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!

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Top reasons to not buy a Chick-fil-A https://youtu.be/uwHqezAD4fA

https://www.qsrmagazine.com/content/qsr50-2020-top-50-chart