office | 164 stated | 0.1% |
| DECA Dental (Ideal Dental) | Private equity | 161 | 0.1% |
| Dental365 | The Jordan Company | 158 | 0.1% |
| Sage Dental | Private equity | 150 stated | 0.1% |
| Mortenson Dental Partners | Privately held | 44 | 0.0% |
Cite this study
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). How Much of Main Street Private Equity Owns: Car Washes, Body Shops and Dental Offices, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/private-equity-ownership
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Questions
How much of Main Street does private equity own?
Chains backed by private equity run 15% of US car washes with employees, 9.3% of body shops and 2.0% to 4.8% of dental offices.
Which industry has private equity consolidated the most?
Of the three, car washes, at 15%. In Arizona the share is 39%.
Who owns the most car washes in the US?
Mister Car Wash, with 2.8% of US car washes.
Who owns the most body shops in the US?
Caliber Collision, with 5.3% of US body shops.
Are these shares complete?
They're floors. They count the largest multi-site groups in each industry, so smaller groups, and brands of counted groups that don't list their locations, would add to them.