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Junkyards by the numbers, 2026

5,296 junkyards and salvage yards in 50 states and DC, with 857,485 Google reviews between them. Here is where they are, how many let you pull your own parts, how many are shown to buy junk cars and how many open on weekends. Writers and researchers are welcome to use these numbers with a link to this page.

The short version · 2026-11-08

Junkyards listed
5,296
States with a listed yard
50 + DC
Cities with a listed yard
2,870
Yards per 100,000 people
1.56
Pull your own
734 (13.9%)
Full-service
1,050 (19.8%)
Buy junk cars
1,470 (27.8%)
Free towing
291
Online inventory
1,772
Independent yards
5,043 (95.2%)
Open on Saturdays
2,871 (54.2%)
Open on Sundays
729 (13.8%)
Google reviews, all yards
857,485

Yard types and services (pull your own, full-service, buying junk cars, free towing, online inventory) count only when a customer review or the yard's own website says so.

Junkyards per 100,000 residents, by state #

#StateYardsPopulationPer 100k
1 Wyoming 21 587,618 3.57
2 Wisconsin 148 5,960,975 2.48
3 New Hampshire 35 1,409,032 2.48
4 Oklahoma 100 4,095,393 2.44
5 Maine 34 1,405,012 2.42
6 Iowa 78 3,241,488 2.41
7 Montana 26 1,137,233 2.29
8 Arkansas 69 3,088,354 2.23
9 Missouri 137 6,245,466 2.19
10 Kansas 65 2,970,606 2.19
11 Mississippi 64 2,943,045 2.17
12 Rhode Island 24 1,112,308 2.16
13 Pennsylvania 280 13,078,751 2.14
14 Nebraska 43 2,005,465 2.14
15 Indiana 146 6,924,275 2.11

Wyoming leads with 3.57 listed yards per 100,000 people, against 1.56 for the whole country. Every state is ranked on the junkyard capitals page.

Cities with the most junkyards per person #

Cities with at least 50,000 residents and 3 or more listed yards.

#CityYardsPopulationPer 100k
1 Rancho Cordova, CA 40 84,113 47.6
2 Waterloo, IA 8 67,477 11.9
3 Apopka, FL 7 62,777 11.2
4 Paramount, CA 5 51,169 9.8
5 Lancaster, CA 16 167,426 9.6
6 Kissimmee, FL 8 84,756 9.4
7 Elyria, OH 5 53,604 9.3
8 Joplin, MO 5 53,605 9.3
9 Chicopee, MA 5 55,381 9.0
10 Twin Falls, ID 5 55,589 9.0

A yard counts for the city in its mailing address. Many yards sit in industrial areas just past a big city's line, so smaller cities can rank high. Top 25 cities.

Pull your own, full-service or both #

At a pull-your-own (self-service) yard you bring tools and take the part off the car yourself. At a full-service yard staff pull the part and you buy it at the counter. A yard counts for a type only when a customer review or the yard's own website says so, so many yards have no type on record yet.

Yard typeYardsShare
Pull your own only52810.0%
Full-service only84415.9%
Both (reviews or website mention each)2063.9%
Not stated in reviews or on the website3,71870.2%

When each kind of yard makes sense: full-service vs self-service junkyards. Find one: pull-your-own-parts yards.

Where the junk car buyers are #

1,470 listed yards (27.8%) are shown to buy junk cars, going by a customer review that describes selling a car to the yard or by the yard's own website. 291 listed yards have proof of free towing. Plenty of other yards buy cars too; they just aren't on record yet.

#StateBuy junk carsAll yardsShare
1 Florida 129 349 37.0%
2 California 102 503 20.3%
3 Texas 91 488 18.6%
4 New York 72 192 37.5%
5 Pennsylvania 71 280 25.4%
6 Ohio 68 234 29.1%
7 Wisconsin 64 148 43.2%
8 North Carolina 64 212 30.2%
9 Michigan 57 206 27.7%
10 Illinois 55 153 35.9%

States and cities in full on where to sell a junk car. To find a buyer near you, see sell a junk car.

States with the most pull-your-own yards #

734 listed yards (13.9%) let you pull your own parts, going by customer reviews or the yard's website. 26.3% of them are locations of multi-location yard chains, well above the 4.8% chain share across all yards.

#StatePull your ownAll yardsShare
1 California 79 503 15.7%
2 Florida 54 349 15.5%
3 Texas 52 488 10.7%
4 North Carolina 39 212 18.4%
5 Pennsylvania 37 280 13.2%
6 Georgia 31 174 17.8%
7 Ohio 27 234 11.5%
8 Michigan 24 206 11.7%
9 Washington 23 93 24.7%
10 New York 23 192 12.0%

Every state, per capita and by city: pull-your-own yards by state.

Which yards open on weekends #

Weekend opening comes from the hours on each yard's Google listing (5,000 of 5,296 yards list hours). Pull-your-own yards open on Saturdays more often than yards overall (77.7% vs 54.2%), which suits people who work on their own car on the weekend.

YardsCountOpen SaturdaysOpen Sundays
All listed yards 5,296 54.2% 13.8%
Pull your own 734 77.7% 44.3%
Full-service 1,050 46.0% 8.2%
Buy junk cars 1,470 63.7% 27.6%

Many pull-your-own yards stop letting people in before closing time. Call ahead.

Specialty yards #

A yard counts for a specialty when its name says so (a "truck salvage" yard), a customer review mentions it or the yard's website lists it. A yard can have more than one.

SpecialtyYardsStatesIn the nameIn reviewsOn website
Trucks 527 46 243 59 337
Motorcycles 276 44 185 47 90
Imports 260 41 93 45 184
RVs & campers 194 42 1 43 157
Heavy equipment 101 37 12 32 62
Boats 57 25 13 25 39

Browse truck, motorcycle, RV, boat and other specialty yards.

Independents vs chain locations #

5,043 of the 5,296 listed yards (95.2%) are independents. The other 253 belong to 30 multi-location yard groups, counted as a yard name at three or more listed locations that share one website, plus the national pull-your-own chains. Chain locations have a median of 629 Google reviews against 60 for independents, and 71.9% of them open on Sundays against 10.8%.

Ratings, yard types and every group with 10+ locations: chains vs independents.

More data

Download the data

Free to use under CC BY 4.0: credit autosalvageyards.net and link to this page.

Columns: junkyards = listed yards; junkyards_per_100k = yards ÷ population × 100,000; pull_your_own, full_service and buy_junk_cars = yards with review or website proof of each; chain_locations = yards whose name appears at 3+ listed locations that share a website, plus the national pull-your-own chains; open_saturdays / open_sundays = yards with those hours on Google; population_2024 = Census Vintage 2024 estimate.

How we count

Where the yards come from. We searched Google Maps for junkyards, salvage yards, auto wreckers and used auto parts yards across the country. A place is listed only when it passes a strict check: Google files it as a salvage yard, junkyard, auto wrecker or used auto parts store and its name, customer reviews or own website confirm it is a yard of vehicles or used parts. Towing companies, cash-for-cars buyers and scrap metal recyclers are left out unless their reviews or website show a yard of vehicles or parts.

What a yard counts for. A yard counts as pull your own, full-service, a junk car buyer, free towing or online inventory only when a customer review or the yard's own website says so. Specialties can also come from the yard's name. Many yards do more than their reviews and websites mention, so these counts are a floor, not a ceiling. Weekend opening comes from the hours on each yard's Google listing.

Population. State and city populations come from the US Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 population estimates (July 1, 2024). A yard counts for the city in its mailing address. New York City yards are addressed by borough, so New York City has no per-capita figure here.

What we don't publish. Part prices and what a yard pays for a car change daily and differ by yard, so no number on this site is a price or a payout.

Limits. The numbers describe the yards in this directory, so a state or city may have more yards than we list. Yards open, close and change hands, and we refresh the data regularly. Last updated 2026-11-08. Questions, or a yard we missed? Email hello@autosalvageyards.net.