Aire Serv franchise unit economics
Aire Serv franchisees install, service and repair heating and air conditioning systems across a territory of 100,000 to 300,000 people. Across 172 businesses the 2025 average was $1,561,361 against a median of $944,801, and the top quartile averages 25.4 times the bottom. The license fee, the brand fund and the required local spend come to 15% to 16% of sales for anyone above $625,000, and to 112% at the lowest-selling tenth.
- Primary source
- Aire Serv SPV LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 172 of 229 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
The lowest-selling tenth of this system bills $64,112 a year and owes $72,082, a $20,800 license minimum, 2% to the brand fund and a $50,000 required local marketing spend. That is 112.4% of revenue. The same three charges come to 16.00% at the system average and 15.00% at the top tenth. So what separates a strong Aire Serv from a weak one is entirely a question of getting past the minimums.
- The lowest-selling tenth owes more than it bills. $72,082 of license minimum, brand fund and required local spend against $64,112 of sales *, 112.4%, and at the fourth quartile average of $161,062 it is still 46.0%.
- The median business is $55,199 short of the 6% group. $944,801 against the $1,000,000 threshold, crossing it cuts the license fee by $10,000 for the whole of the following year *, which is 18.1% of the revenue it takes to get there.
- The top quartile averages 25.4 times the bottom quartile. $4,093,185 against $161,062 on 43 businesses each *, and the four quartiles weighted together return the filed all-system average of $1,561,361 to the dollar.
- The load falls 2.67 points as you grow, then stops. 17.67% at the third quartile, 16.00% at the system average and 15.00% at the top tenth *, so past $2,000,000 of prior-year sales the percentage is fixed and only the dollars change.
- 45 of the 229 businesses were under a year old at the end of 2025. Openings ran 18, 32 and 45 across three years against departures of 28, 21 and 24, a net gain of 22, built on a hiring rate that more than doubled.
How much does a Aire Serv franchise make?
The average Aire Serv unit reported $1,561,361 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $944,801. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 16% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Aire Serv performers
Aire Serv splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $6,548,443 a year. The worst averaged $64,112. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $944,801. The average was $1,561,361. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 102.1× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 300,000 people. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $113,809 to $271,709, a 2.4× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
Live operating levers
- Service calls, the operating driver.This model bills on service calls. A technician finishes only so many calls a day, so the owner works on how many of them turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 16.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.172 of 229 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
Best to worst, by sales
Twenty-five times, across four equal groups.
| Group | Businesses | Average | Median | High | Low | Reaching the average | Load * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 10% | 17 | $6,548,443 | $4,150,679 | $22,253,990 | $3,099,931 | 5, 29% | 15.00% |
| 1st quartile | 43 | $4,093,185 | $3,243,435 | $22,253,990 | $1,985,554 | 9, 20% | 15.00% |
| 2nd quartile | 43 | $1,414,426 | $1,445,073 | $1,984,359 | $944,801 | 25, 58% | 16.00% |
| All businesses | 172 | $1,561,361 | $944,801 | $22,253,990 | $315 | 57, 33% | 16.00% |
| 3rd quartile | 43 | $576,772 | $571,423 | $935,337 | $342,819 | 21, 48% | 17.67% |
| 4th quartile | 43 | $161,062 | $143,401 | $336,652 | $315 | 18, 41% | 45.96% |
| Bottom 10% | 17 | $64,112 | $66,636 | $121,283 | $315 | 9, 52% | 112.43% |
Counts, averages, medians, ranges and attainment are as the brand reported it; the load column is marked. From the rates and minimums in the previous table.
The four quartiles hold 43 businesses each and weight to the filed average exactly. $4,093,185, $1,414,426, $576,772 and $161,062 average out to $1,561,361 *, which is the figure filed for all 172, so the four groups partition the system cleanly and each one can be read on its own.
Attainment runs 20% in the top quartile and 58% in the second. The top group stretches from $1,985,554 to $22,253,990 while the second runs $944,801 to $1,984,359, a range of 11.2 times against 2.1 times. Is why only 9 of 43 reach their own group average at the top and 25 of 43 do one rung down.
One business bills $22,253,990. 14.25 times the system average and 5.44 times its own quartile average *, remove it and the first quartile looks like a group of large but ordinary businesses.
The median business bills $944,801, which is 60.5% of the average. *, 57 of 172 reach the average, so two businesses in three sit below the headline number. The median is itself the second quartile’s own minimum.
The lowest business in the system billed $315 for the year. Against a license minimum of $20,800, a brand fund contribution and a $50,000 marketing requirement, a territory that has stopped trading while the obligations run on.
What it costs to be small
Below $625,000 the minimums decide everything.
| Group | Gross sales | License fee * | Brand fund * | Required local spend * | Total * | Share of sales * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 10% | $6,548,443 | $327,422 | $130,969 | $523,875 | $982,266 | 15.00% |
| 1st quartile | $4,093,185 | $204,659 | $81,864 | $327,455 | $613,978 | 15.00% |
| All businesses | $1,561,361 | $93,682 | $31,227 | $124,909 | $249,818 | 16.00% |
| 2nd quartile | $1,414,426 | $84,866 | $28,289 | $113,154 | $226,308 | 16.00% |
| Median business | $944,801 | $66,136 | $18,896 | $75,584 | $160,616 | 17.00% |
| 3rd quartile | $576,772 | $40,374 | $11,535 | $50,000 | $101,909 | 17.67% |
| 4th quartile | $161,062 | $20,800 | $3,221 | $50,000 | $74,021 | 45.96% |
| Bottom 10% | $64,112 | $20,800 | $1,282 | $50,000 | $72,082 | 112.43% |
The rates and minimums are as the brand reported it and every dollar figure is marked. With the license minimum taken at the $400 weekly rate that applies from week 157 in a territory of up to 250,000 people.
Two minimums do the damage and they arrive at different times. The required local spend of $50,000 governs everything below $625,000 of sales, and the license minimum of $20,800 a year governs everything below $297,143 *, so a business at the fourth quartile average of $161,062 is caught by both at once.
The bottom tenth is charged $20,800 of license fee on sales of $64,112. 32.4% of revenue before the brand fund or a dollar of marketing *, at the percentage rate alone it would be $4,488, so the minimum is charging 4.6 times the rate.
The load only moves between 17.67% and 15.00%. The 8% local requirement stays fixed across every level, the 2% brand fund stays fixed. The license fee is the only line that falls. So 10 of the 15 points at the top of the system are set in stone.
The first two years have their own marketing requirement. $60,000 in the first twelve months and $75,000 in the second twelve, whichever way the $50,000 annual minimum falls afterwards. A fourth-quarter business billing $161,062, the second-year figure alone is 46.6% of sales *.
A local marketing group can take a further 3%. Contributions count toward the required spend, and up to 2% of gross sales may be directed to brand-level awareness work.
The 1% step
One dollar of December revenue is worth $10,000.
| Previous calendar year gross sales | License fee | Plus brand fund | Worth of the first dollar over the threshold * |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $999,999 | 7% | 2% | n/a |
| $1,000,000 – $1,999,999 | 6% | 2% | $10,000 |
| $2,000,000 and over | 5% | 2% | $20,000 |
The rates and thresholds are as the brand reported it and the right-hand column is marked. Comparing the fee owed one dollar below each threshold with the fee owed at it.
| Territory population | Weekly minimum | Annual * | Revenue where 7% overtakes it * |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 250,000 | $400 | $20,800 | $297,143 |
| 250,001 – 500,000 | $500 | $26,000 | $371,429 |
| 500,001 – 750,000 | $600 | $31,200 | $445,714 |
| 750,001 – 1,000,000 | $800 | $41,600 | $594,286 |
| 1,000,001 and above | $1,000 | $52,000 | $742,857 |
The weekly figures are as the brand reported it and the last two columns are marked *. The three largest population groups are closed to new franchisees. Weeks 40 to 156 have a flat $350 a week.
The rate is set once a year on the previous year’s total and then applies to every week of the next one. So a business closing 2025 at $999,999 pays 7% on everything it bills in 2026, and one closing at $1,000,000 pays 6%. The whole year turns on the last invoice of the previous December.
At the median business that dollar is worth $10,000 against a $55,199 gap. $944,801 needs 5.8% more revenue to reach the threshold, and 18.1% of that increment comes straight back as fee relief *, which makes the last quarter of a year spent near $1,000,000 the highest-return selling period this business has.
The second cliff is worth twice the first. $20,000 at $2,000,000 against $10,000 at $1,000,000 *, and the second quartile average of $1,414,426 sits between them. So the typical business in the middle of this system has one cliff behind it and one ahead.
The minimum starts at $350 a week and steps to $400 at week 157. Roughly month 36, which is when a new business has run out of build-up allowance, and the first 39 weeks have zero minimum at all.
Speciality services are charged at 3% with a 1% fund contribution. Against 5% to 7% and 2% on standard work. They are excluded from the threshold calculation. So a business growing through speciality work pays less on it and stays on a higher rate for everything else.
Territory and system
Forty-five cents a head, and a hiring rate that doubled.
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Non-renewals | Reacquired | Ceased, other | At end | Net * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 207 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 197 | −10 |
| 2024 | 197 | 32 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 208 | +11 |
| 2025 | 208 | 45 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 229 | +21 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it apart from the net column. That is marked *, and company-owned outlets stood at zero in all three years.
Territory is priced at exactly 45 cents a head, whatever the size. $45,000 covers 100,000 people and each further 1,000 costs $450, so a 300,000-population territory costs $135,000 *, and what franchisees actually paid in 2025 averaged $68,685 across a range of $39,325 to $115,379.
Openings ran 18, 32 and 45 while departures held between 21 and 28. The system turned from losing 10 businesses in 2023 to gaining 21 in 2025. 45 of the 229 open at year end had been trading under twelve months, which is 19.7% of the system *.
Terminations rose alongside the openings. 10, 11 and 15 across the three years, against ceased-for-other-reasons falling from 14 to 4, so the departures are increasingly the franchisor’s decision;s.
Opening costs $113,808.50 to $271,708.50, and the marketing line is the second largest. $30,000 to $60,000 of advertising sits behind only the $45,000 franchise fee. A vehicle at $6,500 to $60,000 and $15,000 to $45,000 of additional funds for three months.
The business can run from home for the first six months. After that a 2,000 square foot facility is the standard, at $12,000 to $24,000 a year of rent. Is 7.5% to 14.9% of a fourth-quarter business’s revenue * and 0.8% to 1.5% of the system average.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does an Aire Serv business bill?
Across 172 businesses trading all of 2025, the average was $1,561,361 and the median $944,801, on a range from $315 to $22,253,990. By quartile the averages run $4,093,185, $1,414,426, $576,772 and $161,062, with 43 businesses in each. The top tenth averages $6,548,443 and the bottom tenth $64,112.
What does the brand take?
A license fee of 5% to 7% of gross sales, set by the previous calendar year’s total and paid weekly each Wednesday. 7% below $1,000,000, 6% to $1,999,999 and 5% above $2,000,000. Plus a 2% brand fund contribution. Minimum license fees start at week 40 at $350 a week and rise to $400 to $1,000 a week from week 157, set by territory population. Speciality services take 3% and 1%.
What is the marketing requirement?
$60,000 of local marketing spend in the first twelve months and $75,000 in the second twelve. After that the franchisor reserves the right to require the greater of $50,000 or 8% of the previous year’s gross sales, in addition to the 2% brand fund. A local marketing group may take up to a further 3%.
What does that work out at?
On our reading, 15.00% of sales at the top tenth and first quartile, 16.00% at the system average and second quartile, 17.00% at the median business, 17.67% at the third quartile, 45.96% at the fourth and 112.43% at the bottom tenth. That is where the minimums alone exceed what the business bills.
How big is the territory?
100,000 people as standard, with a maximum generally of 300,000. The fee is $45,000 for the first 100,000 and $450 for each further 1,000, so the price per head is 45 cents at any size. Rural territories of 40,000 to 65,000 people have their own pricing.
What does it cost to open?
$113,808.50 to $271,708.50, before any additional franchise fee for territory beyond 100,000 people. The largest lines are the $45,000 franchise fee, $30,000 to $60,000 of advertising and marketing, a vehicle at $6,500 to $60,000, equipment and inventory at $5,100 to $25,000. $15,000 to $45,000 of additional funds for three months. The business may run from home for the first six months.
How stable is the system?
229 franchised businesses at the end of 2025, up from 207 three years earlier, with zero company-owned outlets throughout. Across 2023 to 2025, 95 opened and 73 left, 36 terminations, 11 non-renewals and 26 that ceased for other reasons. Openings rose 18, 32, 45 while terminations rose 10, 11, 15.
Which two numbers should run weekly?
Gross sales against $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 for the year to date. Because the rate for the whole of next year is decided by where this one closes and each threshold is worth 1% of itself. And gross sales against $625,000, because that is where the local marketing requirement switches from a flat $50,000 to a percentage.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
Questions worth putting to Aire Serv
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Aire Serv locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →Where will your December close leave you?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around the $1,000,000 threshold that sets next year’s rate, the $625,000 line where the marketing requirement changes shape. The minimums that govern everything below it.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Aire Serv reads against the rest of the mechanical trades group: Benjamin Franklin Plumbing · Mister Sparky · Mr. Electric · Mr. Rooter · One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning · Plumbing Paramedics. The mechanical trades guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.