Kumon franchise unit economics
Kumon franchisees run an after-school math and reading center and pay a flat dollar royalty for every enrolled student, $38 a student a subject a month once fully licensed, $42.75 before that. A center with 100 math students pays $45,600 a year. The system reached 1,705 franchised centers in 2025 while company-owned centers fell from 28 to 5.
- Primary source
- Kumon North America, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 0 of 1705 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.
The student is the unit of account here, priced in dollars. $38 a month for each enrolled student in each subject once fully licensed, $42.75 until then, and $30 once for every new enrollment. A center with 100 math students owes $45,600 a year whatever it charges those families.
- 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.
- Customers lost is a royalty line. 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. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Royalty a student a subject: $38 a month; During the temporary license: $42.75 a month; 100-student center, a year: $45,600; Franchised centers, end 2025: 1,705.
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, fixed at build.Locations run 1,000 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 $101,630 to $233,780, 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
- Enrolment, the operating driver.This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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.
Context you underwrite around
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
- What the rest of the category shows.Across the 22 Childcare & Education brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 4.1× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 42% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
The student is the unit
A flat fee for each head, in each subject, every month.
| 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.
It also means an empty seat costs the brand zero and costs you everything. Rent, wages and the $300 marketing fee hold steady while the royalty falls with enrollment. 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 runs $44,000 to $56,000 a year. Based on the filed three-month estimate of $11,000 to $14,000 *, comfortably the largest operating cost above the royalty.
The license gate
The cheaper rate arrives after a thousand enrollments.
| 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. For at least one calendar year, so the license step is reversible in both directions.
Passing the instructor achievement test in both subjects is part of the gate. Along with worksheet study, placement and grading discipline, parent orientation and center appearance. 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
About $37,500 of the opening is already paid by the brand.
| 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. A $2,000 franchise fee, $2,000 of materials, $2,500 of pre-opening marketing and a $1,000 training deposit, among the lowest entry fees in this library.
Building work of $40,000 to $90,000 are the real cost. Plus rent of $9,000 to $27,000 for three months and a deposit reaching $30,000, a retail lease of at least five years and 1,000 square feet.
The $1,000 training deposit appears twice in the estimate. 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 zero part of the investment. And 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
One thousand seven hundred centers, and the brand exiting its own.
| 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. 179 against 73 *, with 69 more 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. Which ties the value of the license to the families.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
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?
On our reading, $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?
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?
By completing the temporary license period: cumulatively enrolling 600 or more math students and 400 or more reading students. At least 10% on Kumon Connect, passing the instructor achievement test in both subjects, earning 12 professional development credits in the preceding year. Staying current on reports and payments.
What does the premium cost while I get there?
$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.
What does it 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?
Zero 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 for a center you are purchasing.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Enrolled students by subject, because each one is a known dollar of royalty and a known dollar of tuition. New enrollments. Because each costs $30 and shows whether the center is growing or replacing.
- No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- 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.
- No range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- 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 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 →How many heads, in how many subjects?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around $456 a student a subject a year, a $4.75 premium that ends at 600 math and 400 reading enrollments. Tuition that is entirely yours to set.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 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?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.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.