Central Bark franchise unit economics
Central Bark franchisees run dog daycare, boarding and grooming from a leased facility. Thirty-six locations reported for 2025: gross sales averaged $902,805 with a median of $812,437. Wages take 44.5% of sales, rent 10.8%, the brand's charges 7.9%, running costs 13.0%, marketing 2.7% and products 1.5%. That leaves 19.7%, or $177,589. The top third keeps 25.3% and the bottom third 12.2%.
- Primary source
- Central Bark Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- the locations the filing reports on
- 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.
Rent runs from 4.7% of sales to 24.8% across Central Bark's reporting group. That 20.1-point difference is worth $181,464 at average sales. An average location keeps $177,589 in a whole year. Labor range even wider, 31.3% to 54.7%, and between them those two lines decide which third of the system a location lands in.
- The rent range is worth more than the whole profit line. 4.7% to 24.8% of sales is $181,464 at the $902,805 average *, against an average operating profit of $177,589.
- Labor takes 44.5% of sales and ranges 31.3% to 54.7%. $401,748 at the average *, and the 23.4-point range is worth $211,256, the single biggest number an owner controls.
- The top third keeps 25.3% and the bottom third 12.2%. Median profit of $256,568 against $83,833, 3.06 times the money on 2.14 times the sales *.
- Daycare is 59% of sales and boarding 20%, but daycare ranges 35% to 77%. Grooming runs 7% to 34%, so two locations built to the same plan sell entirely different mixes.
- The 29 locations with a full five years grew 54.7% since 2021, and seven of them shrank last year. $611,878 to $946,847 each *, 11.5% a year compounded, unevenly range.
How much does a Central Bark franchise make?
The average Central Bark unit reported $902,805 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $812,437. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 19.7% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 8.7% 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 locations are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Central Bark performers
Central Bark splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $2,025,786 a year. The worst averaged $413,760. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $812,437. The average was $902,805. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 4.9× gap between bands, and 4.9× between the strongest and weakest single location, is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $640,100 to $1,394,250, a 2.2× 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.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 10.8% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Wages, the dominant line.Wages take 44.5% of sales, against 19.7% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 10.8% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Pets served, the operating driver.This model bills on pets served. The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Service and retail mix.Attachment rate on retail, and the share of customers on the higher service tiers, lift what each hour earns without adding an hour or a room. It is the only lever that raises the ceiling without spending capital.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 8.7% 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.
- The first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
Context you underwrite around
- What the figures cover.The figures describe 2025 calendar year, reported by the franchisor and unaudited by us. Ask what changed after the period closed, because a filing is a photograph rather than a film.
What is left at the end
Two lines decide everything, and the range on both is on record.
Labor is 44.5% of sales and rent 10.8%, so 55.3% is committed before marketing, utilities, insurance or the brand. The high and the low on every line are wide enough to swallow the profit several times over.
| Line | Average | At $902,805 * | Median | Best | Worst | Spread worth * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of labor | 44.5% | $401,748 | 44.6% | 31.3% | 54.7% | $211,256 |
| Cost of goods | 1.5% | $13,542 | 1.3% | 0.1% | 5.3% | $46,946 |
| Gross profit | 54.0% | $487,515 | 46.9% | 56.9% | 31.4% | $230,215 |
| Operating expenses | 13.0% | $117,365 | 10.8% | 7.3% | 24.8% | $157,991 |
| Rent | 10.8% | $97,503 | 10.5% | 4.7% | 24.8% | $181,464 |
| Royalty and brand fund | 7.9% | $71,322 | 8.0% | 6.5% | 8.0% | $13,542 |
| Marketing | 2.7% | $24,376 | 2.4% | 1.2% | 5.4% | $37,918 |
| Operating profit | 19.7% | $177,853 | 19.3% | 34.6% | 6.2% | $256,397 |
Every percentage is as the brand reported it. We worked out the last two columns, applying each figure to the $902,805 of average sales at the same 36 locations.
The best and worst labor result differ by $211,256 a year. 31.3% against 54.7% at the same $902,805 of sales *, which is 119% of what an average location keeps.
The brand is the one line that holds still. Royalty and brand fund run 6.5% to 8.0% across the group, a 1.5-point range worth $13,542. Every other line moves at least three times as much.
The gross profit range fights its own components. Gross profit is sales less labor and cost of goods. So the worst labor of 54.7% with the worst cost of goods of 5.3% would give 40.0%, yet the reported gross profit low is 31.4%.
The three groups of locations
Twice the sales, three times the profit.
Split the 36 locations into thirds by sales and the shares kept separate. The top third averages $1,269,014 of sales and keeps 25.3%; the bottom third averages $592,322 and keeps 12.2%. Larger locations keep a larger share of what they sell.
| Third | Locations | Sales range | Average sales * | Operating margin | Median profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 12 | $1,012,637 – $2,025,786 | $1,269,014 | 25.3% | $256,568 |
| Middle | 12 | $715,125 – $1,011,490 | $847,077 | 19.3% | $147,734 |
| Bottom | 12 | $413,760 – $701,927 | $592,322 | 12.2% | $83,833 |
| All 36 | 36 | $413,760 – $2,025,786 | $902,805 | 19.7% | $147,734 |
Sales ranges, shares kept, median profits and the overall figures are as the brand reported it. The average sales column is marked *, from the filed location-level sales for all 36.
Every location in the group made money. The lowest location kept $44,577 and the highest kept $554,950, a difference of 12.4 times. No location lost money.
Crossing into the top third takes $1,012,637 of sales. $109,832 above the average location and $165,560 above the middle third *. It also keeps six more points of what it sells.
What a location actually sells.
| Category | Average | At $902,805 * | Median | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day care | 59% | $532,655 | 60% | 77% | 35% |
| Sleepovers and Stay & Play | 20% | $180,561 | 21% | 35% | 9% |
| Grooming | 17% | $153,477 | 16% | 34% | 7% |
| Retail | 2% | $18,056 | 1% | 4% | 0.1% |
| Enrichment, training, cab and parties | 2% | $18,056 | 2% | 14% | 0.1% |
Shares are as the brand reported it and the dollar column is marked *, applying each share to the group's average gross sales.
Grooming is worth up to $306,954 at the average location. The range runs 7% to 34% of sales *, and it is the category with the most room between the lowest-selling and highest-selling operators.
All 36, five years each
Five years of revenue for every location in the group.
All 36 locations, ranked by 2025 sales and grouped into thirds. The 29 with a complete five-year history grew from $611,878 each in 2021 to $946,847 in 2025, 54.7% in total, or 11.5% a year. Seven of those 29 billed less in 2025 than in 2024.
| Location | Opened | Third * | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 2014 | Top | $2,025,786 | $1,828,699 | $1,480,971 | $1,376,540 | $1,082,428 | 87.2% |
| 2 | August 2005 | Top | $1,605,516 | $1,404,239 | $1,210,786 | $1,177,034 | $1,050,676 | 52.8% |
| 3 | December 2006 | Top | $1,298,764 | $1,327,502 | $1,284,551 | $1,004,143 | $884,034 | 46.9% |
| 4 | August 2007 | Top | $1,261,562 | $1,234,344 | $1,169,833 | $1,108,690 | $949,055 | 32.9% |
| 5 | September 2006 | Top | $1,207,074 | $1,131,865 | $1,094,861 | $1,012,900 | $984,584 | 22.6% |
| 6 | September 2007 | Top | $1,196,078 | $1,207,885 | $1,187,303 | $1,005,646 | $602,856 | 98.4% |
| 7 | October 2024 | Top | $1,184,361 | $61,296 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 8 | February 2009 | Top | $1,136,963 | $1,047,850 | $1,051,924 | $996,002 | $635,524 | 78.9% |
| 9 | June 2019 | Top | $1,135,155 | $1,020,106 | $892,426 | $950,367 | $798,469 | 42.2% |
| 10 | October 2008 | Top | $1,131,323 | $1,105,760 | $1,001,286 | $788,401 | $783,401 | 44.4% |
| 11 | June 2007 | Top | $1,033,224 | $945,187 | $885,722 | $858,347 | $680,128 | 51.9% |
| 12 | August 2008 | Top | $1,012,367 | $1,008,213 | $994,041 | $823,232 | $467,872 | 116.4% |
| 13 | November 2020 | Middle | $1,011,490 | $913,168 | $922,427 | $890,178 | $824,611 | 22.7% |
| 14 | January 1997 | Middle | $1,000,019 | $1,007,428 | $1,087,538 | $1,016,484 | $799,472 | 25.1% |
| 15 | November 2020 | Middle | $986,149 | $897,067 | $926,075 | $749,639 | $451,212 | 118.6% |
| 16 | March 2024 | Middle | $948,209 | $304,186 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 17 | August 2019 | Middle | $859,066 | $793,563 | $808,684 | $718,442 | $578,103 | 48.6% |
| 18 | January 1999 | Middle | $835,549 | $791,442 | $799,313 | $789,050 | $733,378 | 13.9% |
| 19 | March 2008 | Middle | $789,324 | $629,952 | $592,598 | $545,326 | $570,217 | 38.4% |
| 20 | February 2000 | Middle | $787,400 | $675,957 | $630,067 | $458,841 | $224,102 | 251.4% |
| 21 | August 2020 | Middle | $758,993 | $770,229 | $744,811 | $592,635 | $484,524 | 56.6% |
| 22 | April 2014 | Middle | $748,286 | $743,773 | $722,871 | $651,281 | $552,858 | 35.3% |
| 23 | June 2013 | Middle | $725,316 | $653,158 | $671,275 | $659,836 | $536,269 | 35.3% |
| 24 | June 2019 | Middle | $715,125 | $652,777 | $646,459 | $697,059 | $606,936 | 17.8% |
| 25 | January 2024 | Bottom | $701,927 | $526,437 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 26 | March 2009 | Bottom | $693,189 | $676,065 | $668,361 | $555,057 | $390,862 | 77.3% |
| 27 | November 2006 | Bottom | $691,139 | $703,841 | $676,964 | $625,638 | $585,486 | 18.0% |
| 28 | March 2008 | Bottom | $669,867 | $412,805 | $538,209 | $533,992 | $268,168 | 149.8% |
| 29 | November 2020 | Bottom | $661,060 | $141,135 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 30 | August 2024 | Bottom | $601,024 | $561,487 | $484,145 | $363,734 | $273,844 | 119.5% |
| 31 | October 2022 | Bottom | $592,866 | $468,877 | $250,283 | $16,228 | n/a | n/a |
| 32 | February 2020 | Bottom | $590,260 | $668,845 | $635,756 | $544,888 | $462,829 | 27.5% |
| 33 | February 2021 | Bottom | $538,801 | $549,570 | $592,885 | $562,812 | $207,980 | 159.1% |
| 34 | December 2022 | Bottom | $483,528 | $405,599 | $208,014 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 35 | January 2024 | Bottom | $470,444 | $237,647 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 36 | August 2006 | Bottom | $413,760 | $383,802 | $415,454 | $385,834 | $274,598 | 50.7% |
Opening dates, all five years of gross sales and the five-year growth column are as the brand reported it. The third column is marked *, ranking the 36 by 2025 sales into the same twelves used above.
System sales grew 16.5% last year and 83.2% since 2021. $17,744,474 to $32,500,964 across the same 36 locations, though 11 of them were still opening across that window.
The oldest location in the group sits in the middle third. Location 14 opened in January 1997 and billed $1,000,019, below six locations opened after 2006, age buys a customer base.
Fees and what it costs to open
Eight percent to the brand, plus $5,940 of technology.
Royalty is 6% and the brand fund the greater of 2% or $500 a month. On top sit a $495 monthly technology fee, a $475 convention fee. A requirement to spend 2% of sales on local advertising with any shortfall payable into the brand fund. On the profit line, royalty and brand fund together come to 7.9%.
| Charge | Amount | At $902,805 * |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales | $54,168 |
| Brand fund | the greater of 2% or $500 a month | $18,056 |
| Technology fee | $495 a month | $5,940 |
| National convention | $475 per attendee, attendance required | $475 |
| Paid to the brand | 8% plus flat charges | $78,639, or 8.7% |
| Local advertising | 2% of gross sales, shortfall into the brand fund | $18,056 |
| Initial franchise fee | $55,000, or $35,000 under a multi-unit agreement | n/a |
| Multi-unit rights fee | $15,000 per further location, credited against its fee | n/a |
| Total investment | $640,100 to $1,394,250 | n/a |
Rates, fees and the investment range are as the brand reported it; the dollar column is marked. Applying each charge to the group's $902,805 average gross sales.
Franchise fees take 8.7% and the building takes 10.8%. $78,639 against $97,503 at the average *, and the brand's share is fixed while the building's runs from 4.7% to 24.8%.
Payback on the low estimate is 3.6 years at the average profit. $640,100 against $177,589 *, stretching to 7.85 years on the high estimate and to 2.5 years for a top-third location.
Launch advertising is $26,000 before a dog walks in. That is 2.9% of what an average location bills in a full year, spent across the 90 days before opening and the 180 after.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a Central Bark location bill and keep?
Gross sales averaged $902,805 across 36 locations in 2025 with a median of $812,437, a high of $2,025,786 and a low of $413,760. Operating profit averaged $177,589, or 19.7%, with a median of $147,734, a high of $554,950 and a low of $44,577.
Where does the money go?
Labor 44.5% of sales, operating expenses 13.0%, rent 10.8%, royalty and brand fund 7.9%, marketing 2.7% and cost of goods 1.5%.
How much does scale matter?
The top third averages $1,269,014 of sales and keeps 25.3%. The middle third averages $847,077 and keeps 19.3%. The bottom third averages $592,322 and keeps 12.2%. Median profit runs $256,568, $147,734 and $83,833.
What does the brand cost?
A 6% royalty, a brand fund contribution of the greater of 2% or $500 a month, a $495 monthly technology fee and a $475 convention fee. Comes to about $78,639 a year at the group average. A separate 2% of sales must be spent on local advertising, with any shortfall payable into the brand fund.
What does it cost to open?
$640,100 to $1,394,250 for a single location. Building work is $441,000 to $850,000 of that, and three months of spare cash is $40,000 to $150,000. The initial franchise fee is $55,000, falling to a net $20,000 for each location after the first under a multi-unit agreement.
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 →What share of sales is your labor line?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around labor measured against attendance week by week, rent read as a percentage every month. A grooming mix tracked separately from daycare.
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