Lightbridge Academy franchise unit economics
Lightbridge Academy franchisees run early education and child care centers, licensed for a fixed number of seats, that collect prepaid tuition, registration and enrollment fees.
Lightbridge Academy in the news
- Lightbridge Academy Debuts Fast-Track Ownership Program to Fuel Franchisee Growth · Franchising.com ·
The Lightbridge Academy headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked this Lightbridge Academy link on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 brands, including Lightbridge Academy. Lightbridge Academy is in the Early Education and Child Care franchise guide.
Lightbridge Academy franchise at a glance
Lightbridge Academy’s Item 19 reports fiscal 2025 revenue, EBITDA and occupancy for 47 mature franchised centers, by quartile, and wages and rent for 62 mature centers.
Lightbridge Academy franchisees averaged $2,599,877 of sales in fiscal 2025, with a median of $2,664,063, according to Item 19 of Lightbridge Academy’s 2026 FDD, issued 10 April 2026. The 47 in that group are 69%* of Lightbridge Academy’s 68 locations. Fees paid to Lightbridge Academy come to about 10%* of sales.
- A Lightbridge Academy franchise costs $834,868 to $1,409,735 to open, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Lightbridge Academy charges a royalty of 7% of sales and a 3% brand fund contribution.
- Lightbridge Academy’s 47 mature franchised centers averaged EBITDA of 14.7% of revenue in 2025. Lightbridge Academy’s FDD defines EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, after payroll, program costs, royalty, brand fund and rent.
- At the 62 mature Lightbridge Academy centers, wages took 45% and rent and space costs took 15% of sales.
- Work out Lightbridge Academy's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
- From this tax year, the employer tax credit that pays companies to buy child care seats such as Lightbridge Academy’s is worth more than triple what it was.
These figures come from Lightbridge Academy'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 →- A center at 74.5% occupancy keeps 9.7% of revenue. At 93.6% of capacity a center keeps 21.0%; at 74.5% it keeps 9.7%; at 57.0% it keeps 4.6% before debt.
- A point of occupancy is worth about $8,000 of profit, and more as you climb. Wages hold at 41% to 49% either way, because staffing follows state ratios against the license.
- The bottom quartile pays roughly the same rent as the third quartile. Rent, tax and CAM take 19% of revenue in the Lightbridge Academy bottom quartile, against 15% in the third quartile and 12% in the top.
- A second center requires 65% occupancy at the first. The median Lightbridge Academy center in the bottom quarter runs at 60.6% occupancy.
- From 2026 the federal employer childcare credit rises to 40% of spend. The cap rises to $500,000, and contracts through an intermediary qualify.
How much does a Lightbridge Academy franchise make?
The average Lightbridge Academy unit reported $2,599,877 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $2,664,063. The brand’s disclosure document puts EBITDA for 47 mature franchised centers at 14.7% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 10% 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.
How the business works
Mature centers by quartile, fiscal year 2025
| quartile | Centers | Avg occupancy | Avg sales | Avg profit | margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | 12 | 93.6% | $3,409,898 | $715,175 | 21.0% |
| 2nd quartile | 12 | 83.9% | $2,885,173 | $492,109 | 17.1% |
| 3rd quartile | 11 | 74.5% | $2,300,819 | $222,405 | 9.7% |
| 4th quartile | 12 | 57.0% | $1,778,698 | $81,600 | 4.6% |
| All franchised mature | 47 | 77.3% | $2,599,877 | $381,129 | 14.7% |
The quartiles are built on sales. The occupancy column is the average occupancy of the centers in each revenue quartile.
The gap between a full center and a half-full one runs to nearly nine times the money. The lowest-selling center in the system lost $115,363, so the bottom of this range is a live outcome.
What a point of occupancy is worth. Climbing from 57.0% to the third quarter's 74.5% is 17.5 points and $140,805 of profit, about $8,000 a point. The next 9.4 points are worth $269,704, roughly $29,000 a point, because staffing and rent are already paid for by then. We calculated this from the disclosed dollars.
Expenses as a share of sales, fiscal year 2025
| Line | All 62 | Top | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupancy (enrollment vs licensed capacity) | 78.0% | 92.6% | 84.1% | 75.4% | 60.0% |
| Wages, including taxes | 45% | 41% | 45% | 47% | 49% |
| Benefits | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Other program expenses | 3% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Business insurance | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Professional fees | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| All other expenses | 11% | 11% | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| EBITDAR | 30% | 34% | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| Rent, tax and CAM | 15% | 12% | 14% | 15% | 19% |
| EBITDA | 15% | 22% | 17% | 12% | 5% |
As disclosed, percentages included.
Wages: 41% of revenue at the top, 49% at the bottom. The state sets how many teachers each room needs, and a half-empty infant room still needs a full one. You hire for the license and you get paid for the children who show up.
Rent, tax and CAM: 12% at the top, 19% at the bottom. The lowest-selling centers pay about the same rent in dollars as the ones a tier above them. They just earn $500,000 less to cover it, so rent as a share of revenue is an enrollment number.
So a soft center stays soft however hard you work the cost line. There is very little left to cut. You fix it by filling seats.
Top performers
What separates the top Lightbridge Academy performers
Lightbridge Academy splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $3,409,898 a year. The lowest averaged $1,778,698. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 1.9× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $834,868 to $1,409,735, a 1.7× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy ran 15.0% of sales across the 62 mature centers. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Fees and the minimum.Lightbridge Academy charges a 7% royalty and up to 3% to the Brand Development Fund, about 10% of sales at every level.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 45.0% of sales at the 62 mature centers, against EBITDA of 14.7% at the 47 mature franchised centers. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy stays the same when sales fall.Rent and building costs take 15.0% of sales at the 62 mature centers. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Enrollment.The license sets the number of places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 47 of 68 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- The franchisor reports its own locations too.The franchisor reports its own locations alongside the franchised ones. Treat them as a guide to what is possible. They do not represent the system: they are operated by the franchisor, usually mature, and usually few.
Occupancy
Occupancy requirement for a second center
If your first center has been open a year and sits under 65% full, Lightbridge holds back your second one. You get 180 days to fix it, and if you are still short at the end of that they can terminate your agreement. So a soft center costs you the growth plan as well as the earnings, and puts the business you already own at risk.
This happens often enough to take seriously: more than half the bottom quarter of the system already sits under that line. If a second center is in your plan, occupancy at the first one is the gate you have to clear. That makes every point of enrollment between now and then worth more than it looks on the P&L.
| quartile | Average | Median | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | 93.6% | 93.7% | 98.4% | 88.3% |
| 2nd quartile | 83.9% | 83.8% | 88.3% | 79.6% |
| 3rd quartile | 74.5% | 74.6% | 79.6% | 68.1% |
| 4th quartile | 57.0% | 60.6% | 67.9% | 32.6% |
| All 47 | 77.3% | 79.6% | 98.4% | 32.6% |
These figures are as the brand disclosed them.
All centers against mature centers
| Population | Centers | Avg occupancy | Avg sales | Bottom-quarter occupancy | Bottom-quarter revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mature centers (18+ months) | 62 | 78.0% | $2,640,681 | 60.0% | $1,875,147 |
| All open before 1/1/2025 | 75 | 72.5% | $2,464,153 | 46.6% | $1,502,331 |
Both rows combine franchised and affiliate-owned centers.
Discounts available
- Lightbridge Academy takes 10% off the fee (and any Development Rights Fee) for each center developed by honorably discharged U.S. Armed Forces veterans owning 20% or more.
- Lightbridge Academy charges a Development Rights Fee of $75,000 for two centers, $95,000 for three, $110,000 for four and $125,000 for five, with no separate fee per center.
From Item 5 of the Lightbridge Academy 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
What the money side covers
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty Fee | 7% of Gross Revenues, reduced to 4% in stated circumstances | Percentage of revenue |
| Brand Development Fund | Up to 3% of Gross Revenues | Percentage of revenue |
| Advertising cooperative | Up to 2% of Gross Revenues where one is established | Percentage of revenue |
The Lightbridge Academy franchise agreement lists further fees and the conditions for the reduced royalty.
Royalty and brand fund are already inside these margins, they sit in the expense stack. So 14.7% is what a center keeps after Lightbridge is paid. You can put these figures into a budget without adjusting them first.
They are before debt, though. The loan payment on the build-out comes out of that 14.7%, and what is left after it is your return.
Questions we get asked
How much does a Lightbridge Academy franchise make?
Lightbridge Academy franchisees averaged $2,599,877 of sales in fiscal 2025, with a median of $2,664,063, according to Item 19 of Lightbridge Academy’s 2026 FDD, issued 10 April 2026. The 47 in that group are 69%* of Lightbridge Academy’s 68 locations. Fees paid to Lightbridge Academy come to about 10%* of sales.
What occupancy does a Lightbridge Academy center need to work?
Break-even sits between the quartiles. At 93.6% full a center keeps 21.0%. At 74.5% it keeps 9.7%. At 57.0% it keeps 4.6%, before the loan payment. The low-to-mid 70s is where the model starts to work, and 65% is the line the franchise agreement itself measures you against.
Why does margin fall when a Lightbridge Academy center is half full?
Margin falls because your two biggest bills follow the building and the license while your revenue follows the children. You staff to state ratios and you pay rent on the whole space regardless. An empty seat still costs you its share of both, so nearly every dollar of tuition you miss comes straight off your profit.
Does Lightbridge disclose profitability at Lightbridge Academy?
Yes, and in more detail than most. You get expenses and profit in dollars and as a share of revenue, split by quartile, with franchised centers kept separate from the ones the franchisor's affiliate owns. The margins are after franchisor fees and before your loan payment. The data is unaudited.
What can I do to lift occupancy at Lightbridge Academy?
Start with employers near you. From tax year 2026 the federal credit covers 40% of a company's qualified child care spend against a $500,000 cap. The credit now covers spend made through an intermediary or a jointly operated facility, so an employer can contract with your center. Those points of occupancy come at your highest margin.
Which number should I measure my Lightbridge Academy center against?
Measure your Lightbridge Academy center against its own occupancy quartile. Work out your enrollment against licensed capacity, find the matching row, and compare your wages and occupancy percentages to it. Those two lines have the whole difference between a 21.0% margin and a 4.6% one. The system average of $381,129 of EBITDA and median of $327,766 are useful only for knowing roughly where you sit. The quartile rows are where the actions are.
Who does bookkeeping for a Lightbridge Academy franchise?
You collect before you deliver. Tuition is billed in advance, registration fees land before a child starts, and summer camp is often paid months ahead. All of it stays deferred until the care is provided. During presales you can bank real money before serving a single family. If the books treat that as revenue the opening months read far better than they are.
Insist on two things. Split wages by classroom and age group: at 45% of revenue it decides your year. You can only fix it once you can see which rooms are overstaffed for the children in them. Then put occupancy, meaning children enrolled against licensed capacity, in the monthly pack next to the P&L. It predicts your margin, and your franchise agreement measures you on it. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
Questions worth putting to Lightbridge Academy
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- Which factors does Lightbridge Academy 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 Lightbridge Academy 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 →Run these numbers against your own center.
We review your unit economics, cash forecast and reporting, so you know where you stand against the disclosed averages.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Lightbridge Franchise Company, LLC's 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us, we are unaffiliated with the brand, the figures describe past performance at other centers, calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. This page is an educational summary and is not legal or tax advice. Lightbridge Academy® 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: Lightbridge Franchise Company, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 10 April 2026.
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Lightbridge Academy reads against the rest of the early education and child care group: Celebree School · Kiddie Academy · Primrose Schools · Soccer Shots · The Goddard School · The Learning Experience. The early education and child 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?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.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.
- What should I be looking at every week?It lists the handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.