How much does a Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise make?

The average Benjamin Franklin Plumbing unit reported $656,635 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $610,560. The filing 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 13.5% 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,

Breakdown

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise unit economics

Q: What should a Benjamin Franklin Plumbing territory be billing?

Across 373 territories held by 86 franchisees, 2025 gross revenue averaged $656,635 a territory with a median of $610,560. Ranked into quartiles by revenue per territory, the averages were $1,725,356 across 54 territories, $900,481 across 81, $378,220 across 186 and $162,838 across 52. The highest-selling territory billed $3,271,587 and the lowest-selling $17,658. There were 96 franchisees operating in 399 territories at 31 December 2025, alongside 10 company-owned outlets that sit outside every performance figure.

Q: What does the brand take?

The royalty is the greater of 6% of gross revenue or $1,500 a month per territory, drawn semi-monthly. The brand fund contribution is 1.5% of the first $5,000,000 of gross revenue in a calendar year, 1.25% to $10,000,000, 1% to $15,000,000, 0.75% to $20,000,000 and zero above, resetting each January, with contiguous territories combined and a 4% ceiling. A local marketing spend of 6% of the calendar year's cumulative gross revenue is required from the third month, and the franchisor may collect and spend it on the franchisee's behalf. Grand opening marketing runs to $18,000. Together the percentage charges come to 13.5% of gross revenue at most levels, rising to 18.6% where the royalty minimum binds, both of which are marked *.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchisees run service vans and technicians across territories of about 100,000 people, billing residential plumbing work. Among 86 owners holding 373 territories, the top quartile bills $1,725,356 per territory against $162,838 at the bottom. Ranked by owner instead of by territory the picture flips: the biggest owners work their ground harder.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: Benjamin Franklin Franchising SPE LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: Benjamin Franklin Franchising SPE LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Items read: Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
Population: 373 of 399 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.

Key idea

Half the system's territories, 186 of 373, sit in one quartile billing $378,220 each. The top quartile holds 54 territories at $1,725,356. Yet ranked by owner, the biggest franchisees get more from each territory, at $746,408 against $171,002.

Units reporting86 franchisees, 373 territories

Average per territory$656,635

Average per franchisee$2,847,962

Total investment$143,273–$286,702

Half the system's territories are in a single quartile at $378,220 each. 186 of 373, against 54 in the top quartile at $1,725,356, 4.6 times per piece of ground.
Larger franchisees work each territory harder, reversing the usual pattern. $746,408 per territory for the top quartile of owners against $171,002 for the bottom *; those 22 owners hold 222 territories, 10.1 each.
Brand and marketing charges take 13.5% of sales. 6% royalty, 1.5% brand fund and 6% required local marketing *, $88,646 on an average territory.
The brand fund halves for the system's largest owner. 0.73% against 1.5% *, worth $239,781 on $30,985,391, because contiguous territories are combined for the tier test.
Both attainment totals contradict the tables they sit under. 136 territories are said to beat a $656,635 average where the quarter ranges allow at most 135. 13 franchisees to beat $2,847,962 where the top quarter's own minimum of $3,921,443 puts all 22 above it *.

Top performers

What separates the top Benjamin Franklin Plumbing performers

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,725,356 a year. The worst averaged $162,838. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $610,560. The average was $656,635. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 10.6× 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 100,000 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 $143,273 to $286,702, a 2.0× 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.
Membership and rebooking.A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 13.5% 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.373 of 399 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. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Top 25%

This filing does not split its locations into performance bands, so the gap between the highest and lowest Benjamin Franklin Plumbing location is not disclosed. What it does publish is on the Model and Finance tabs.

By territory

Half the territories sit in one group.

Top 25%

$93,169,246

Second

$72,938,992

Third

$70,348,950

Bottom 25%

$8,467,573

2025 sales by territory, ranked into quartiles, as the brand reported it, with the fee load added *Averan calculation
quartile	Franchisees	Territories	Aggregate revenue	Average per territory	Median	Lowest	Highest	Fee load *
Top 25%	22	54	$93,169,246	$1,725,356	$1,736,066	$1,248,598	$3,271,587	13.5%
Second	21	81	$72,938,992	$900,481	$897,737	$629,232	$1,227,853	13.5%
All	86	373	$244,924,761	$656,635	$610,560	$17,658	$3,271,587	13.5%
Third	21	186	$70,348,950	$378,220	$473,799	$282,847	$623,160	13.5%
Bottom 25%	22	52	$8,467,573	$162,838	$180,555	$17,658	$254,085	18.6%

Counts, aggregates, averages, medians and ranges are as the brand reported it. We worked out the fee column, applying the 6% royalty or its $1,500 monthly minimum, the 1.5% brand fund and the 6% of required local marketing spend to each level.

The third quartile holds 186 of the system's 373 territories. Half the ground, at $378,220 each. Those 186 territories are held by 21 owners, about nine each. This group holds the system's large multi-territory owners, with lower per-territory books sit.

A top-quarter territory bills 4.6 times a third-quartile one. $1,725,356 against $378,220, and 10.6 times the bottom quarter's $162,838. The single highest-selling territory billed $3,271,587 and the lowest-selling $17,658, 185 times across one brand.

The third quarter's median of $473,799 sits $95,579 above its own average. On 186 territories. That points to a long weak tail inside the largest group: half those territories bill above $473,799 while the group mean is dragged to $378,220.

Only 16% of third-quartile territories beat their own group average. 30 of 186, against 60% in the bottom quartile and 53% in the second. The group holding half the system also has the widest range inside it.

Three hundred and sixteen of the 373 territories first opened before 2020. 49 in the top quartile, 72 in the second, 166 in the third and 29 in the bottom, 316 in total *. 15 of the bottom quarter's 52 territories opened in 2024. The rest have been trading for years.

By owner

The big owners work their ground harder.

The same 86 franchisees ranked by total sales, as the brand reported it, with per-territory figures added, Item 20 of the 2026 FDD*Averan calculation
quartile	Franchisees	Territories	Aggregate revenue	Average per franchisee	Median	Range	Territories each *	Revenue per territory *
Top 25%	22	222	$165,702,670	$7,531,940	$5,171,685	$3,921,443 – $30,985,391	10.1	$746,408
Second	21	74	$49,446,063	$2,354,574	$2,311,515	$1,681,611 – $3,440,389	3.5	$668,190
All	86	373	$244,924,761	$2,847,962	$1,512,930	$26,896 – $30,985,391	4.3	$656,635
Third	21	41	$23,619,957	$1,124,760	$1,175,402	$623,160 – $1,519,343	2.0	$576,097
Bottom 25%	22	36	$6,156,071	$279,821	$248,803	$26,896 – $599,048	1.6	$171,002

Counts, aggregates, averages, medians and ranges are as the brand reported it; the territories-each and revenue-per-territory columns are marked *.

Revenue per territory rises with owner size. $171,002, $576,097, $668,190, $746,408 *. Most multi-unit brands in this library show the opposite; here the 22 largest owners hold 59.5% of the system's territories and get the most from each of them.

The top quartile holds 10.1 territories each against 1.6 at the bottom. 222 territories among 22 owners. The largest single franchisee billed $30,985,391, which is 12.7% of the entire system's revenue * in one hand.

The system median franchisee bills $1,512,930 against an average of $2,847,962. 53% of it. That gap is the shape of a system where 22 owners hold three fifths of the ground. The arithmetic mean describes the consolidators.

The bottom quartile averages $279,821 across 1.6 territories each. $171,002 a territory. Seventeen of those 22 owners started in 2024.

Attainment falls as size rises: 45%, 57%, 43%, 32%. The third quarter by sales has the narrowest range. The top quarter has the widest, stretched by a high of $30,985,391 against $3,921,443 low, nearly eight times inside one quartile.

Fees and what it costs to open

Thirteen and a half percent, falling with scale.

Annual brand and marketing obligations at each published level *Averan calculation
Level	Sales	Royalty	Brand fund	Brand fund rate	Local marketing	Total	Share
Largest franchisee	$30,985,391	$1,859,123	$225,000	0.73%	$1,859,123	$3,943,246	12.7%
Top-quarter franchisee	$7,531,940	$451,916	$106,649	1.42%	$451,916	$1,010,481	13.4%
Average franchisee	$2,847,962	$170,878	$42,719	1.50%	$170,878	$384,475	13.5%
Top-quarter territory	$1,725,356	$103,521	$25,880	1.50%	$103,521	$232,922	13.5%
Average territory	$656,635	$39,398	$9,850	1.50%	$39,398	$88,646	13.5%
Third-quartile territory	$378,220	$22,693	$5,673	1.50%	$22,693	$51,059	13.5%
Bottom-quarter territory	$162,838	$18,000	$2,443	1.50%	$9,770	$30,213	18.6%

Ours, applying the published rates to filed revenue.

Six percent royalty, 1.5% brand fund and 6% local marketing come to 13.5%. $88,646 on an average territory and $384,475 on an average franchisee *. The marketing half of that is the larger commitment, and the franchisor may take the money and spend it directly.

The $1,500 monthly royalty minimum binds below $300,000 of revenue per territory. *. The bottom quartile averages $162,838 a territory. That is where 6% produces $9,770 against the $18,000 owed, turning a 6% rate into 11.1% and the total load into 18.6%.

The brand fund rewards concentration twice over. Contiguous territories are combined for the tier test, and the rate steps down four times. The largest franchisee pays 0.73% against the 1.5% everyone under $5,000,000 pays, $239,781 of difference on its own revenue *.

Local marketing is charged on the calendar year's cumulative revenue. Against on a budget set in advance. A business that grows through the year spends more as it goes. One that falls back spends less. This is the gentler of the two structures for a franchise ramping up.

Crossing into a neighbor's territory starts with a warning and ends at 50%. A written warning first. A second breach costs 25% of the sales involved, a third costs 50%. The count runs across the whole agreement and escalation triggered once $40,000 of infringing revenue accumulates. Milder at the start than most in this library, and steeper at the end.

What it costs to open a territory.

Estimated initial investment, one territory of 100,000 people, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Low	High
Additional funds, three months	$60,000	$90,000
Franchise fee	$43,000	$43,000
Full-time general or operations manager	$0	$25,750
Professional fees and licensing	$4,635	$20,600
Vehicles	$8,240	$15,450
Machinery, tools and equipment	$3,090	$10,300
Rent or lease of real estate	$3,090	$9,270
Vehicle signage	$0	$8,240
Initial vehicle inventory	$2,575	$8,240
Insurance	$4,120	$8,240
Grand opening marketing	$0	$6,000
Travel for initial training	$2,575	$5,150
Vehicle upfitting	$0	$5,150
Office signage	$1,030	$5,150
Start-up supplies	$2,575	$5,150
Vehicle registration	$2,266	$4,532
Computer, technology systems and software	$1,854	$4,120
Office furniture and equipment	$1,545	$4,120
Building work	$1,030	$4,120
Personal tools for technicians	$1,030	$3,090
Consumer unit decals	$309	$515
Telephone services	$309	$515
Total	$143,273	$286,702

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.

Cash to run the business day to day is the largest line at $60,000 to $90,000. Larger than the franchise fee. Plumbing is dispatched daily and billed on completion. So the gap between putting vans on the road and collecting is short, what the reserve really funds is technicians and inventory before the call volume arrives.

A full-time manager is priced at zero to $25,750. The third largest line at the high end and absent entirely at the low. That one choice moves the opening cost by 18% of its whole range *. It is the difference between running the business yourself and hiring a manager from day one.

Ground costs 43 cents a head above 100,000 people. Against an average territory billing $656,635 a year, $6.57 of revenue for every person in a 100,000-person territory *. A second territory taken by an existing franchisee costs 30% less, and the published figures show the larger owners getting more from each one.

Fees actually collected ran from $5,000 to $63,261. Against a list price of $43,000 before population fees. The bottom of that range is 12% of the list price, so discounts and expansion terms matter here.

The network of locations

Up 45% in three years.

Franchised territory movement, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it
Year	Start	Opened	Terminations	Non-renewals	Ceased, other	End
2023	275	65	5	6	4	325
2024	325	41	9	1	3	353
2025	353	71	3	7	15	399
Three years	275	177	17	14	22	399

As the brand reported it; the three-year row is marked *.

The system grew from 275 territories to 399 in three years. A 45% increase, with 177 openings against 53 exits. Growth accelerated again in 2025 after a quieter 2024, with 71 openings, the highest-selling year of the three.

Exits nearly doubled in 2025. Twenty-five against 13 the year before, with the increase entirely in the ceased-for-other-reasons column, which moved from 3 to 15. Terminations actually fell, from 9 to 3.

Ten company-owned outlets sit outside every published performance figure. Held steady across all three years. Their results appear nowhere in the quarter tables, so the 373 territories described here are entirely franchisee-operated.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a Benjamin Franklin Plumbing territory be billing?

Across 373 territories held by 86 franchisees, 2025 sales averaged $656,635 a territory with a median of $610,560. Ranked into quartiles by revenue per territory, the averages were $1,725,356 across 54 territories, $900,481 across 81, $378,220 across 186 and $162,838 across 52. The highest-selling territory billed $3,271,587 and the lowest-selling $17,658. There were 96 franchisees operating in 399 territories at 31 December 2025, alongside 10 company-owned outlets that sit outside every performance figure.

Does holding more territories help or hurt?

In this system it helps, which is unusual. Ranked by total franchisee revenue, the top quartile of 22 owners holds 222 territories, 10.1 each. Gets $746,408 from each one. The second quarter by sales gets $668,190 from 3.5 territories each, the third $576,097 from 2.0 each and the bottom $171,002 from 1.6 each, all of which are marked *. Most multi-unit brands show the opposite pattern. The fee structure points the same way: the brand fund contribution steps down from 1.5% to zero as combined revenue across contiguous territories rises. An existing franchisee takes 30% off the fee for each further territory.

What does the brand take?

The royalty is the greater of 6% of sales or $1,500 a month per territory, drawn semi-monthly. The brand fund takes 1.5% of the first $5,000,000 of sales in a year, 1.25% to $10,000,000, 1% to $15,000,000, 0.75% to $20,000,000 and nothing above, resetting each January. Contiguous territories combined and a 4% ceiling. A local marketing spend of 6% of the calendar year's cumulative sales is required from the third month. The franchisor may collect and spend it on the franchisee's behalf. Grand opening marketing runs to $18,000. Together the percentage charges come to 13.5% of sales at most levels, rising to 18.6% where the royalty minimum binds, both of which are marked *.

Do the published tables reconcile?

Mostly, and precisely. Each quarter's total sales, divided by its territory or owner count, gives the published average exactly in both tables. The two tables have the same $244,924,761 aggregate across the same 86 franchisees and 373 territories. The sales same-store growth figure of 8.9% checks out against its own revenue pair. Two attainment totals sit apart from their tables. The by-territory total states that 136 territories exceed the $656,635 system average. That is where the published quartile ranges allow at most 135. The by-franchisee total states that 13 franchisees exceed the $2,847,962 system average. The top quartile own lowest figure of $3,921,443 places all 22 of its members above it. Both of those are marked *.

Who does bookkeeping for a Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise?

Three mechanics shape the close. The brand fund contribution is a year-to-date ladder that resets each January and combines revenue across contiguous territories. The rate changes part way through the year, at a point set by the combined sales of several entities. An owner with several territories needs a combined sales tracker as well as separate ones. Second, the royalty is drawn semi-monthly on revenue from the first to the fifteenth and the sixteenth to month end. So the fee cycle sits inside the month. Third, the 6% local marketing requirement is measured on sales for the year to date. The brand can collect it and spend it on the owner's behalf, so it is a documented obligation. Underneath it all, sales counts everything billed regardless of collection, including insurance and government program work. So the fee base is bookings while the bank is collections. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.

What this filing does not disclose

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 Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

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 Benjamin Franklin Plumbing locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

Part of our Home & Commercial Services Franchise Finance guide and the Mechanical Trades Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from Benjamin Franklin Franchising SPE LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.

Where this sits

the franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners

The same business, other brands

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing reads against the rest of the mechanical trades group: Aire Serv · 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.
What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
What changes at ten units
Running the books across several units
Item 19, how to read Item 19 of an FDD
Fractional CFO, for the forecast behind a second location and the cash plan that carries it
Bookkeeping for franchise owners, what this looks like when someone else keeps the books
Āveran Franchise Resource Center, every breakdown in the library
Bookkeeping, monthly close built around the way your brand reports
Controller, when the numbers need someone reading them as well as recording them

Scott Engler

Founder & Principal, Averan Advisors

Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team. More about the team →

If you want this done for you

What happens next

Everything above came out of a filing. Doing it on your own numbers means the books have to produce the same lines: sales, wages, occupancy, fees and what is left, by location, every month. That is the work.

The call, twenty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and what we would start with. No pitch deck.
We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
A written scope and a priceWhat we do each month, what you get, the date it lands, and the fee. Agreed before anything starts, and it does not move without you agreeing it.
Transition, then the first closeAccess, systems, and the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.

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