Home Instead Item 19: $2.26M median across 603 franchised territories in calendar 2024. The AUV-to-investment ratio, year-one ramp, and how it compares to Visiting Angels and Comfort Keepers.
Quick answer: Home Instead’s Item 19 reports a $2.26M median across 603 franchised territories — calendar 2024, no tenure filter. The AUV-to-investment ratio at the median exceeds 10× ($2.26M of AUV against $91K-$270K of total investment), which is one of the strongest in franchising. The catch is the ramp: senior care territories take 24-36 months to build the client book that produces the disclosed AUV.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 603 franchised territories |
| Sample criteria | All franchised territories (no tenure filter) |
| Reporting period | Calendar year 2024 |
| Median annual gross billings | $2,261,503 |
| Total system units | 619 |
| Total investment (Item 7) | $91,040 - $269,750 |
| Royalty rate | 5% of gross billings |
The sample covers essentially the entire franchised system (603 of 619 territories, or 97%). The no-tenure-filter methodology means the disclosed median includes recent openings alongside mature operations, which drags the central tendency down somewhat — but produces the most representative figure possible for the franchised system as a whole.
The royalty structure is 5% of gross billings, which is moderate for the category. Total ongoing fee burden including the ad fund typically lands at 6-7% of revenue — lower than QSR (often 8-10% combined) and competitive within senior care.
A $2.26M median against a $91K-$270K investment range produces an AUV-to-investment ratio in the 8-25× range depending on configuration. By any historical franchise standard, that’s outstanding. Comparison:
| Brand | AUV/Investment ratio at median |
|---|---|
| Wingstop | 3× |
| Dunkin’ | 1.5× |
| Hand and Stone | 2× |
| Orangetheory | 0.7× |
| Home Instead | 8-25× |
| ASP (America’s Swimming Pool Company) | 8-15× |
| Mr. Rooter | 5-10× |
The ratio is high because senior care has a fundamentally different operating structure than physical-retail franchises:
No retail buildout. Senior care operates from a modest office space (1,500-3,000 sq ft) without customer-facing requirements. Build-out is comparable to a professional services office — a fraction of QSR or boutique-fitness buildouts.
No equipment-intensive operations. Care delivery happens at the client’s home. The franchisee’s office houses scheduling, recruiting, training, and back-office functions but doesn’t require commercial kitchen equipment, fitness equipment, or retail fixtures.
Variable cost structure scales with revenue. Caregiver labor (the primary cost) scales directly with billed hours. No fixed inventory, no rent on additional retail space, no consumer-facing infrastructure to maintain at scale.
The ratio is what makes senior care attractive to capital-efficient buyers. The downside (covered below) is the slow ramp.
A Home Instead territory at the system median ($2.26M annual billings) typically has:
That maturity doesn’t happen in year one. A new Home Instead territory in months 1-12 is essentially building infrastructure: hiring the first cohort of caregivers, developing referral relationships, taking the first 10-30 clients. Year-one revenue typically lands at $200K-$500K — a fraction of the system median.
The Item 19’s no-tenure-filter methodology includes those new territories in the disclosed median, which is why the central tendency sits below where a tenure-filtered disclosure would. A buyer underwriting against the median needs to remember that the median includes ramp-stage units; the steady-state for mature territories runs above the disclosed median.
Senior care ramps slowly. A typical first-year monthly progression:
Year two typically lands at $700K-$1.2M as the referral network matures and caregiver roster scales. Year three approaches or hits the lower end of mature performance. Year four-plus is when territories hit and exceed the system median.
The slow ramp is the dominant operational variable. Operators who underestimate the ramp run out of capital before the business stabilizes; operators who plan for a 24-30 month ramp to operational scale tend to land at or above the system median by year four.
| Brand | Sample | Median AUV | Investment | AUV/Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Instead | 603 | $2.26M | $91K-$270K | 12× |
| Visiting Angels | smaller | $1.0M-$1.5M | $75K-$200K | 7× |
| Comfort Keepers | similar | $900K-$1.4M | $100K-$200K | 8× |
| Right at Home | smaller | $1.0M-$1.3M | $85K-$180K | 9× |
| BrightStar Care | medical model | $1.5M-$2.5M | $112K-$215K | 12× |
| Senior Helpers | smaller | $1.0M-$1.5M | $116K-$164K | 9× |
Home Instead leads the non-medical home care category by absolute AUV. BrightStar Care produces similar AUVs but operates a medical home care model (see our BrightStar vs Senior Helpers vs Always Best Care comparison). For broader category context, see senior care franchise opportunities and Home Instead vs Right at Home vs Visiting Angels.
For brand-specific cost detail, see the live Home Instead franchise page. For the broader senior care decision framework, senior care franchise opportunities.
Home Instead's most recent Item 19 reports a $2,261,503 median annual gross billings across 603 franchised territories for calendar year 2024. The disclosure covers all franchised territories with no tenure filter.
Senior care franchises generate revenue through billed hours of in-home care delivery. A mature Home Instead territory might be serving 80-150 active clients with 20-40 caregivers covering hundreds of weekly billable hours. The hourly billing rate ($28-$38 typical) compounds quickly: a single mature territory bills $2M+ annually at standard utilization.
Yes. $2.26M of median AUV against $91K-$270K total investment produces a ratio of 8-25× depending on where in the Item 7 range you land. This is one of the strongest AUV-to-investment ratios in any franchise category — driven by the home-services-style overhead model (no physical retail buildout, modest office space, no equipment-intensive operations).
No. Senior care has a slow ramp because the business depends on building both a client base and a caregiver roster over 18-30 months. Year-one revenue typically lands at $200K-$500K. The system median describes territories that have been operating for 5+ years and have a mature book. Plan for a 3-year ramp to the median.
Home Instead's $2.26M median places the brand at the top of the publicly franchised non-medical home care category. Visiting Angels and Comfort Keepers typically run lower medians ($1M-$1.5M range) at similar investment levels. The differentiator is brand recognition, referral network depth, and territory density. Home Instead has been in the category longest and has the most mature operating systems.
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