Express Employment Professionals franchise unit economics
Express Employment Professionals franchisees run staffing and recruiting offices that place temporary workers and make direct hires, while the franchisor employs the workers, invoices the clients and remits the owner a share.
Express Employment Professionals in the news
- Express Employment Professionals Marks Mid-Year Franchise Growth with 29 Signed Agreements · Franchising.com ·
The Express Employment Professionals headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked this Express Employment Professionals link on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 brands, including Express Employment Professionals. Express Employment Professionals is in the Staffing franchise guide.
Express Employment Professionals franchise at a glance
The owner’s monthly take runs $1,199 in month one, $17,344 by month twelve and $25,646 by month twenty-four. An office open more than five years takes $784,572 a year on $5,775,277 of client billings.
Express Employment Professionals franchisees averaged $5,342,686 of sales in the fiscal year to 28 December 2025, with a median of $4,043,021, according to Item 19 of Express Employment Professionals’ 2026 FDD, issued 27 March 2026. The 526 in that group are 69%* of Express Employment Professionals’ 758 locations. Fees paid to Express Employment Professionals come to about 8.4%* of sales.
- An Express Employment Professionals franchise costs $151,000 to $287,700 to open, including a $40,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Express Employment Professionals takes 40% of gross profit on temporary staffing and 8% to 18% of direct-hire receipts, plus a 0.6% marketing fund contribution.
- Express Employment Professionals reported 758 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- Work out Express Employment Professionals's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Express Employment Professionals's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- The first year returns $146,369 to the owner and the second returns $283,829.Cumulative monthly take across 24 months of operation *, so year two is worth 1.94 times year one, and the build-up still has years to run after that.
- Gross profit holds at about 20% of client billings at every years open.20.17% above 24 months, 19.93% at 24 to 60 months, 20.22% above 60 months *, so growth here comes from more hours, with the margin on each hour fixed.
- The owner keeps 67% of gross profit, which is 13.5% of what clients are billed.$723,237 of a $1,077,371 margin on $5,342,686 of billings *, and the filed royalty works out at 8.4% of billings.
- An office open over five years takes $784,572 and one open two to five years takes $466,143.1.68 times *, so most of the earnings growth in this system arrives after the fifth year.
- By month 24 the office has about 40 people on assignment.6,868 hours a month at full-time equivalents *, billed at $26.07 an hour, of which $3.73 reaches the owner.
How much does an Express Employment Professionals franchise make?
The average Express Employment Professionals unit reported $5,342,686 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $4,043,021. Item 19 of the Express Employment Professionals FDD publishes sales, gross margin and the owner’s share of gross margin for 526 offices open more than 24 months, and what an owner keeps depends on the costs set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 8.4% 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.
The hour as the unit
What an hour produces at month 24
| Measure | Month 12 | Month 24 | Per hour, month 24 * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client billings | $123,789 | $179,022 | $26.07 |
| gross profit | $25,871 | $38,670 | $5.63 |
| Owner take | $17,344 | $25,646 | $3.73 |
| Hours billed | 4,737 | 6,868 | n/a |
| People on assignment * | 27 | 40 | n/a |
The billings, margin, take and hours are as the brand reported it and the per-hour and headcount figures divide them by hours and by a 173-hour month, marked *.
Every hour on assignment costs $26.07 of billing and returns $3.73 to the owner *. So thirteen more people on assignment is worth about $8,300 a month, which is the arithmetic of adding one client.
Gross profit per hour is $5.63 at month 24. That is 21.6% of the $26.07 hourly rate, and the Express owner keeps $3.73 of it before any office cost *.
A client account below 10% margin or $1.75 an hour is charged as though it hit the minimum. The brand’s share is calculated on the minimum instead. The difference comes out of the owner’s remittance, so a low-margin client costs more than it appears to.
The bonus that rebates part of the brand’s 40% needs $981,600 of annual gross profit. Plus a margin of 18% or $4.21 an hour, which at 20% margin implies about $4.9 million of billings, close to the system average.
Multi-unit owners averaged a $33,370 bonus in 2025 and a median of $17,916 *. So for most owners the bonus is a useful supplement.
Top performers
What separates the top Express Employment Professionals performers
Express Employment Professionals splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $16,032,858 a year. The lowest averaged $1,410,891. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $4,043,021. The average was $5,342,686. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 11.4× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Territory.This model sells from a territory, with no storefront. Population density sets how much driving sits between jobs.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $151,000 to $287,700, a 1.9× range inside one brand.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 8.4% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Live operating levers
- Sales depend on customers.The owner works on how many customers are won, how many are lost, and what each spends in a year.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 526 of 758 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 of the Express Employment Professionals FDD publishes sales, gross margin and the owner’s share of gross margin for 526 offices open more than 24 months. Ask the franchisor or current owners for any cost line the filing leaves out.
The first year, month by month
Billings and owner take by month of operation
| Month | Client billings | gross profit | Owner take | Hours | Offices reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,169 | $1,615 | $1,199 | 292 | 29 |
| 3 | $49,159 | $10,174 | $6,910 | 2,065 | 28 |
| 6 | $94,952 | $19,535 | $14,075 | 3,852 | 28 |
| 9 | $115,174 | $22,738 | $15,207 | 4,617 | 25 |
| 12 | $123,789 | $25,871 | $17,344 | 4,737 | 22 |
| 15 | $150,414 | $31,295 | $20,268 | 5,806 | 20 |
| 18 | $190,982 | $39,114 | $23,580 | 7,577 | 15 |
| 21 | $160,520 | $35,543 | $22,399 | 6,364 | 12 |
| 24 | $179,022 | $38,670 | $25,646 | 6,868 | 9 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it for units that opened during 2023, 2024 or 2025 and were still trading at the end of the 2025 fiscal year. The office count falling because fewer units have reached the later months.
The owner’s take passes $10,000 a month in month five. $11,787 *, and passes $20,000 in month fourteen, so the useful planning question is how to fund the first five months.
Year one totals $146,369 and year two totals $283,829. * That compares with working capital of $75,000 to $175,000 budgeted for nine months.
Annualized, the first twelve months produce $999,949 of billings and the second produce $1,998,852. That is almost exactly double, and the second-year rate is 34.6% of the $5,775,277 a mature Express office bills *.
Between 21% and 46% of offices clear the average in any given month. That is what a small group with one or two very large members looks like. Month ten had a high of $643,368 against a median of $82,775.
Eleven units that opened in these three years closed inside their first 24 months. Four closed during 2025, four during 2024 and three during 2023. They sit outside the table above, so the build-up shown is the build-up of the survivors.
Discounts available
- Express Employment Professionals takes 25% off a second occupations addendum and 50% when all addenda are signed.
- Express Employment Professionals takes 25% off a second agreement, 35% off a third and 50% off more than three for the same principal owner.
- Express Employment Professionals takes 50% off initial franchise fees for qualified veterans (VetFran).
- Express Employment Professionals takes 50% off for graduates of its Emerging Entrepreneur (EE) Program.
- Express Employment Professionals waives the Professional fee for renewing franchisees and the Healthcare fee for approved existing franchisees.
From Item 5 of the Express Employment Professionals 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
What years open is worth
Billings and owner take by years open, FY2025
| Years open | Offices | Average billings | Median billings | gross profit | Owner take | Median owner take |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 to 60 months | 97 | $3,520,372 | $2,954,181 | $701,487 | $466,143 | $396,050 |
| Over 60 months | 430 | $5,775,277 | $4,339,327 | $1,167,533 | $784,572 | $618,498 |
| All over 24 months | 526 | $5,342,686 | $4,043,021 | $1,077,371 | $723,237 | $563,915 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it for the 2025 fiscal year, excluding company-owned units and units closed during the period.
Item 7 of the FDD starts the initial franchise fee at $20,000, a discounted price. This page uses the full fee for one unit, $40,000.
An office over five years old takes $318,429 more than one aged two to five. $784,572 against $466,143 *, a 68% difference between Express offices aged two to five years and those past five.
The median office takes $563,915 against an average of $723,237. 78% *, with 182 of 526 offices reaching that average, so the mean is pulled by a long tail at the top.
The top tenth of mature offices bill $17,098,101 and the bottom tenth $1,560,076. 11.0 times *, and the single highest-selling office billed $39,242,565 against a lowest-selling at $129,300.
Billings fell across all three years shown. That is $5,951,124 in 2023 to $5,380,571 in 2024 to $5,342,686 in 2025 for offices over 24 months, a 10.2% decline. The owner’s take fell 16.1% over the same period *.
Multi-unit owners hold 2.55 offices on average and take $2,148,478. But the median multi-owner takes $615,655, 28.7% of that average *, so a handful of very large operators have the multi-unit figures.
Fees, territory and the system
Franchised offices, 2023 to 2025
| Year | Start | End | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 789 | 788 | −1 |
| 2024 | 788 | 783 | −5 |
| 2025 | 783 | 758 | −25 |
The counts are as the brand reported it for US locations including branch offices. The 2025 totals row understates openings by one against its own state detail, which we flag instead of adjust.
Franchise fees take 40% of gross profit on temporary work and 8% to 18% on direct hires. Withheld before the owner is paid, since the franchisor invoices the client and funds the wages, so the owner receives a net remittance.
That works out at 8.4% of billings and 38.0% of gross profit. As the brand reported it for FY2025, and steady at 8.6% and 8.8% in the two prior years, useful when comparing this against a conventional percentage royalty.
A Core office costs $151,000 to $287,700 to open. Of which $75,000 to $175,000 is nine months of working capital. So the fixed set-up is roughly $56,000 to $112,700. A Professional office runs $303,500 to $598,700.
Up to $40,000 of the initial fee is refundable under the new franchise incentive. On billing sixteen clients in a single week or generating $65,000 of gross profit in the first 26 weeks, a target the month-by-month table puts within reach around month five.
Territory is drawn from an available-jobs report. There is no minimum size, and direct hire services, enterprise accounts and an affiliate recruiter are all carved out of the protection. So two territories of similar geography can have very different job counts.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does an Express Employment Professionals franchise make?
Express Employment Professionals franchisees averaged $5,342,686 of sales in the fiscal year to 28 December 2025, with a median of $4,043,021, according to Item 19 of Express Employment Professionals’ 2026 FDD, issued 27 March 2026. The 526 in that group are 69%* of Express Employment Professionals’ 758 locations. Fees paid to Express Employment Professionals come to about 8.4%* of sales.
What does an Express office earn its owner at Express Employment Professionals?
For the 526 offices open more than 24 months, the average owner take in FY2025 was $723,237 with a median of $563,915, on client billings averaging $5,342,686. Offices over five years old averaged $784,572 and those aged two to five years $466,143.
How long is the build-up at Express Employment Professionals?
It takes longer than most. The owner's monthly take runs $1,199 in month one, $14,075 by month six, $17,344 by month twelve and $25,646 by month twenty-four. Year one totals $146,369 and year two $283,829, on our reading. A mature office takes 1.68 times what a two-to-five-year office does, so growth continues well past year five.
What does “sales” mean here at Express Employment Professionals?
The royalty is charged on total client billings invoiced by the franchisor. Gross profit is billings less the workers' wages and the full wages burden, and runs about 20% of billings at every years open. The owner keeps 60% of that margin plus 90% of direct-hire receipts, roughly 13.5% of what clients are billed.
What fees does Express Employment Professionals charge?
Express withholds 40% of gross profit on temporary staffing and 8% to 18% of direct-hire receipts before the owner is paid. That works out at 38.0% of gross profit and 8.4% of billings for FY2025. A 0.6% marketing fund contribution is also withheld.
How does the wages funding work at Express Employment Professionals?
The franchisor employs the workers, invoices the clients, funds the wages and remits the owner's share monthly. That removes the working-capital burden that normally defines a staffing business, so the nine-month additional funds figure of $75,000 to $175,000 covers the office.
What does an office cost to open at Express Employment Professionals?
An Express Employment Professionals franchise costs $151,000 to $287,700 to open for a Core Occupations office, $303,500 to $598,700 for Professional and a separate range for Healthcare. The initial fee is $40,000 per occupation addendum, with 25% off a second and 50% off all three, and 50% off for veterans. Up to $40,000 is refundable on hitting an early billing target.
What territory do you get at Express Employment Professionals?
An Express territory is drawn from an available-jobs report, with no minimum size, and set by job counts. An exclusive territory is expressly excluded, though the brand agrees to keep other franchises and company offices out of it for the services you are authorized to provide. Direct hire work, enterprise accounts and an affiliate recruiter all sit outside that protection.
Which two numbers should run monthly at Express Employment Professionals?
Track hours billed against 6,868, because each hour costs $26.07 of billing and $3.73 of owner take. Then track gross profit percentage against 20%, because it holds steady across the whole system and a client account below 10% is charged as though it reached the minimum.
Questions worth putting to Express Employment Professionals
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- How would wages and rent at a new Express Employment Professionals location compare with the figures in the filing? Item 19 of the Express Employment Professionals FDD publishes sales, gross margin and the owner’s share of gross margin for 526 offices open more than 24 months.
- Which factors does Express Employment Professionals see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 Express Employment Professionals locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →How many hours is your week carrying?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around $26.07 of billing an hour, the $3.73 of it that reaches you. The build-up runs well past year five.
Talk to Averanthe franchise library, all 447 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Express Employment Professionals reads against the rest of the staffing offices group: AtWork Group · Labor Finders · PrideStaff · Spherion.
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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?It explains what changes at around ten units and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Express Services, Inc.’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. Express Employment Professionals® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: Express Services, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 27 March 2026.