Kumon franchise unit economics
Kumon franchisees run after-school math and reading centers that charge families a monthly fee for each enrolled student and subject.
Kumon franchise at a glance
Kumon’s 2026 FDD, issued 27 March 2026, makes no financial performance representation in Item 19, so it gives no sales or profit figure. A Kumon franchise costs $101,630 to $233,780 to open, including a $2,000 initial franchise fee. Kumon charges a flat royalty of $38 a student a subject a month once fully licensed, and $42.75 before that.
- Kumon reported 1,705 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
These figures come from Kumon'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 →- Royalty is $456 a student a subject a year. $38 a month, so the 100-math-student center used for the insurance estimate owes $45,600 *, and a student taking both subjects costs $912.
- The temporary license costs $4.75 a student a month. $5,700 a year at 100 students *, and it ends only after cumulatively enrolling 600 math and 400 reading students.
- Reaching that gate means paying about $30,000 of enrollment royalties first. $30 each on 600 math and 400 reading enrollments *, which makes the discount something you buy.
- Replacing students who leave costs enrollment royalties. A center replacing 40 students a year pays $1,200 in enrollment royalties to stand still *, and a student away more than a month re-enrols at full price.
- Company-owned centers fell from 28 to 5 in three years. Thirty of them sold to franchisees while the franchised count rose from 1,618 to 1,705. The brand is handing its own centers to owners.
How much does a Kumon franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for Kumon does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. Kumon charges a royalty of $38 a month for each student in each subject, and $42.75 a month during the temporary license. A 100-student center owes $45,600 a year at the full rate. Kumon had 1,705 franchised centers at the end of 2025.
Top performers
What separates the top Kumon performers
Kumon publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Capacity.Locations run 1,000 square feet. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $101,630 to $233,780, a 2.3× range inside one brand.
Live operating levers
- Enrollment.Kumon charges its royalty on each enrolled student in each subject. Track enrolled subjects, new enrollments and how long families stay.
- Service and retail mix.Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
Context you underwrite around
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Ask the franchisor or current owners for cost and profit figures.
- Sales spread in the category.Across 22 Childcare and Education brands in this library, the top group sells 4.1× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 42% of locations reach their own average *. Ask the franchisor for this brand’s spread.
The student is the unit
Royalty per student, per subject
| Charge | Rate | A year, one student * | A year, 100 students * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty, fully licensed | $38 a student a subject a month | $456 | $45,600 |
| Royalty, temporary license | $42.75 a student a subject a month | $513 | $51,300 |
| Partially exempt or prorated, licensed | $19 a student a subject a month | $228 | $22,800 |
| Partially exempt or prorated, temporary | $21.38 a student a subject a month | $257 | $25,656 |
| New enrollment | $30 once, each new student | $30 | $3,000 |
| New center marketing | $300 a month from month seven | n/a | $3,600 |
Every rate is as the brand reported it and the annual columns multiply each one by twelve months and by one hundred students, marked *.
Math and reading are separate licenses, so a student taking both costs $76 a month. $912 a year *, which makes the second subject the cheapest growth in the model and the most expensive per family.
A flat royalty means the fees take the same dollars whatever you charge. So every dollar of a tuition increase stays in the center, the opposite of a percentage royalty, and the single most important structural fact here.
Royalty falls with enrollment while rent, wages and the marketing fee hold steady. So the center’s break-even is set by fixed costs.
Rates may change on one year’s notice, with the contract leaving the size of the change open. A dollar added to the monthly rate is $1,200 a year at 100 students *.
Assistant wages run $44,000 to $56,000 a year. That estimate rests on the filed three-month figure of $11,000 to $14,000 *, the largest Kumon operating cost after the royalty.
The license gate
Temporary license period
| Requirement | Math | Reading | Enrollment royalties on the way * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative students enrolled | 600 | 400 | $30,000 |
| Of which using Kumon Connect | 10% or more | 10% or more | n/a |
| Professional development credits | 12 in the preceding 12 months | n/a | |
| Royalty premium until then | $4.75 a student a subject a month | $5,700 a year at 100 students | |
The thresholds and rates are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply the $30 enrollment royalty and the $4.75 premium to them, marked *.
The premium runs $57 a student a year *. So a center that takes five years to reach the gate at 100 students has paid $28,500 of premium along the way *.
Underreporting enrollment returns you to the higher rate for three years. $17,100 at 100 students *, which prices the reporting discipline precisely.
Falling short of the ongoing training and performance requirements also reverts the rate. The higher Kumon rate then applies for at least one calendar year.
Passing the instructor achievement test in both subjects is part of the gate. Kumon also checks worksheet study, placement and grading, parent orientation and the appearance of the center. The owner is the instructor, and the license follows the owner.
Twelve professional development credits are required in the twelve months before completion. So the last year before the rate step needs planning a year ahead.
What opening really costs
Brand contribution to a new center
| Item | Amount | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Opening furniture and fixtures | $10,000 | Selected, delivered and paid by the brand |
| Exterior sign | $4,800 to $10,000 | Reimbursed; the brand owns the sign |
| Carpet, blinds and paint | Up to $5,500 | Reimbursed for a new center |
| Rent subsidy | Up to $12,000 | 50% of rent, capped at $1,000 a month for 12 months |
| Digital marketing contribution | $3,600 | Spread over the first 18 months |
| Total * | $35,900 to $41,100 | n/a |
| Filed opening estimate | $101,630 to $233,780 | Already net of most of the above |
Every amount is as the brand reported it and the total adds them, marked *.
The fee paid to the brand at the outset is $6,500 to $7,500. The Kumon entry fees are a $2,000 franchise fee, $2,000 of materials, $2,500 of pre-opening marketing and a $1,000 training deposit, among the lowest in this library.
Building work costs $40,000 to $90,000. Rent of $9,000 to $27,000 for three months and a deposit of up to $30,000 come on top, for a retail lease of at least five years and 1,000 square feet.
The $1,000 training deposit appears twice in the estimate. It appears once as its own line and once as a credit against the franchise fee. So the line items add to $1,000 above the printed totals at both ends, worth knowing when rebuilding the budget from scratch.
Property and casualty cover of $1,800 to $2,800 a year sits outside the estimate. The $580 insurance line covers liability only, priced on an assumed 100 math students.
The brand finances no part of the investment. The rent subsidy applies only where the center commits to four instructional sessions a week, so the schedule choice is worth up to $12,000.
The network of locations
Units opened and closed, 2023 to 2025
| Year | Franchised start | Opened | Terminated | Franchised end | Company-owned end | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,618 | 52 | 30 | 1,637 | 22 | 64 |
| 2024 | 1,637 | 65 | 20 | 1,671 | 18 | 82 |
| 2025 | 1,671 | 62 | 23 | 1,705 | 5 | 64 |
| Three years | n/a | 179 | 73 | n/a | n/a | 210 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with company-owned centers falling from 28 at the start of 2023 to 5 at the end of 2025.
Thirty company-owned centers were sold to franchisees over three years. Nine, nine and twelve, against three closed, so the shrinkage is a transfer of ownership.
Two hundred and ten centers changed hands, 12.6% of the system *. California, Texas and New Jersey carried the most, and buying an operating center is the one route to seeing real numbers before committing.
Openings outran terminations by 106 over three years. Kumon recorded 179 openings and 73 terminations over three years *, with 69 more openings projected and 8 agreements signed and waiting.
Territory is a single approved address. Students must live within a commutable distance the brand judges case by case. Advertising near another center is out of bounds, so catchment is enforced by conduct rules.
Relocation costs a further $2,000 when fewer than 80% of students move with you. That ties the value of the license to the families.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does a Kumon franchise make?
Kumon’s 2026 FDD, issued 27 March 2026, makes no financial performance representation in Item 19, so it gives no sales or profit figure. A Kumon franchise costs $101,630 to $233,780 to open, including a $2,000 initial franchise fee. Kumon charges a flat royalty of $38 a student a subject a month once fully licensed, and $42.75 before that.
What fees does Kumon charge?
Kumon charges a flat dollar royalty for each enrolled student in each subject, every month. $38 once fully licensed and $42.75 during the temporary license period, halved to $19 and $21.38 for partially exempt or prorated students. Add $30 for each new enrollment and $300 a month of new center marketing from month seven.
What does that come to at Kumon?
On our reading, the Kumon royalty comes to $456 a student a subject a year at the licensed rate. A center with 100 math students owes $45,600, and a student enrolled in both math and reading costs $912.
Why does a flat royalty matter at Kumon?
A flat royalty matters because your tuition is yours. Raise prices and the brand's take stays exactly where it was, which is the reverse of a percentage model. The flip side is that an empty seat leaves rent, wages and the marketing fee exactly where they were.
How do I reach the lower rate at Kumon?
A Kumon owner reaches the full license by completing the temporary license period, which means cumulatively enrolling 600 or more math students and 400 or more reading students. The owner must also have at least 10% of students on Kumon Connect, pass the instructor achievement test in both subjects and earn 12 professional development credits in the preceding year. The owner must also be current on reports and payments.
What does the premium cost while I get there at Kumon?
$4.75 a student a subject a month, which is $57 a year for each student and $5,700 a year at 100 students on our reading. Reaching the enrollment gate also means paying about $30,000 of $30 enrollment royalties along the way.
How much does a Kumon franchise cost to open?
$101,630 to $233,780, of which only $6,500 to $7,500 goes to the brand. Building work at $40,000 to $90,000 and three months of rent at $9,000 to $27,000 are the bulk. The brand supplies $10,000 of furniture, pays for the exterior sign, reimburses up to $5,500 of decorating and subsidises half the rent to $1,000 a month for a year.
Where do performance figures come from at Kumon?
No revenue, enrollment or profit figures are available for this brand, so a benchmark has to come from elsewhere. The practical route is to ask an existing owner, or to buy an operating center and review its actual records. The brand will share those records for a center you are purchasing.
Which two numbers should run monthly at Kumon?
Track enrolled students by subject, because each one is a known dollar of royalty and a known dollar of tuition. Then track new enrollments, because each costs $30 and shows whether the center is growing or replacing.
- The filing gives no revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- The filing gives no profit figure, so what a Kumon owner keeps is not disclosed.
- The filing gives no range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- The filing gives no attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- The filing shows no ramp. The filing does not show how a new location builds up, so the first-year curve has to be assumed.
Questions worth putting to Kumon
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 did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- What do the fees add up to as a share of sales at the average location, once minimums and technology charges are counted?
- How many Kumon 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 heads, in how many subjects?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around $456 a student a subject a year, a $4.75 premium that ends at 600 math and 400 reading enrollments, and tuition that is entirely yours to set.
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
Kumon reads against the rest of the tutoring and learning centers group: Best in Class Education Center · Brain Balance · Huntington Learning Center · LearningRx · Mathnasium · Sylvan Learning. The tutoring and learning centers 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?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.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?It explains what each role owns and when the next hire pays for itself.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?It traces where the extra revenue went, line by line.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Kumon North America, Inc.’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us, we are unaffiliated with the brand, calculations of our own are marked with an asterisk 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. Kumon® 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: Kumon North America, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 27 March 2026.