HealthSource Chiropractic franchise unit economics
HealthSource Chiropractic franchisees run a clinic combining chiropractic and physical therapy on treatment plans. Across 107 clinics, 2025 sales averaged $609,587, up 4.6%, while 68 clinics with cost data averaged $365,706 of gross profit on $723,707 of revenue. Conversion rate, visits per patient, case average and revenue per visit all sit beside the money. So a shortfall can be traced to the step that caused it.
- Primary source
- HealthSource Chiropractic, 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
- 107 of 128 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.
Gross profit runs $658,998 at the top quartile against $134,018 at the bottom, 4.9 times, on a revenue range of 4.8 times. Costs barely flex. The reason a low-selling clinic stays weak is patient value: 60 visits at $103.95 apiece at the top, 24 visits at $53.18 at the bottom.
- Gross profit runs $658,998 at the top quartile and $134,018 at the bottom.A 4.9 times range against 4.8 times on revenue. The cost base holds almost still.
- A top-quarter patient is worth $6,237 and a bottom-quarter patient $1,276.60 visits at $103.95 against 24 visits at $53.18.
- The $3,000 monthly local minimum marketing charge binds on every clinic under $720,000.$36,000 a year is 15.6% of bottom-quarter revenue where the 5% rate would be $11,502.
- The brand and its required marketing take 14.25% of revenue at the top quartile and 25.84% at the bottom.$157,213 against $59,452, on revenue of $1,103,318 and $230,047.
- 39 clinics left across three years against 30 openings.The franchised network went from 138 to 128.
How much does a HealthSource Chiropractic franchise make?
The average HealthSource Chiropractic unit reported $609,587 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $515,779. The brand’s disclosure document 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. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Revenue & gross profit
Revenue by quartile, and where it went.
| quartile | Clinics | 2024 revenue | 2025 revenue | Increase | Visits a year | Visits a week | Patient cases a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quartile 1 | 27 | $1,054,114 | $1,103,318 | +4.7% | 13,876 | 267 | 370 |
| quartile 2 | 27 | $646,290 | $661,427 | +2.3% | 8,319 | 160 | 222 |
| quartile 3 | 27 | $399,862 | $429,499 | +7.4% | 5,402 | 104 | 144 |
| quartile 4 | 26 | $217,642 | $230,047 | +5.7% | 2,893 | 56 | 77 |
| All 107 clinics | 107 | $582,858 | $609,587 | +4.6% | 7,667 | 147 | 204 |
Revenue and growth rates are as the brand reported it for the 107 clinics that qualified in both 2024 and 2025.
The average sits $93,808 above the median. $609,587 against $515,779, so the middle clinic in this system bills 15% less than the average one and only 40.2% of clinics reach the average at all. For benchmarking a real clinic, $515,779 is the honest midpoint and the $609,587 figure is pulled upward by a ceiling at $1,681,383, twenty times the $84,443 minimum.
quartile 3 grew fastest at 7.4% and quartile 2 slowest at 2.3%. The other two ran 4.7% and 5.7%. So the growth across this system is broadly range, and the second quartile (clinics around $661,427) is the group that stalled.
A bottom-quarter clinic runs about 56 visits a week and a top-quarter one about 267. At system pricing. Closing the distance from quartile 4 to the system average takes 4,773 more visits a year, 92 a week, or 127 more patient cases. Those are the numbers to put on the whiteboard, because revenue targets in this business resolve into appointments.
Gross profit.
| quartile | Clinics | Gross profit |
|---|---|---|
| quartile 1 | 17 | $658,998 |
| quartile 2 | 17 | $415,458 |
| quartile 3 | 17 | $254,352 |
| quartile 4 | 17 | $134,018 |
| All 68 clinics | 68 | $365,706 |
As the brand reported it.
Gross profit is 50.5% of revenue across the 68 clinics reporting costs. $365,706 on $723,707. The expense side: 5.8% royalty, 1.9% ad fund, 10.2% rent and utilities, 31.6% non-owner wages and $9,600 of technology, 49.5% plus 1.3 points of technology, or 49.47% of revenue consumed. Wages are the largest line by a distance, at more than three times rent.
Gross profit range 4.9 times across the quartiles where revenue range 4.8. $658,998 to $134,018 against $1,103,318 to $230,047. Essentially every extra dollar of revenue in this system drops through at the system margin. Is what you would expect where a third of the cost base is clinical wages that scale with visits and another tenth is rent that stays flat against volume.
The minimum of the gross profit range is $72,029 before the owner is paid. Against a ceiling of $828,296, 11.5 times. And since the owner's own compensation comes out of this line, a clinic at the bottom of that range is funding a practitioner's salary, debt service on a $435,932 build and any return on capital from $72,029.
Top performers
What separates the top HealthSource Chiropractic performers
HealthSource Chiropractic splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,103,318 a year. The worst averaged $230,047. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $515,779. The average was $609,587. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 4.8× 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 45,000 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 $435,932 to $635,078, a 1.5× 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 10.2% 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 31.6% of sales. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 10.2% 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.
- Visits, the operating driver.This model bills on visits. The owner watches how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. 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 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.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.107 of 128 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. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
Fees and what it costs to open
What the brand and its marketing requirement cost.
| quartile | Revenue | Royalty at 7% | Ad fund at 2% | Local marketing requirement | Flat fees | Total | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quartile 1 | $1,103,318 | $77,232 | $22,066 | $55,166 | $2,748 | $157,213 | 14.25% |
| quartile 2 | $661,427 | $46,300 | $13,229 | $36,000 | $2,748 | $98,276 | 14.86% |
| All clinics | $609,587 | $42,671 | $12,192 | $36,000 | $2,748 | $93,611 | 15.36% |
| quartile 3 | $429,499 | $30,065 | $8,590 | $36,000 | $2,748 | $77,403 | 18.02% |
| quartile 4 | $230,047 | $16,103 | $4,601 | $36,000 | $2,748 | $59,452 | 25.84% |
Ours, built from the filed rates: a 7% continuing franchise fee, a 2% advertising fee capped at 2%. A local marketing requirement of the greater of 5% of gross revenues or $3,000 a month, required per clinic.
The $3,000 monthly minimum marketing charge binds on every clinic below $720,000 of revenue. That is three of the four quartiles and the system average. At quartile 4 the 5% rate would cost $11,502; the minimum costs $36,000, $24,498 more, or 10.6 points of revenue. For a clinic under $720,000 the marketing requirement behaves like rent, and it is the single reason the all-in rate climbs from 14.25% to 25.84%.
A bottom-quarter clinic pays $59,452 to the brand and its market against $134,018 of gross profit. And gross profit already has royalty, ad fund and technology deducted. The local marketing requirement sits outside that definition. So the $36,000 comes out of what is left, and it is 26.9% of it.
The reported royalty is 5.8% against a stated 7%. With ad fund at 1.9% against 2%. Whatever the reason (earlier agreements on other terms, or a sales base that differs from what the fee table contemplates) a new franchisee should model 9% on collections against the 7.7% the expense study implies. Should ask which base the royalty is calculated on before signing.
Opening late costs $500 a month, then $1,000, then $2,000. For a start-up clinic those clocks start at 365, 455 and 545 days from signing. A conversion clinic is on a far shorter leash: 60, 90 and 210 days.
Opening a clinic.
| Item | Conversion clinic | Start-up clinic |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | $60,000 |
| Security deposits | $0 | $4,500 – $8,670 |
| Site selection and construction management | $0 – $15,000 | $20,000 |
| Building work and decorating | $0 – $120,000 | $127,500 – $243,500 |
| Signage | $6,000 – $12,000 | $6,000 – $12,000 |
| Therapy equipment and soft goods | $0 – $7,751 | $7,751 |
| Chiropractic equipment | $0 – $15,515 | $15,515 |
| X-ray equipment | $0 – $37,600 | $37,600 |
| Class 4 laser and spinal decompression | $0 – $37,572 | $37,572 |
| Miscellaneous supplies and equipment | $0 – $2,000 | $500 – $2,000 |
| Furnishings | $0 – $3,070 | $2,200 – $3,070 |
| Computers and installation | $0 – $3,500 | $3,200 – $3,500 |
| Licenses and permits | $0 – $1,000 | $300 – $1,000 |
| Professional fees | $3,500 – $17,000 | $21,110 – $34,600 |
| Telecommunications | $0 – $2,500 | $200 – $2,500 |
| Insurance | $2,100 – $5,300 | $2,100 – $5,300 |
| Branding and grand opening kit | $3,600 – $6,600 | $4,600 – $6,600 |
| Three months of marketing | $16,300 – $22,300 | $16,300 – $22,300 |
| Initial training expenses | $3,000 – $8,000 | $3,000 – $8,000 |
| Three months of rent | $0 – $27,000 | $9,900 – $27,000 |
| Three months of billing software lease | $1,887 – $2,193 | $1,887 – $2,193 |
| Three months of technology and data security | $687 – $777 | $687 – $777 |
| Three months of HR and wages services | $1,951 – $2,518 | $1,951 – $2,518 |
| Three months of card processing | $350 – $2,200 | $350 – $2,200 |
| Additional funds, three months | $9,072 – $13,609 | $33,495 – $44,840 |
| Pre-opening wages | n/a | $17,714 – $24,072 |
| Total | $83,447 – $400,005 | $435,932 – $635,078 |
As the brand reported it.
Converting an existing practice costs as little as $83,447 against $435,932 to build one. A 5.2 times difference at the low end, because a converting chiropractor already owns the equipment, the space and the patient list. The conversion column costs $0 at the low end for deposits, construction management, building work and every piece of clinical equipment. That is why the fee itself is $35,000 against $60,000. The franchisor is selling a system to a practice that already exists.
Clinical equipment is $98,438 of a start-up build. X-ray at $37,600, Class 4 laser and spinal decompression at $37,572, chiropractic equipment at $15,515 and therapy equipment at $7,751, all fixed. Identical figures at both ends of the range. Building work at $127,500 to $243,500 are the only line that genuinely swings.
Pre-opening wages and three months of working capital run $51,209 to $68,912. On top of everything else, and separate from the $16,300 to $22,300 of opening marketing. Against a bottom-quarter clinic billing $230,047 in a full year, that working capital assumption is the part of the model most worth stress-testing.
Patients & visits
Four numbers that account for the whole system.
| quartile | Clinics | Conversion | Visits per patient | Case average | Revenue per visit | Visits × revenue per visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quartile 1 | 29 | 81% | 60 | $4,419 | $103.95 | $6,237 |
| quartile 2 | 29 | 73% | 40 | $3,225 | $89.22 | $3,569 |
| quartile 3 | 29 | 65% | 32 | $2,558 | $71.70 | $2,294 |
| quartile 4 | 29 | 55% | 24 | $1,727 | $53.18 | $1,276 |
| All 116 clinics | 116 | 68% | 39 | $2,982 | $79.51 | $3,101 |
Every filed column is as the brand reported it, for the 116 clinics qualifying in 2025.
A patient is worth $6,237 at the top quartile and $1,276 at the bottom. The two drivers multiply: 2.5 times the visits and 2.0 times the revenue per visit compound to 4.9 times the value. That figure tracks the 4.8 times revenue range almost exactly. So what separates a $1.1 million clinic from a $230,047 one is what happens to a patient after they convert.
Every $10 of revenue per visit is worth $76,668 a year at system volume. On the 7,667 visits implied by $609,587 at $79.51. The quartile steps are $14.73, $17.52 and $18.52, so moving one group is worth $112,900 to $142,000 of revenue on identical traffic. This is the cheapest money on the page: it arrives through service mix and treatment planning.
Visits per patient run 17 to 192 across the system. An 11.3 times range, the widest of the four measures, wider than case average at 6.4 times or revenue per visit at 4.0. Half the clinics sit at 36 or below against an average of 39. Treatment-plan length is the most variable thing 116 clinics do with the same operating system.
Conversion runs 41% to 91% and the median matches the average at 68%. 55.2% of clinics reach the average, the tightest distribution of the four measures. So conversion behaves like a system-wide competence with a long tail on either side. Meanwhile visits per patient and case average are where individual clinics genuinely diverge.
The network of locations
The network of locations. (Item 20)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminations | Non-renewals | Ceased, other | End | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 138 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 130 | −8 |
| 2024 | 130 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 132 | +2 |
| 2025 | 132 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 128 | −4 |
As the brand reported it, with one exception. The state-by-state table totals 129 clinics at the end of 2025 while the systemwide summary and Item 19 both say 128. The same summary shows total outlets falling by 6 in 2023 where the franchised line falls by 8 and the company line stays at zero.
39 clinics departed across three years against 30 openings. 13, 12 and 14 out; 5, 14 and 11 in. The network has fallen from 138 to 128, and the largest single exit route is non-renewal at 24 of the 39 instead of termination at 6. That pattern, franchisees reaching the end of a term and walking, is the one to ask current owners about.
The franchisor owns zero clinics and has throughout. So every figure in the financial tables is franchisee performance with zero company estate alongside it. For benchmarking that is helpful; for judging whether the model works in the franchisor's own hands, there is simply zero evidence available.
64 signed agreements sit unopened against 31 projected openings. Texas holds 16 of the 64 and Florida 10, with six projected in Texas and three in Florida. Against 11 actual openings in 2025, the projection implies nearly tripling the delivery rate.
What territory you get.
You receive an exclusive Protected Territory built around 30,000 to 45,000 people. Sized on population, demographics and estimated demand, agreed when you sign if a site exists and designated later otherwise. Inside it the franchisor and its affiliates will refrain from operating or franchising another clinic under the marks for as long as you comply. Each side needs the other's agreement to alter the boundary.
Every other channel stays open in both directions. You may sell to customers outside your territory through the internet, email, social, telemarketing and direct marketing with zero compensation owed. Other clinics may do the same inside yours. Discounting to attract patients living inside another franchisee's territory is prohibited. The franchisor reserves the right to be acquired by a business that already franchises competing clinics inside your territory.
Keeping the territory depends on compliance. Zero sales volume or market penetration target attaches to it. Under a development agreement the schedule is one clinic every twelve months for the first three. The site selection area ends once the lease for the last clinic is signed.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a clinic be billing?
The 107 clinics qualifying in both years averaged $609,587 in 2025 with a median of $515,779, ranging from $84,443 to $1,681,383. By quartile: $1,103,318, $661,427, $429,499 and $230,047. Growth ran 4.6% overall and 4.7%, 2.3%, 7.4% and 5.7% by quartile. Only 40.2% of clinics reach the average, so the median is the fairer benchmark.
What does a clinic actually keep?
The 68 clinics that submitted cost data averaged $365,706 of gross profit on $723,707 of revenue, 50.5%. A median of $314,834 and a range of $72,029 to $828,296. By quartile the gross profit averages were $658,998, $415,458, $254,352 and $134,018. Crucially, this definition deducts zero owner compensation, so an owner-operator's own pay still comes out of it. The expense lines behind it averaged 5.8% royalty, 1.9% ad fund, 10.2% rent and utilities, 31.6% non-owner wages and $9,600 of technology.
Which operating number moves revenue most?
Patient value, which is visits per patient multiplied by revenue per visit. The top quartile runs 60 visits at $103.95 for $6,237 a patient. The bottom runs 24 at $53.18 for $1,276, a 4.9 times gap that tracks the 4.8 times revenue gap. Conversion is the tightest measure at 68% average and median, ranging 41% to 91%. Visits per patient is the loosest, at 17 to 192. Each $10 of revenue per visit is worth $76,668 a year at system volume.
What does the brand cost each year?
A 7% continuing franchise fee, a 2% advertising fee capped at 2%. A local marketing requirement of the greater of 5% of revenue or $3,000 a month. $199 a month of technology and $15 a month per email address with two required. That totals 14.25% of revenue at the top quartile and 25.84% at the bottom. That is because the $36,000 minimum marketing charge binds on every clinic under $720,000. Renewal is $10,000, transfer is $10,000, and late reporting is $100 a week.
Who does bookkeeping for a HealthSource Chiropractic franchise?
The unusual thing here is that the franchisor's own study defines gross profit for you. So the close has a natural target format. Revenue less royalty, ad fund, technology, non-owner wages, rent, utilities and software, with owner compensation shown separately below that line. Reporting to that shape lets an owner compare directly against $365,706, a $314,834 median and the four quartile figures. Two mechanics need attention. First, sales means funds actually received and collected, so the royalty base is a cash measure while the books are usually the accrual. The reconciliation between billings, collections and the royalty debit belongs in the monthly pack. Second, the $3,000 monthly local marketing minimum is a fixed commitment that lives outside the gross profit definition. So a clinic under $720,000 needs it carried as a standing cost. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to HealthSource Chiropractic
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 HealthSource Chiropractic locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
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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