How Much Do Franchise Owners Make? Income Data From Item 19 and Owner Surveys

Senior care tops the list at $202,952 while personal services sits at $88,265, so your choice of sector can more than double your expected income. Treat each bar as a starting point, then check the brand's own Item 19.

Income jumps sharply with scale: $106,224 for one unit versus $316,460 for five or more. Remember that more units also mean more debt, more leases and more people to manage.

Total franchise sales kept growing, from $839.8B in 2022 to an estimated $907.3B in 2025. That is system revenue, not what owners take home.

Quick service restaurants brought in the most sales by far, an estimated $317.1B in 2025. High sales in a sector do not mean high owner income, as the sector income chart shows.

Franchisee unit-level revenue and income by brand size, 2025 (reported by franchisors; the report gives two different figures for the brand-size groups)

Source: Franchise Business Review (hosted by the International Franchise Association), Franchising Outlook 2026: FBR Industry Report. Download as image

Share of franchisors that include an Item 19 financial performance representation, 2026 survey

Source: Franchise Update Media, Looking at what is in a franchise's FDD (2026 Annual Franchise Development Report findings). Download as image

U.S. franchise establishments and output by business line, 2025 estimate

Source: International Franchise Association and FRANdata, 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook. Download as image

How much do franchise owners make a year?

Across more than 26,000 franchisees in 330 brands, owners past their first two years reported average income of $144,798. Franchise Business Review treats the first two years as a startup period and leaves them out. Those are the years when owners are usually still paying off buildout costs and building a customer base. If you are planning your first year, plan for less.

The figures are what owners report as their own income, and owners don't all count it the same way. Some include only salary, others add profit they take out of the business. A restaurant owner who works the counter six days a week and an owner who hires a general manager land in the same average, even though their hourly pay is nothing alike.

So use $144,798 as a reality check, not a promise. If a salesperson tells you owners in their system clear far more than that in year one, ask to see it in writing in Item 19.

Do multi-unit franchise owners really make more?

Yes, by a wide margin. Single-unit owners averaged $106,224. Owners with 2 to 4 units averaged $157,570, and owners of 5 or more averaged $316,460.

The catch is that each extra unit means another lease, another loan and another set of fees. Multi-unit deals often come with a development schedule, where you commit to opening a set number of locations by fixed dates. Miss a date and you can lose your territory rights or pay a penalty. Before you sign one, model what happens if the second store opens a year late.

What does Item 19 tell you about franchise owner income?

Item 19 is the section of the Franchise Disclosure Document where a franchisor can share financial performance numbers. Under the FTC Franchise Rule it is optional. Even so, 84% of franchisors surveyed in 2026 included one, and every surveyed brand with more than 100 units did.

The weak spot is what they choose to show. Revenue is the most common metric, and very few brands publish a full profit and loss statement. Gross sales tell you almost nothing about what lands in your pocket after rent, payroll, royalties and marketing fees.

Franchisor executives reported a median unit revenue of about $1.2 million and median unit profit of about $117,000, a margin of roughly 10%. A 10% margin means a small change in costs can wipe out a large share of profit.

• Check whether the Item 19 numbers cover all units or only the top performers.
• Look for the number of units that hit or beat the average. If it is a small share, the average is misleading.
• See whether company-owned stores are mixed in with franchised ones.
• Note what costs are left out, especially royalties, ad fund fees and your own salary.

Which franchises make the most money for owners?

By sector, senior care led owner income at $202,952, followed by technology at $185,963 and education at $158,125. At the bottom were home services at $89,638, the broad services category at $89,042 and personal services at $88,265.

Notice that food, the sector most people picture, came in at $129,600. Quick service restaurants generate the most total sales of any franchise line, but high sales come with high food, labor and rent costs. That helps explain why senior care, technology and education owners all reported higher average income than food owners.

Sector averages hide a lot. Two senior care brands can have very different royalty rates, territory sizes and startup costs. Compare brands inside a sector, not just sectors against each other.

Why does franchise owner income vary so much?

Picture two owners in the same brand. One bought into a busy suburban corridor with a cheap lease signed years ago. The other opened in a newer area with high rent and a five-year ramp to steady traffic. Same logo, same royalty rate, very different paychecks.

Brand size plays a part too. Bigger systems tend to have tested operations, better supplier pricing and stronger name recognition. Smaller brands can cost less to join and may give you a bigger territory, but you carry more of the risk that the concept never catches on.

Then there is how hard you work the business. An owner-operator saves a manager's salary and often keeps more profit. An absentee owner pays for that freedom. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one the brand's numbers assume.

The contract shapes income as well. Royalties charged on gross sales come off the top even in a month when you lose money. A clause that lets the franchisor add new technology fees or raise the ad fund rate can trim your margin year after year. When margins sit near 10%, a few extra points of fees can be the difference between a good living and a stressful one.

How to estimate your own franchise income

Start with the brand's Item 19 revenue figure, then build your own expense list from the rest of the FDD. Item 6 lists ongoing charges like royalties and marketing contributions, and the Item 7 table shows your estimated startup costs. Your loan payment comes from your lender, and rent comes from the lease you will actually sign.

Then call current and former franchisees. Item 20 of the FDD lists current franchisees and those who left in the last fiscal year, with contact details. Ask what they paid themselves in year one, year two and year three, and how long it took to break even. Five honest calls are worth more than any survey average.

Finally, test the bad case. Cut revenue by a fifth and see if you can still cover your loan and living costs. If the answer is no, the brand may still be fine, but the deal is too tight for you.

Sources and method

Every number on this page comes from the sources below, each opened and read on or before October 17, 2026. A second, independent review checked every figure against its source and corrected anything that did not match. Figures that could not be confirmed were left out.

1. Franchise Business Review (hosted by the International Franchise Association), Franchising Outlook 2026: FBR Industry Report (2026 edition (PDF dated April 2026); owner data from surveys May 2024 to November 2025; executive survey late 2025)
2. Franchise Update Media, Looking at what is in a franchise's FDD (2026 Annual Franchise Development Report findings) (July 14, 2026)
3. International Franchise Association and FRANdata, 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook (February 2026)
4. Federal Trade Commission (Code of Federal Regulations, via Cornell LII), 16 CFR 436.5(s), Item 19: Financial performance representations (Current text as of October 2026)