Franchise Industry Statistics (2026)
Benchmarks computed from 2,387 Franchise Disclosure Documents analyzed by VetMyFranchise — median investment, fees, royalties, Item 19 disclosure and unit revenue, agreement terms, and litigation across 17 industries. Every figure is drawn from the franchisors' own FDD filings and refreshes as new documents are analyzed.
Source: 2022-2026 FDD filings · 2,387 brands analyzed
Key findings
- The median initial investment to open a franchise is $361K (Item 7 midpoint, n=2,200).
- 13% of franchises can be opened for under $100K, while 18% require $1M or more.
- 68% of franchises make an Item 19 financial performance representation — the other 32% disclose no earnings data.
- Among brands that disclose Item 19, the median reported unit revenue is $757K (n=781).
- The median ongoing royalty is 6% of revenue, plus a 2% ad-fund contribution.
- Where Item 3 is on file, 51% of franchises disclose no litigation at all (n=1,118).
- The largest network analyzed is Jani-King of California at 202,320 franchised units.
$361K
Median initial investment
Across 2,387 FDDs analyzed by VetMyFranchise (2026), the median initial franchise investment is $361K (Item 7 midpoint).
$40K
Median franchise fee
The median one-time franchise fee across analyzed brands is $40K (FDD Item 5).
6%
Median royalty rate
The median ongoing royalty across analyzed franchises is 6% of revenue (FDD Item 6).
68%
Disclose Item 19 earnings
68% of the 2,387 franchises analyzed make an Item 19 financial performance representation.
$757K
Median disclosed unit revenue
Among brands that disclose Item 19, the median reported unit revenue is $757K.
2%
Median ad-fund rate
The median advertising-fund contribution is 2% of revenue, on top of the royalty (FDD Item 6).
10 yrs
Median agreement term
The median initial franchise agreement term is 10 years (FDD Item 17, n=846).
724K
Franchised units covered
The analyzed brands operate 723,851 franchised units in total (FDD Item 20).
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What it costs to open a franchise
Distribution of the 2,200 analyzed franchises by total Item 7 investment (midpoint of the low and high estimates). 13% open for under $100K; 18% require $1M or more.
Lowest investment
$1K
Am Organic Ventures
Highest investment
$161.09M
Hyatt
Largest network
202,320 units
Jani-King of California
Oldest brand
Founded 1903
Perfection Bakeries
Item 19: what units actually earn
68% of analyzed brands disclose an Item 19 financial performance representation (1,626 of 2,387). Among those that report a median unit figure, the benchmarks below summarize 781 brands. Revenue is gross sales, not profit.
Median 25th percentile
$371K
Lower-performing units (n=260)
Median unit revenue
$757K
Across 781 disclosing brands
Median 75th percentile
$1.19M
Higher-performing units (n=260)
Median disclosed unit revenue by industry (Item 19)
Industries with at least 8 Item 19–disclosing brands. Bars show the median of each brand's own median unit revenue.
Royalty rates
Distribution of ongoing royalty rates across 2,145 brands (FDD Item 6). The median is 6% of revenue.
≤5%
38%
5–6%
29%
6–7%
13%
7–8%
9%
8%+
11%
Franchise benchmarks by industry
Median initial investment, median royalty, Item 19 disclosure rate, and median disclosed unit revenue for each industry with at least eight analyzed brands. Sorted by number of franchises.
| Industry | Brands | Median investment | Median royalty | Disclose Item 19 | Median unit revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food & Beverage | 841 | $590K | 5% | 60% | $1.07M |
| Home Services | 264 | $177K | 6% | 77% | $553K |
| Fitness & Wellness | 161 | $530K | 7% | 73% | $508K |
| Cleaning & Maintenance | 151 | $211K | 7% | 75% | $482K |
| Child Services & Education | 149 | $222K | 7% | 72% | $537K |
| Retail | 129 | $281K | 5.5% | 70% | $744K |
| Senior Care | 124 | $185K | 6% | 77% | $880K |
| Business Services | 97 | $125K | 7.25% | 73% | $336K |
| Health & Beauty | 94 | $454K | 6% | 82% | $587K |
| Real Estate | 83 | $135K | 5% | 52% | $297K |
| Hospitality & Travel | 81 | $7.87M | 5% | 65% | $453K |
| Automotive | 70 | $396K | 6% | 66% | $950K |
| Pet Services | 58 | $350K | 7% | 78% | $390K |
| Financial Services | 32 | $86K | 10% | 69% | $205K |
| Other | 22 | $268K | 6% | 68% | — |
| Staffing & HR | 20 | $150K | 10% | 80% | — |
| Technology | 11 | $127K | 7% | 82% | — |
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cost to open a franchise?
The median initial investment across 2,387 franchises analyzed by VetMyFranchise is $361K (the midpoint of FDD Item 7). Costs range from under $50,000 for home-based brands to over $1 million for full-service restaurants and large-format concepts.
What percentage of franchises disclose earnings (Item 19)?
68% of the franchises analyzed make an Item 19 financial performance representation. The remaining 32% disclose no earnings figures, so prospective buyers must validate performance by calling existing franchisees listed in Item 20.
What is a typical franchise royalty rate?
The median ongoing royalty is 6% of gross revenue (FDD Item 6), with a further 2% median advertising-fund contribution. Most brands cluster between 5% and 8%.
How much revenue does a typical franchise unit generate?
Among franchises that disclose Item 19, the median reported unit revenue is $757K. Revenue varies widely by industry and is not profit — it is gross sales before royalties, rent, labor, and other costs.
Methodology. Figures are computed from every franchise in the VetMyFranchise database in a "ready" state (2,387 brands, 2022-2026 FDD filings), each analyzed from its official Franchise Disclosure Document. Investment is the midpoint of the Item 7 low and high estimates; the franchise fee is Item 5; royalty and ad fund are Item 6; agreement term is Item 17; Item 19 reflects whether the franchisor makes a financial performance representation and, where given, the median unit revenue; litigation reflects matters disclosed in Item 3. Each cut states its sample size; sparsely reported fields are omitted rather than shown at low coverage. Medians are used throughout because a handful of very large concepts skew averages upward.
Cite this. Please attribute figures to "VetMyFranchise, Franchise Industry Statistics 2026" and link to this page.
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