Car Wash Operators Health Insurance in Wisconsin (2026)

Wage benchmark and the 2026 subsidy cliff

$35,320median annual wage, Car Wash Operators in Wisconsin

226%of the federal poverty level

$62,6002026 subsidy cliff, single-person household

Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2026.

This occupation is below the cliff in all 21 states reported.

What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment (SOC 53-7061) in Wisconsin. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed car wash operator. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.

Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2026 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $62,600 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. State-level annual median wage (A_MEDIAN), detailed occupation. https://www.bls.gov/oes/. Retrieved 2026-08-03. Figures used unmodified; suppressed cells are omitted, not estimated.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines. 90 FR 5917, 17 January 2025. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines. Retrieved 2026-08-03. The 2025 guidelines govern premium tax credit eligibility for plan year 2026 coverage. The 2026 guidelines apply to 2027 coverage.
Full dataset for all occupations and states: CSV · JSON (CC BY 4.0).

All 21 states

Benchmark premium and median wage for this occupation, ranked by premium.

#	State	Benchmark @40	Median wage	vs cliff
1	Maryland	$414	$35,890	below
2	Virginia	$455	$34,900	below
3	Indiana	$474	$35,280	below
4	Nevada	$497	$34,570	below
5	Ohio	$513	$34,750	below
6	Michigan	$523	$34,640	below
7	Colorado	$557	$39,480	below
8	South Carolina	$564	$29,650	below
9	Oklahoma	$604	$30,100	below
10	Wisconsin	$611	$35,320	below
11	Georgia	$615	$29,900	below
12	North Carolina	$638	$30,700	below
13	Utah	$640	$34,170	below
14	Alabama	$645	$31,180	below
15	Illinois	$646	$34,610	below
16	South Dakota	$655	$34,330	below
17	Texas	$661	$29,280	below
18	Kansas	$670	$38,130	below
19	Florida	$683	$31,790	below
20	Nebraska	$710	$36,640	below
21	Arkansas	$774	$33,910	below

Questions

Does being a car wash operator change what health insurance costs in Wisconsin?

No. Under the ACA carriers may not rate, decline, or exclude based on occupation or health history. Premiums vary only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size, so the benchmark of $611 a month applies regardless of trade.

Do car wash operators qualify for a subsidy in Wisconsin in 2026?

Premium tax credit eligibility depends on household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not occupation. For reference, the BLS median wage for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment in Wisconsin is $35,320, which is below the 2026 cliff of $62,600 for a single-person household. Your own income and household size decide the answer.

What is the benchmark premium in Wisconsin for 2026?

$611 a month for a 40-year-old, ranking 10 of 21 states published here. That is full price before any premium tax credit.

Where do these numbers come from?

Premiums come from the CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file and published state rate approvals. Wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Both are reproduced unmodified; the full wage dataset is downloadable as CSV or JSON.

Going deeper on Wisconsin

This page compares states. For Wisconsin specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — that is published on Coverage by County. To check whether a plan actually covers your hospital, see Plans By City.

← Car Wash Operators in all states · All trades · All occupations

Wisconsin Car Wash Operators: what 2027 actually changes

Wisconsin has 12 carriers filing across 72 counties right now. That list is rebuilt every year, so what you can choose from in November may not match what you see today — and for a car wash operator buying your own cover, who stays matters more than the headline rate.

On price the only honest number today is national: the Peterson-KFF read of 2027 filings puts the median proposed rise near 15%, spanning −1% to 54%. Final Wisconsin rates are not approved, so any precise 2027 figure quoted for this state is guesswork.

Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, Wisconsin included. Conflicting end dates get quoted because a 2025 rule shortened the window and a court vacated it in June 2026, appeal pending — enrol by the 15th and the argument is irrelevant to you.

Check before renewing: PPOs are sold in 15 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, not all. Whether yours has one decides how much out-of-network care is covered — usually a bigger question for Car Wash Operators than the monthly figure.

Get ahead of the November rush

Nothing about 2027 is urgent yet, which is exactly why it is worth ten minutes now. Come November you will be choosing between Wisconsin’s carriers under a deadline; today you can do it without one.

Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:

Whether your current plan and carrier are still writing in your county for 2027
What your income estimate should realistically be — the number your credit is calculated from, and the one car wash operators most often get wrong
Whether the doctors you actually use are in the 2027 network, before you are locked in

Map my 2027 options →

Car Wash Operators in Wisconsin: start with your ZIP

Coverage for Car Wash Operators is priced county by county across Wisconsin. Enter your ZIP and I will show you what is on the table.

One field. No account, no phone call unless you ask for one.

Car Wash Operators Health Insurance in Wisconsin