How much does a European Wax Center franchise make?

The average European Wax Center unit reported $902,437 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. 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 9% 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

European Wax Center franchise unit economics

European Wax Center franchisees run a single 1,000 to 1,600 square foot retail suite with five or six waxing rooms, selling hair removal and skin care largely through prepaid wax passes and memberships. Across 1,028 centers open the whole of fiscal 2025 the average was $902,437 of gross sales, rising to $1,024,725 for the 724 centers past five years. The fees take a flat 9% of sales plus $585 a month, with zero separate local marketing requirement.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: EWC Franchisor LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: EWC Franchisor 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
Population: 1028 of 1042 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

The brand take here is one of the simplest in franchising: 6% royalty, 3% marketing fund, and $585 a month of technology and search, with zero separate local advertising requirement. Across 1,028 centers the 2025 average was $902,437 of gross sales, and the quarter a center lands in is mostly a question of age, 94.9% of the top quartile is past five years against 33.5% of the bottom.

Units reporting1,028 of 1,042 centers, 2025

Average gross sales$902,437

Past five years$1,024,725

Brand take9% plus $585 a month

The whole brand take is 9% of sales plus $7,120 a year.$88,339 at the average center, which is 9.79% *. The 2% local advertising obligation was folded into the marketing fund in 2016, so the only hard local spend left is an one-time $12,000 at opening.
quartile position is years open.94.9% of the top quartile has been open past five years against 33.5% of the bottom quartile, on averages of $1,428,602 and $475,545 *, three times the sales, and most of the difference is how long the doors have been open.
Centers past five years average $1,024,725.13.6% above the $902,437 all-center figure *, across 724 of the 1,028, so the mature number is the one a fifth-year owner should be benchmarking against.
Openings fell from 107 to 12 while closures rose from 7 to 32.A net loss of 20 centers in 2025 after gains of 100 and 23 *. The first decline the system has recorded across these three years.
175 centers changed hands in three years against zero terminations.One in six of the system, at 48, 76 and 51 a year *, and every one of the 59 exits was booked as ceasing for other reasons.

Top performers

What separates the top European Wax Center performers

European Wax Center splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,428,602 a year. The worst averaged $475,545. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 3.0× 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 1,000 to 1,600 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 $331,600 to $776,950, a 2.3× 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

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.
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 9.0% 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.
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

The reporting screen.1028 of 1042 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.
What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Second

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

Best to worst, by sales

Three times the sales from top quarter to bottom.

Gross sales by quartile, fiscal 2025, 1,028 centers, as the brand reported it
Measure	Top quarter	Second	Third	Bottom	All centers	Past five years
Centers	257	257	257	257	1,028	724
Average gross sales	$1,428,602	$977,033	$728,567	$475,545	$902,437	$1,024,725
Median gross sales	$1,375,183	$973,551	$728,468	$494,648	$1,123,886	$967,104
Highest	$2,420,856	$1,123,668	$842,699	$619,344	$2,420,856	$2,420,856
Lowest	$1,124,103	$846,169	$620,419	$135,136	$135,136	$135,136
Above their own average	104, 40.5%	128, 49.8%	128, 49.8%	141, 54.9%	449, 43.7%	323, 44.6%

Every figure is as the brand reported it, from the 1,028 centers open the entire fiscal year, with past-five-years meaning 60 or more months in operation.

The quartiles weight back to $902,437 exactly. Four equal groups of 257 *, so the quarter table and the systemwide average describe the same population, which is rarer than it sounds and makes both numbers usable.

The all-center median is printed as $1,123,886, above its own average and above the second quartile’s highest-selling center. With four equal rank-ordered quartiles the true middle has to fall between $842,699 and $846,169 *, treat the printed figure as a keying error and use the boundary instead.

The bottom quartile runs from $135,136 to $619,344. A range of 4.6 times inside one quarter of the system *. The widest of the four, and its median of $494,648 sits above its average of $475,545, which is what a long weak tail looks like.

The second and third quartiles have medians within $3,500 of their averages. $973,551 against $977,033 and $728,468 against $728,567, evenly range groups of 257. So an owner inside them can read the quarter average as a real expectation.

The highest-selling center bills 17.9 times the lowest-selling center. $2,420,856 against $135,136 *, on identical suites of five or six rooms, identical fees and identical products.

Years open sets the quarter

Age accounts for the quarter better than anything else does.

Second

$977,033

Third

$728,567

All centers

$902,437

Share of each quartile open more than five years, as the brand reported it, with the sales-per-mature-center view added, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD*Averan calculation
quartile	Centers	Past five years	Share	Average gross sales
Top quarter	257	244	94.9%	$1,428,602
Second	257	225	87.5%	$977,033
Third	257	169	65.8%	$728,567
Bottom	257	86	33.5%	$475,545
All centers	1,028	724	70.4%	$902,437

Every figure is as the brand reported it, with five years meaning 60 or more months in operation.

The share past five years falls from 94.9% to 33.5% as the quartiles descend. A 61-point slide that tracks the sales slide almost perfectly *, so before reading the bottom quartile as lower-selling owners, read it as two thirds young centers.

Centers past five years average $1,024,725 against $902,437 for everyone. A $122,288 premium, 13.6% *, which is the clean measure of what the build-up is worth once site and market are held roughly constant.

304 centers are still inside their first five years. 29.6% of the reporting system *, and 259 of them sit in the bottom two quartiles. So a third of the system is carrying the fee load of a mature center on the revenue of a young one.

The mature group’s median is $967,104 against its $1,024,725 average. A $57,621 gap *, so even among five-year centers the mean is lifted by the strong end, and the middle mature center bills under a million.

The mature group still contains the system’s lowest-selling center at $135,136. Age raises the odds, which is why the fee structure below matters most to the centers that have been open longest and are still in the bottom quarter.

What the fees come to

Fees run nine percent of sales, and nothing else is charged.

Franchise fees by quartile. The rates are as the brand reported it and the dollar columns are *Averan calculation
Charge	Rate	Top quarter	Second	Third	Bottom	Average center
Royalty	6% of gross sales	$85,716	$58,622	$43,714	$28,533	$54,146
Marketing fund	3% of gross sales	$42,858	$29,311	$21,857	$14,266	$27,073
Technology, search and cyber	$585 a month plus $100 a year	$7,120	$7,120	$7,120	$7,120	$7,120
Total	n/a	$135,694, 9.50%	$95,053, 9.73%	$72,691, 9.98%	$49,919, 10.50%	$88,339, 9.79%

Both rates and both fixed charges are as the brand reported it, and every dollar figure and share is marked *.

The load varies by one point across the whole system. 9.50% at the top quartile to 10.50% at the bottom *. The flattest fee curve in this library, because the only fixed element is $7,120 a year.

There is zero separate local advertising requirement. The former 2% local obligation was merged with the former 1% fund in 2016 into the single 3% paid to the brand. So an owner modeling this business has 9% and stops.

The royalty has zero minimum and zero sliding scale. A flat 6% of gross sales, collected weekly, which means a slow month costs the brand as much as it costs the owner. is why the bottom quartile survives at $475,545.

The one hard marketing dollar is $12,000 at opening. A minimum grand opening spend across the three months either side of launch, running as high as $35,000 in the investment table. That is after which the requirement is the 3% and stops there.

Missing the conditions for a successor term costs 150% then 200% of the rate. On both the royalty and the fund, for the first and second 90 days of a cure period. At the average center takes the monthly 9% from $6,769 to $10,152 and then $13,537 *.

Closures and resales

Twelve opened, thirty-two closed, fifty-one sold on.

Franchised center counts and transfers for 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it, with the net column added *Averan calculation
Year	At start	Opened	Ceased, other	At end	Net *	Transfers
2023	938	107	7	1,038	+100	48
2024	1,038	43	20	1,062	+24	76
2025	1,062	12	32	1,042	−20	51

Every figure is as the brand reported it and the net column is marked. With the 2024 close including one former company-owned center converted to a franchise.

Openings fell 89% in two years. 107 to 43 to 12 *, while closures went the other way, 7 to 20 to 32, so 2025 closed 2.7 centers for every one it opened.

175 centers changed hands across the three years. One in six of the 1,042 standing at year end *, against 59 closures, so an owner leaving this system has been three times more likely to sell than to shut.

Every one of the 59 exits was booked as ceasing for other reasons. Zero terminations, zero non-renewals and zero reacquisitions in three years, which tells an owner that exits here are the owner’s decision;s.

The company estate stayed at five centers and sold one. Six at the start of 2023, one sold to a franchisee during 2024, five since, so the brand has almost zero of its own operating risk.

Opening costs $331,600 to $776,950. 37% to 86% of an average year’s sales *, with building work at $147,000 to $386,000 the largest line, on a franchise fee of $45,000, or $36,000 for an existing owner.

Questions we get asked

Questions an owner asks.

What does a European Wax Center bill?

Across 1,028 centers open the whole of fiscal 2025, the average was $902,437 of gross sales. By quartile the averages were $1,428,602, $977,033, $728,567 and $475,545. Centers past five years averaged $1,024,725. The highest-selling billed $2,420,856 and the lowest-selling $135,136. 449 of the 1,028 were above the systemwide average, which is 43.7%.

What does the brand take?

6% of gross sales in royalty, collected weekly, and 3% into the marketing fund, monthly. Plus $310 a month of technology and security, $275 a month for the mandatory local search program, and $100 a year for cyber insurance. On our reading that comes to $88,339 at the average center, or 9.79% of sales.

Is there a local advertising requirement?

Only at opening. The former 2% local advertising obligation was merged with the former 1% marketing fund contribution in 2016 into the single 3% now paid to the brand. The one hard dollar minimum left is a minimum $12,000 of grand opening advertising spent across the three months either side of launch. The investment table running that line as high as $35,000.

Is there a royalty minimum?

Zero. The royalty is a flat 6% of gross sales, free of tiers, thresholds and any weekly or monthly minimum anywhere in the fee schedule. The one escalation is a cure period for a missed successor-term condition. That is where the royalty and the fund both run at 150% of standard for 90 days and 200% for the next 90.

Why is the bottom quartile so far behind?

Largely age. 94.9% of the top quartile has been open more than five years against 33.5% of the bottom, and mature centers average $1,024,725 against $902,437 for everyone. Even so, the mature group still holds the system’s lowest-selling center at $135,136, so years open shifts the odds.

What does it cost to open?

$331,600 to $776,950 for a single center, on a $45,000 franchise fee, or $36,000 for an existing franchisee. Building work run $147,000 to $386,000, furniture and equipment $18,000 to $74,000, and three months of additional funds $45,000 to $75,000. The premises are 1,000 to 1,600 square feet with five or six waxing rooms, and every franchisee currently leases.

Is the territory exclusive?

The territory is expressly non-exclusive. A protected territory is granted per center only after the brand accepts the lease terms, described by a map attached to a location letter. Boundaries set on population density, customer influx, traffic, median age, competitors and proximity to other centers. Size is generally left open at both ends and the radius figure stays unstated. Protection is free of any sales-volume condition.

Which two numbers should run monthly?

Gross sales against $1,024,725 a year once you are past five years and $902,437 before that. Because those are the two benchmarks the quartiles are really sorted by. And wax pass and membership revenue as a share of the total. Because with 9% going out flat and the local spend requirement already inside it, prepaid revenue is where the working capital lives.

What this filing does not disclose

No median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
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 European Wax Center

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 European Wax Center locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

Part of our Health & Wellness Franchise Finance guide and the Beauty & Personal Care Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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.

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Which benchmark applies to your center?

A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around the $1,024,725 mature average, the $902,437 all-center one. What your prepaid balance is doing to working capital.

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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

European Wax Center reads against the rest of the beauty & personal care group: Amazing Lash Studio · Blo Blow Dry Bar · Drybar · Hammer & Nails · The Lash Lounge · Waxing the City. The beauty & personal care 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.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
Checking the franchisor’s own finances
What one location earns and spends
What changes at ten units
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 →

European Wax Center franchise unit economics

How much does a European Wax Center franchise make?

What separates the top European Wax Center performers

Decided before you open

Live operating levers

Context you underwrite around

How far apart the locations are

Three times the sales from top quarter to bottom.

Age accounts for the quarter better than anything else does.

Fees run nine percent of sales, and nothing else is charged.

Twelve opened, thirty-two closed, fifty-one sold on.

Questions an owner asks.

What does a European Wax Center bill?

What does the brand take?

Is there a local advertising requirement?

Is there a royalty minimum?

Why is the bottom quartile so far behind?

What does it cost to open?

Is the territory exclusive?

Which two numbers should run monthly?

Questions worth putting to European Wax Center

Run your own numbers.

Which benchmark applies to your center?

Questions owners ask next

Where these figures come from.

What happens next

European Wax Center franchise unit economics

How much does a European Wax Center franchise make?

What separates the top European Wax Center performers

Decided before you open

Live operating levers

Context you underwrite around

How far apart the locations are

Three times the sales from top quarter to bottom.

Age accounts for the quarter better than anything else does.

Fees run nine percent of sales, and nothing else is charged.

Twelve opened, thirty-two closed, fifty-one sold on.

Questions an owner asks.

What does a European Wax Center bill?

What does the brand take?

Is there a local advertising requirement?

Is there a royalty minimum?

Why is the bottom quartile so far behind?

What does it cost to open?

Is the territory exclusive?

Which two numbers should run monthly?

Questions worth putting to European Wax Center

Run your own numbers.

Which benchmark applies to your center?

Questions owners ask next

Other beauty & personal care brands

Minimum fees and fixed charges, in other categories (Items 5 and 6)

Where these figures come from.

What happens next