Which Major Food Franchises Make the Most (and the Least?)

Which of the top fast food franchises make the most and which ones make the least? The top 5 and bottom 5 fast food chains in America by earnings today on Franchise City.

The lowest bottom 5 least earning franchises:

The 5th lowest earning franchise is Church's Chicken. A single location will average $688K gross a year. Church's has about 1050 units open, they closed 35 stores last year and a freestanding store will cost between $1,159,150 to $1,603,300

The 4th lowest earning franchise is Auntie Anne's. A single location will average $562K a year. Apparently Shaq owns or did own 8 franchised locations of Auntie Anne's. He should have called Franchise City! Auntie Anne's has about 1200 location and they closed 20 stores last year and buying an Auntie Anne's franchise will cost you $156,350 to $450,000

The 3rd franchise from the bottom for earnings is Papa Murphy's Pizza. Owning an average location will gross $551K a year. papa Murphy's has about 1300 location and they closed 69 stores last year and Papa Murphy's franchise will cost between $280,295 to $517,029

Second from the bottom is Subway Owning an average Subway location will gross $410K a year. Subway has over 23,000 locations and they closed 996 stores last year. Opening a Subway Franchise will cost you between $139,550 to $342,400

And at the very bottom, the lowest earning franchise of all the top 50 food franchises is Baskin Robbins. Owning an single location will gross only $247K a year according to the qsr50. In fairness to Baskin Robbins when we looked at their FDD the numbers were higher, but not high enough to take them out of this spot at about $350,000. Baskin Robbins has over 2500 locations and they closed 26 stores last year. Opening a Baskin Robbins Franchise will cost between $123,952 to $558,830

The top 5 franchises by earnings per location

The number 5 highest earning franchise is McDonalds. A single McDonalds location will average $2.9 million gross a year. McDonald's has over 13,000 locations, they closed 66 stores last year and a traditional restaurant will cost between $1,314,500 to $2,306,500

At number 4 we have Whataburger. An average Whataburger location will average over $3.08 million a year. Whataburger has 127 franchised locations, corporate owns the rest they opened 5 stores last year and a traditional restaurant if you can get one will cost around 1.2 million to open.

The number 3 spot goes to Raising Cane's chicken. An average Raising Cane's location will average over $3.208 million gross a year. Raising Canes has 86 franchised locations, they opened 5t stores last year and a traditional restaurant will cost between $768,000 and $1,938,000

Number 2 is Shake Shack. An average Shake Shack location will average over $4.214 million a year. According to Shake Shack they are not selling franchises at this time.

And in the number one spot - Chick Fil-A! An average Chick-fil-A location will average over $4.517 million dollars a year. Chick-fil-A has 2500 franchised locations, they opened 130 stores last year and a Chick-Fil-A investment is only $10,000. Why so cheap? Be sure to click our Chick fil-a video link at the end of this video. Chick-Fil-A is a different business model than most franchises so your ownership is not the same.

Obviously the majority of even the big food franchises have been closing locations, and this data is from 2019 before all the craziness started as company financials are always one year behind. Is this an indication of what we may be seeing in the future.

We covered only food today but keep in mind some service sector businesses you can make as much as a fast food restaurant with an investment one tenth of the cost. Always Give Franchise City broker group a call before you buy your franchise to ensure you are making an educated choice.

If you are considering buying a franchise and would like easy access to all the data and numbers and an experienced broker call us here at franchise city broker group or always wonder if you made the right decision on your own!

#franchisecity

[davenc]

I'm the former President of Auntie Anne's. I think you need to look a bit deeper at these brands before you come to your simple conclusions. Yes, Auntie Anne's closed stores last year. Largely because their early-stage growth focused on enclosed malls which were performing well at the time. If you haven't noticed, malls are struggling, particularly during Covid. That's not due to flaws in the Auntie Anne's business model. If you look at the sales to investment ratio, Auntie Anne's is excellent. Shaq did own some Auntie Anne's locations, which was a mistake by the company. He closed them and claimed that "Black people don't like pretzels." An insane comment. Finally, had you bothered to look at Auntie Anne's Item 19 disclosure, their total cost of goods including paper is less than 20%. If you can name another QSR or snack food brand with that gross margin, let me know.

[asd]

This guy's the real Deal. Thanks for keeping my money, in my own hands. You saved me from being seduced by their glossy franchise proposals, potential future earnings and all that other propaganda..

[TheAmaye]

Can you make a video about how to aquire funds to open a franchise if you do not have that capital to put up at one time

[sourishsaha]

I would be happier if he made a similar video but based on net income rather revenue. Thanks for the video

[KentPaul]

If you see the trend, the higher grossing QSRs have a higher start up costs as well. Maybe a video of which QSR gives you the best ROI?

[jameschiang]

Half of Baskin Robbins are inside of Dunkin Donut. Those are the BR locations have low sales figures. Most of the combo stores are in east coast. However BR standalone average sales is about $500k annually. Most of them are in California and west coast.

[theluckshow]

I’ve been wanting to franchise a raising cane’s since 2009. All the locations I’ve seen in DFW are not far from schools. The restaurant is a cash cow.

[danielprohoroff]

Can you do a video on tool truck franchises?

[hovikog]

What about ice vending kiosks, like kooler ice

[samathasmart]

This is very helpful information. What is the cost for your company svc?

[thequake]

Could you please do a video on Carl's Jr franchise? Carl's Jr/Hardee's is a pretty huge chain in the US but I never hear you say anything about them.

[ExtraServingsBTS]

how about earnings / startup costs? I'll take the lowest if it has a $0 cost.

[allmosts]

i know that #1 its gonna be chick fil A haha. Their line drive thru is non stop and I am also in that line Lol.

[kindafast]

The auntie Anne’s simply isn’t accurate. I know a lot of AA owners, a single store is making anywhere from 70k to 200k net profit. And you can start a store for 300-400k. You do the math

[sumtingwongnow]

Surprised to not see in and out that place has a line at all times

[hassanbazzi]

Very great information. Auntie A to my experience are totally out. I have sent two different app at separate times and it is extremely to communicate with them. When I called, there answer was very dry. Thank you for sharing

[enriquecapece]

Can you do a video on beaver tails franchise. (Quebec, Canada)

[Alexmadrigal-ju]

How can i make money from introducing a *NEW * food item for a food Franchise for ex. LITTLE CEASARS PIZZA

[PuerinTheHunter]

I've just got a FB ad for a franchise I never heard about: "Metal Supermarkets".
I think they just sell iron, copper, aluminum, steel, etc.
Not sure how would that work but it seemed very interesting.

[chrislemaster]

Subway was in trouble when they got rid of the Jared Fogal Action Figures that does 8 different things