Research Reports
Original analysis of every active U.S. franchise FDD on file. We extract structured data from Franchise Disclosure Documents at scale — initial fees, royalties, investment ranges, unit economics, financial performance disclosures — and publish what the data shows. Methodologically transparent. Updated as new disclosures land.
Source: 2022-2026 FDD filings · 2,387 brands analyzed
The headline numbers
- Across 2,387 franchise systems analyzed by VetMyFranchise, the median initial franchise fee is $40K and the median royalty is 6.0% of gross revenue (2022-2026 FDD filings) — see the Franchise Pricing Index.
- The median total investment to open a franchise runs from $202K to $493K (FDD Item 7, n=2,387 brands).
- The median combined royalty + ad-fund burden is 8.0% of gross revenue, in perpetuity — ranked by industry in the Royalty Burden Index.
- 17 franchise industries are benchmarked across every report below, all computed from the franchisors' own FDD filings and refreshed as new documents are analyzed.
Franchise Industry Statistics 2026
The headline benchmarks buyers and journalists cite: median investment, franchise fee, royalty, Item 19 disclosure rate, and litigation frequency across every analyzed FDD, with a per-industry breakdown. Computed live from the full database.
Read the report → Flagship · AnnualFranchise Pricing Index 2026
Median initial fee, royalty rate, ad fund, and total investment by industry, across 2,387 active FDDs and 17 industries. The most comprehensive cross-industry pricing benchmark in franchising.
Read the report → Fee AnalysisAverage Franchise Fee: The Item 5 Benchmark
What does a franchise fee actually cost? Median, P25/P75 bands, and the full distribution of Item 5 initial fees across every analyzed FDD that discloses one, with per-industry medians and why the fee is only a fraction of what you will really spend.
Read the report → New · Item 20 DataFranchise Closure Rates by Brand
Which franchises close the most units? Brand-level closure and turnover rates from Item 20, net-growth leaders, and industry aggregates — with the formula and caveats stated up front.
Read the report → Item 19 ChampionsThe AUV Leaderboard
Top 100 franchise concepts ranked by Item 19 unit revenue. Judge-verified ✓ medians where available — the more honest headline than the legacy average. Includes sample size and time period per disclosure.
Read the report → New · Disclosure QualityItem 19 Transparency Leaderboard
Brands ranked by judge-verified Item 19 sample size — the single most overlooked transparency signal in franchise research. Surfaces brands that disclose at scale vs. those with statistically thin samples.
Read the report → New · Item 17 VerifiedFranchise Agreement Length: The Median Term Is 10 Years
How long are you locked in? The median initial franchise-agreement term is 10 years across 1,827 brands whose FDD Item 17 disclosure was verified against the source filing. Term distribution, longest and shortest contracts, sortable both directions.
Read the report → New · Item 17 VerifiedFranchise Non-Compete Clauses, Ranked by Length
After your franchise ends, how long must you stay out of the business? Post-term non-compete covenants ranked by length (FDD Item 17), verified against the filing — with the geographic-scope and enforceability caveats stated up front.
Read the report → New · Item 17 VerifiedWhere Franchisors Require You to Litigate
If a dispute goes to court or arbitration, where does it happen? Count of franchisors by required dispute-venue state (FDD Item 17), verified and normalized to state — the home-court concentration nobody maps.
Read the report → TransparencyWhat % of Franchises Disclose Item 19?
Item 19 financial performance disclosure is voluntary under FTC rules. This report shows how many franchisors actually make one: overall rate, industry-by-industry rates, year-over-year change, and the biggest improvers and decliners.
Read the report → Industry PulseFranchise Closure & Growth Rates by Industry
The industry-level view of Item 20: which industries are opening units, which are closing, where net unit growth is concentrated, and which carry the highest churn. Built from last-fiscal-year unit counts across every active FDD.
Read the report → Fee AnalysisAverage Franchise Royalty Fee: The Royalty Burden Index
Combined royalty + ad fund as a share of revenue, ranked by industry. The "what % of every dollar you make goes to the franchisor, forever" report, computed from FDD Item 6.
Read the report → AffordabilityThe 50 Cheapest Franchises in 2026
The lowest-investment franchises currently registered in the U.S., ranked by total Item 7 cost. Includes initial fee and royalty for each, sortable and downloadable.
Read the report → Network ScaleTop 100 Franchises by Network Size
The 100 largest U.S. franchise networks by unit count, with last-year openings and closures. Sortable by total units, openings, closures, or year founded.
Read the report → Investment TierFranchises by Investment Tier
Programmatic browsing by total startup cost: under $10K, $20K, $25K, $50K, $100K, $250K, $500K, and $1M. Every active franchise sorted by midpoint investment, with industry mix and Item 19 disclosure rate.
Read the report →About these reports. Every report on this page is computed directly from the VetMyFranchise FDD database (2,387 active U.S. franchise systems, 2022-2026 FDD filings) using the franchisors' own disclosure documents (Items 5, 6, 7, 19, and 20). Figures are medians unless noted and refresh as new FDDs are analyzed.
Cite this. Please attribute figures to "VetMyFranchise" plus the specific report name and year — e.g. "VetMyFranchise, Franchise Pricing Index 2026" — and link to the report page.
Analyze any single brand: $49
These reports cover industry-wide benchmarks. For one brand's exact Item 7, Item 19, fees, litigation, and a buyer verdict, our full 12-section FDD analysis is $49 per report, or three for $99.
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