Quick answer
We read Item 7 in 46 current franchise FDDs. Total initial investment ranges from about $93K (home-based senior care) to about $8M (ground-up daycare); the median midpoint is about $464K. The single biggest gotcha: 25 of 56 totals exclude the cost of real estate. Here is the full benchmark.
The headline finding
Real estate is hidden in roughly 45% of these headline totals. A franchisor can show a clean Item 7 range and still leave the most expensive line, the land and the building, entirely out of it. The Goddard School discloses about $1.0M for a lease format and about $5.5M for the buy-land-and-build format, the same brand, a 5x swing driven only by who owns the real estate. Midas shows a $92,640-floor 8-bay total that excludes $615K to $1.25M of land and $1.25M to $2.05M of construction. If you underwrite the headline number, you can be off by millions before you sign.
How we built this
We pulled the most recent registered Franchise Disclosure Document for 46 franchise brands directly from a US state franchise registry (Wisconsin DFI), not from aggregators or summaries. We read Item 7 (Estimated Initial Investment) in each filed FDD and recorded the low-high total plus every disclosed line item, verbatim. We classified each brand into one of 10 industry categories and recorded the FDD cover year. Where a franchisor disclosed more than one store format (for example conversion versus ground-up build, kiosk versus endcap), we recorded each format separately and never blended them, so the 56 rows below cover 46 brands.
We excluded any figure we could not trace to a filed Item 7 table or its summary sentence. We did not estimate, average, or infer any number. We flagged, not silently corrected, every internal inconsistency we found, such as a summary sentence whose low differs from the table total. Those are footnoted on the relevant rows. We did not adjust for inflation, region, or unit count. Every figure is as-disclosed.
Honest limits: this is a sample of 46 brands across 10 categories, not the franchise market average. It is large enough to show category-level patterns, not market-wide certainty. Item 7 ranges are franchisor estimates, not actuals; real costs vary by location, market, and build. No more than about 20% of the sample is from any single category.
The benchmark
Sort any column, filter by category, and click any row to expand the format breakdown and real-estate handling. Default sort is total investment low, ascending. Dollar figures are as-disclosed in the FDD.
| Initial Franchise Fee | Real Estate in Total? | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Instead | Senior care | 2026 | $92,640 | $350,550 | $54k | Minimal | |
| Right at Home | Senior care | 2026 | $94,330 | $176,239 | $49.5k | Minimal | multi-format |
| Kumon | Education | 2026 | $101,630 | $233,780 | $2k | Partial | |
| BrightStar Care | Senior care | 2026 | $102,754 | $220,186 | $25k to $50k | Minimal | |
| Mathnasium | Education | 2024 | $112,936 | $149,616 | $49k | Partial | |
| Comfort Keepers | Senior care | 2025 | $119,560 | $190,700 | $55k | Minimal | [1] |
| Two Men & a Truck (Metro) | Home services | 2026 | $123,110 | $344,275 | $50k to $130k | Excluded | multi-format |
| Visiting Angels | Senior care | 2026 | $125,460 | $171,150 | $51.95k to $89.95k | Minimal | |
| Express Employment (Core) | Business svc | 2026 | $131,000 | $287,700 | $20k to $40k | Partial | [2]multi-format |
| Lawn Doctor | Home services | 2026 | $135,820 | $163,902 | $114.95k to $118k | Minimal | |
| Minuteman Press | Business svc | 2026 | $138,351 | $216,346 | $35k to $48.5k | Partial | |
| Molly Maid | Home services | 2026 | $144,150 | $203,950 | $14.9k + territory | Partial | |
| Mosquito Joe | Home services | 2026 | $150,155 | $191,575 | $42.5k | Minimal | multi-format |
| Mr. Handyman | Home services | 2026 | $161,900 | $215,000 | $67k | Minimal | |
| CertaPro Painters | Home services | 2026 | $171,000 | $320,500 | $65k | Minimal | |
| Code Ninjas (Learning Ctr) | Education | 2026 | $174,250 | $265,750 | $45k | Partial | multi-format |
| Stanley Steemer | Home services | 2026 | $175,685 | $509,745 | $20k to $100k | Excluded | |
| GNC (New store) | Retail | 2025 | $187,719 | $506,542 | $20k | Partial | |
| Great Clips | Beauty | 2026 | $187,800 | $419,900 | $20k to $35k | Partial | multi-format |
| Maaco (Conversion) | Automotive | 2025 | $196,000 | $644,000 | $45k | Excluded | |
| UPS Store | Business svc | 2024 | $222,368 | $606,081 | varies | Partial | |
| Wild Birds Unlimited | Retail | 2024 | $224,273 | $379,309 | $40k | Partial | |
| Meineke | Automotive | 2025 | $224,898 | $1,200,818 | $45k | Excluded | |
| FastSigns (Full-svc) | Business svc | 2026 | $231,225 | $386,285 | $49.75k | Partial | [3] |
| Sport Clips | Beauty | 2026 | $236,800 | $580,500 | $30k to $69.5k | Excluded | [4] |
| PostNet (New) | Business svc | 2026 | $240,200 | $306,800 | $39.95k | Partial | |
| Servpro | Home services | 2026 | $263,305 | $385,570 | $100k | Partial | |
| Tropical Smoothie | Food/QSR | 2026 | $275,500 | $770,500 | $17.5k to $35k | Excluded | |
| Batteries Plus | Retail | 2026 | $284,786 | $536,636 | $15k to $49.5k | Partial | |
| Wingstop | Food/QSR | 2026 | $310,400 | $1,048,500 | $25k + $25k dev | Excluded | |
| Smoothie King (Endcap) | Food/QSR | 2026 | $329,850 | $683,715 | $25k to $30k | Excluded | multi-format |
| European Wax Center | Beauty | 2026 | $331,600 | $776,950 | $45k / $36k + dev | Partial | multi-format |
| Once Upon A Child | Retail | 2026 | $355,700 | $485,900 | $25k | Partial | |
| F45 Training | Fitness | 2026 | $362,300 | $857,700 | $60k | Partial | |
| Jimmy John's (Trad) | Food/QSR | 2026 | $366,200 | $733,500 | $35k | Excluded | multi-format |
| Club Pilates | Fitness | 2025 | $385,048 | $839,058 | $65k | Excluded | |
| Midas (New 8-bay) | Automotive | 2026 | $385,450 | $940,050 | $35k | Excluded | |
| Firehouse Subs (Inline) | Food/QSR | 2026 | $405,350 | $875,950 | $20k | Excluded | |
| Jersey Mike's | Food/QSR | 2026 | $436,176 | $1,162,228 | $20k + $10k dev | Partial | |
| Pure Barre | Fitness | 2026 | $445,299 | $736,465 | $50k to $60k | Partial | |
| Big O Tires | Automotive | 2025 | $511,500 | $1,882,500 | $10k to $17.5k | Excluded | |
| Pet Supplies Plus | Retail | 2026 | $520,250 | $1,818,900 | $49.9k | Partial | |
| Dunkin' (Freestanding) | Food/QSR | 2026 | $532,400 | $1,832,500 | $40k to $90k | Excluded | |
| Anytime Fitness | Fitness | 2026 | $539,329 | $905,482 | $42.5k | Excluded | |
| Christian Brothers Auto | Automotive | 2024 | $550,250 | $680,400 | $135k | Excluded | |
| Dave's Hot Chicken (Inline) | Food/QSR | 2026 | $616,800 | $2,632,500 | $40k / $20k | Excluded | multi-format |
| Scooter's Coffee (Endcap) | Food/QSR | 2025 | $692,150 | $1,053,675 | $40k | Excluded | multi-format |
| Orangetheory | Fitness | 2026 | $764,577 | $1,104,920 | $59.95k | Excluded | |
| Restore Hyper Wellness | Wellness | 2024 | $817,674 | $1,289,925 | $44.5k | Excluded | |
| Crumbl | Food/QSR | 2026 | $848,566 | $1,472,533 | $50k | Excluded | |
| Take 5 (New ground-up) | Automotive | 2025 | $912,248 | $2,053,642 | $45k | Excluded | |
| Sola Salons | Beauty | 2024 | $950,214 | $1,748,296 | $60k | Excluded | |
| Scooter's Coffee (Kiosk) | Food/QSR | 2025 | $954,650 | $1,523,400 | $40k | Excluded | multi-format |
| Goddard School (Lease) | Education | 2026 | $1,003,500 | $1,503,000 | $135k | Partial | multi-format |
| Planet Fitness | Fitness | 2026 | $1,282,500 | $5,386,000 | $0 to $40k | Excluded | |
| Primrose (New-build) | Education | 2026 | $5,016,600 | $7,960,300 | $50k to $80k | Included |
Data-quality footnotes (preserved, not corrected)
- The additional-funds high equals the total high in the filing, an internal source inconsistency. The figures are preserved verbatim, not corrected.
- Branch format: Item 7 table total low is $39,450; the summary sentence states $30,950. Table value is used here and the variance is preserved, not corrected.
- Summary-versus-table gaps of $1 to $1,000 appear across the FastSigns formats. Table values are used here and the gaps are preserved, not corrected.
- Item 7 table total low is $236,800; the summary sentence states $226,800. Table value is used here and the variance is preserved, not corrected.
Category patterns
One row per category, computed from the rows above. Median midpoint is the median of each brand format's (low plus high) divided by two. The last column is the share of formats whose headline total excludes the cost of real estate.
| Category | Formats | Lowest Low | Highest High | Median Midpoint | Franchise Fee Range | % Excl. Real Estate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive | 6 | $196,000 | $2,053,642 | $687,804 | $10,000 to $135,000 | 100% |
| Beauty | 4 | $187,800 | $1,748,296 | $481,463 | $20,000 to $60,000 | 50% |
| Business svc | 5 | $131,000 | $606,081 | $273,500 | $20,000 to $49,750 | 0% |
| Education | 5 | $101,630 | $7,960,300 | $220,000 | $2,000 to $135,000 | 0% |
| Fitness | 6 | $362,300 | $5,386,000 | $667,229 | $40,000 to $65,000 | 67% |
| Food/QSR | 11 | $275,500 | $2,632,500 | $799,202 | $17,500 to $50,000 | 91% |
| Home services | 8 | $123,110 | $509,745 | $211,071 | $14,900 to $114,950 | 25% |
| Retail | 5 | $187,719 | $1,818,900 | $410,711 | $15,000 to $49,900 | 0% |
| Senior care | 5 | $92,640 | $350,550 | $155,130 | $25,000 to $55,000 | 0% |
| Wellness | 1 | $817,674 | $1,289,925 | $1,053,800 | $44,500 to $44,500 | 100% |
What the headline number hides: the normalization checklist
Before you compare two Item 7 tables, normalize for these, or you will compare numbers that do not mean the same thing.
- Real estate: Does the total include the building, or exclude it? 25 of 56 formats here exclude real estate purchase from the headline. A $385K auto shop can become $2M and up once you add the land and construction the table left out. Always check the real-estate column first.
- Store format: A franchisor's low number is often its cheapest format (conversion, kiosk, food truck). The build-it-from-the-ground-up number can be 3x to 5x higher. Match formats before comparing.
- Working capital period: The additional-funds line usually covers 3 months, but some disclose 6, 9, or 12. A bigger reserve is not a more expensive franchise; it is a longer runway baked in.
- Franchise fee versus territory or development fee: Some totals bundle a development or territory fee on top of the franchise fee. The to-franchisor number is what actually leaves your pocket up front.
- Landlord allowance: Several leasehold-improvement ranges are net of an assumed tenant-improvement allowance. If your landlord gives less, your real cost is higher.
- Owner salary: Item 7 reserves rarely include your own living expenses. Add your runway on top.
How to read this before you sign
Searchers and acquirers: use the category patterns to sanity-check a seller's or franchisor's claimed opening cost against peers in the same lane, then dig into the real-estate footnote before you model returns.
Franchise buyers: pull the format that matches your actual site, not the cheapest one in the range, and rebuild Item 7 line by line against real quotes. The low end is rarely your base case.
Multi-unit developers: watch the development and territory fees and the ADA (area development agreement) formats, where the per-unit math and the up-front commitment change the picture.
How Inkvex surfaces these traps on a real FDD
This benchmark is the pattern. On a specific deal, an Inkvex review reads the actual FDD and tells a buyer what the number means before they sign: a risk score from 1 to 10, the exact Item 7 clauses quoted, the real-estate-exclusion and working-capital traps flagged, and an attorney-handoff summary. It is the same lens applied to your document instead of a sample.
Run a first-pass FDD review before counsel starts the full read.
See FDD ScanRelated diligence guides
- FDD Item 7 estimated initial investment checklist
- FDD red flags
- FDD review checklist
- Personal guarantees in franchise agreements
- Multi-unit development agreements
This page is legal information, not legal advice. It is a first pass for your attorney or franchise counsel, not a substitute for one. Item 7 is a franchisor estimate, and every figure here is as-disclosed in the filed FDD as of its listed year. Verify any number against the current FDD before you rely on it.