Dogtopia franchise unit economics
Dogtopia owners run dog daycare, boarding and grooming centers of 4,000 to 6,000 square feet. Across 169 owner-run centers, sales averaged $927,566 and half sold less than $915,213. 101 centers reported all of their costs. Wages took 44.5% of sales, rent 14.7%, products 2.9%, the brand's fees 9.0% and other running costs 10.5%. That left 18.5%. That margin runs 9.3% below $900,000 of sales and 23.7% above $1.5 million.
- Primary source
- Dogtopia Enterprises, 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
- 101 of 225 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.
A Dogtopia center selling under $900,000 keeps 9.3% of it. One selling over $1.5 million keeps 23.7%. The rent is the same at both. The same business keeps $83,700 at one end of that range and $444,743 at the other. 109 owners have signed and are waiting for a center to open. Nine centers opened last year.
- Net operating margin runs 9.3% under $900,000 of sales and 23.7% above $1.5 million. At the top of each group that is $83,700 against $444,743 *, 5.3 times the profit on roughly twice the revenue.
- Wages and rent take 59.2% of a franchised center's revenue before anything else is paid. 44.5% and 14.7%, or $412,767 and $136,352 at the $927,566 average *.
- Rent stays put, so the occupancy cost share is really a revenue reading. Carrying $136,352 of rent at the 13.4% the $1m to $1.5m group runs needs $1,017,552 of sales *, $89,986 above the average center.
- The franchisor's own centers keep 21.7% against 18.5% at franchised ones, and wages account for all of it. 37.9% against 44.5% is worth $61,219 at the franchised average *, against 3.5 points more rent.
- 109 franchise agreements are signed with the center still to open, against nine openings last year. That is 48.4% of the 225 open franchised centers *, with 30 projected to open in the coming year.
How much does a Dogtopia franchise make?
The average Dogtopia unit reported $927,566 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $915,213. More than half of the centers sell less than $915,213. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 18.5% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 12.3% 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 Dogtopia performers
Dogtopia splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,331,715 a year. The worst averaged $555,451. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $915,213. The average was $927,566. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 2.4× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 4,000 to 6,000 square feet. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $664,355 to $1,478,820, 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 14.7% 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 18.5% 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 14.7% 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.
- Members, the operating driver.This model bills on members. The owner watches how many people join, how many cancel, and what a member spends beyond the plan. 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 12.3% 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.101 of 225 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
- Brand-owned locations.The franchisor reports its own locations alongside the franchised ones. Treat them as indicative rather than representative: they are operated by the franchisor, usually mature, and usually few.
The profit line by size
Costs that do not change with sales are what lift profit above $1 million.
101 centers reported their costs, grouped by sales. Profit rises 12.4 points between the lowest group and the third. Wages account for 5.7 points of that, rent for 4.9 and other running costs for 2.4. The cost of products moves the other way by 0.6. The royalty and brand fund stay at 9.0% in every group.
| Line | Under $900k | $900k–$1m | $1m–$1.5m | Over $1.5m | All 101 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centers | 34 | 13 | 49 | 5 | 101 |
| Cost of goods | 2.5% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2.6% | 2.9% |
| Wages and benefits | 48.8% | 44.3% | 43.1% | 43.2% | 44.5% |
| Building costs | 18.3% | 17.5% | 13.4% | 11.0% | 14.7% |
| Prime operating costs | 69.6% | 65.2% | 59.6% | 56.8% | 62.1% |
| Gross operating margin | 30.4% | 34.8% | 40.4% | 43.2% | 37.9% |
| Royalty and brand fund | 9.0% | 9.0% | 9.0% | 9.0% | 9.0% |
| Other operating costs | 12.1% | 11.1% | 9.7% | 10.6% | 10.5% |
| Net operating margin | 9.3% | 14.7% | 21.7% | 23.7% | 18.5% |
| At the top of the group * | $83,700 | $147,000 | $325,500 | $444,743 | $171,600 |
Percentages and center counts are as the brand reported it. The bottom row is marked *, applying each group's margin to the top of its own sales range and, for the open-ended group, to the highest franchised gross sales of $1,876,551.
A center at $900,000 of sales keeps $83,700. One at $1.5 million keeps $325,500
Across all 134 centers, the lowest profit was −39.4% of sales and the highest was 51.4%. Both extremes sit under $900,000 of sales.
Two tables in the document disagree. One splits the 101 centers into groups of 34, 13, 49 and 5. Another splits the same 101 into 34, 13, 52 and 2. Three centers sit in a different group depending on which table you read.
Rent, wages and revenue
Rent is fixed on the day the lease is signed. What it costs as a share of sales changes every week after that.
A center of 4,000 to 6,000 square feet costs $4,600 to $16,150 a month to rent. At the average of $927,566 of sales, rent at 14.7% is $136,352 a year, or $11,363 a month. The rent stays the same when sales fall. Only the percentage changes.
| quartile | Centers | Average sales | Rent as a share | Margin in its band | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom 25% | 42 | $555,451 | 24.5% | 9.3% | $51,657 |
| Second 25% | 42 | $800,345 | 17.0% | 9.3% | $74,432 |
| Third 25% | 42 | $1,013,135 | 13.5% | 21.7% | $219,850 |
| Top 25% | 43 | $1,331,715 | 10.2% | 21.7% | $288,982 |
| All franchised | 169 | $927,566 | 14.7% | 18.5% | $171,600 |
The brand reported the center counts and average sales for each quarter. The four quarter averages add back to the published $927,566 within a dollar.
Sales per square foot, at 4,000 feet and at 6,000.
At the average sales figure, a 4,000 square foot center sells $231.89 a foot. A 6,000 foot center sells $154.59. The lease is signed years before those sales arrive, and the square footage cannot be changed afterwards.
| Measure | 4,000 sq ft | 5,000 sq ft | 6,000 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales a square foot at $927,566 | $231.89 | $185.51 | $154.59 |
| Rent a square foot at $136,352 | $34.09 | $27.27 | $22.73 |
| Sales needed for 13.4% occupancy cost | $1,017,552 | $1,017,552 | $1,017,552 |
Every figure here is marked *, dividing the filed average gross sales and the filed 14.7% occupancy cost share by each square footage in the stated 4,000 to 6,000 range.
The top quartile sells $1,331,715 and keeps $288,982. The bottom quarter sells $555,451 and keeps $51,657
Wages take 48.8% of sales in the lowest group and 43.1% in the third. At $1 million of sales that difference is $57,000 a year.
The brand’s own locations against yours
The brand's own centers keep 3.2 points more and spend less on wages.
The brand ran 33 of its own centers and reported their costs alongside the 101 owner-run ones. Its own centers keep 21.7% of sales. Owner-run centers keep 18.5%. Wages take 37.9% at the brand's centers and 44.5% at the others, a difference worth $61,219 a year. The brand's centers pay 3.5 points more of their sales in rent.
| Line | Franchised, 101 | At $927,566 * | Company, 33 | At $976,425 * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of goods | 2.9% | $26,899 | 2.0% | $19,529 |
| Wages and benefits | 44.5% | $412,767 | 37.9% | $370,065 |
| Building costs | 14.7% | $136,352 | 18.2% | $177,709 |
| Prime operating costs | 62.1% | $576,019 | 58.2% | $568,279 |
| Gross operating margin | 37.9% | $351,548 | 41.8% | $408,146 |
| Royalty and brand fund | 9.0% | $83,481 | 9.0% | $87,878 |
| Other operating costs | 10.5% | $97,394 | 11.1% | $108,383 |
| Net operating margin | 18.5% | $171,600 | 21.7% | $211,884 |
Percentages and center counts are as the brand reported it. The dollar columns are marked *, applying each side's filed shares kept to its own filed average gross sales, $927,566 across 169 franchised centers and $976,425 across 33 company and affiliated ones.
Matching the brand's wage share would be worth $61,219 a year, which is 6.6 points of sales
The brand's own centers pay $41,357 more rent, at 18.2% of sales against 14.7% *. Rent is the one cost line where owner-run centers spend less.
One table contradicts itself. It gives a lowest profit of 43.3% across all 33 company centers, while its own under-$900,000 column shows −39.4%. Another says the middle center kept 18.9% and the average was 19.2%, while 52.2% of centers were at or above that average.
Opening and the pipeline
Opening costs $664,355 at the cheapest, and the building work is most of it. (Item 7)
Building work runs $541,700 to $856,200. It averaged $738,807 across the six centers built to the current design in 2025. Heating and cooling equipment adds $96,000 to $150,000.
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low estimate * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40,095 | $49,500 | 6.0% |
| Real estate and facility coordination fee | $15,500 | $44,500 | 2.3% |
| Initial training fee and expenses | $1,000 | $7,000 | 0.2% |
| Utility, lease and security deposits | $5,500 | $17,500 | 0.8% |
| Three months' rent | $13,800 | $48,450 | 2.1% |
| Building work | $541,700 | $856,200 | 81.5% |
| Landlord contributions | −$210,350 | −$38,900 | −31.7% |
| Furniture, fixtures and equipment | $19,800 | $28,640 | 3.0% |
| Climate equipment | $96,000 | $150,000 | 14.5% |
| Signage inside and out | $23,000 | $42,000 | 3.5% |
| Technology systems and fees | $17,050 | $24,700 | 2.6% |
| Odor control and microsite setup | $1,200 | $2,700 | 0.2% |
| Opening inventory and supplies | $24,060 | $31,530 | 3.6% |
| Pre-opening marketing | $15,000 | $30,000 | 2.3% |
| Licenses, permits and insurance | $3,200 | $47,000 | 0.5% |
| Professional fees | $28,500 | $78,500 | 4.3% |
| Additional funds, three months | $30,000 | $60,000 | 4.5% |
| Total | $664,355 | $1,478,820 | 100% |
Amounts are as the brand reported it and the share column is marked *.
109 owners have signed. Nine centers opened.
Openings ran 33, then 15, then 9 in the three years to December 2025, a fall of 72.7%. At the end of 2025, 109 owners had signed and had no center open yet. The brand expects 30 to open in the coming year.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 174 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 205 |
| 2024 | 205 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 220 |
| 2025 | 220 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 225 |
| Signed and waiting | 109 agreements, 48.4% of the open franchised system * | 30 projected | ||||
As the brand reported it, with the pipeline share marked *.
At the average center, it takes 3.87 years to earn back the $664,355 it costs to open, on $171,600 kept a year *. On the high opening estimate it takes 8.62 years. In the top quartile it takes under two.
Building work and climate equipment are 96% of the low opening estimate between them *. Both are committed when the lease is signed.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a franchised Dogtopia center keep?
18.5% of gross sales across 101 franchised centers filing a full profit statement for 2025, which is $171,600 at the $927,566 average. Centers under $900,000 of sales keep 9.3%. Centers above $1.5 million keep 23.7%.
What are the largest costs?
Wages and benefits take 44.5% of sales and rent takes 14.7%, which is 59.2% together. Cost of goods is only 2.9%, the royalty and brand fund 9.0%, and everything else 10.5%.
What does the brand take?
7% royalty and a 2% brand fund fee that may rise to 3%. A 2% local marketing commitment measured on a rolling six-month basis, a digital marketing fee currently $125 a month and a technology fee currently $899 to $1,174 a month. At the franchised average that is about $114,320 a year, or 12.3% of sales.
What does it cost to open?
$664,355 to $1,478,820. Building work of $541,700 to $856,200 and climate equipment of $96,000 to $150,000 are the bulk of it, offset by landlord contributions of $38,900 to $210,350.
What territory do I get?
A protected area. It is a three-mile radius if fewer than 25,000 people there match the brand's customer profile. If more do, the area is drawn to include at least 25,000 of them. The brand treats the rules defining that profile as a trade secret and can change them.
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 rent this month?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around wages measured against dog visits week by week, occupancy cost tracked as a percentage. A group target set on the margin ladder above.
Request the review