Mathnasium franchise unit economics
Mathnasium franchisees teach maths to school-age students from small leased centers. Across 914 centers, total sales of $384,874 have instructor wages of $79,182, rent of $49,098 and brand charges of $66,883, leaving operating profit of $117,000, 30.4% of receipts, and 34.2% at the median center. Franchise fees cost more than the building and 85% of what the teachers cost.
- Primary source
- Mathnasium Franchisor LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 914 of 1043 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.
Across 914 centers the fees take $66,883 a year. The building takes $49,098 and the teachers take $79,182. What is left is $117,000, 30.4% of receipts, and 34.2% at the median center, on an investment that starts at $127,316.
- Operating profit is $117,000, or 30.4% of receipts. And 34.2% at the median center, against an opening cost of $127,316, which is a payback of 1.1 years *.
- Franchise fees cost $17,785 more than the building. $66,883 of royalties and marketing fees against $49,098 of rent, 17.4% of receipts against 12.8% *, and 85% of what instructor wages costs.
- Rent is effectively a constant $49,000. An average of $49,098 and a median of $48,884, $214 apart *, on receipts that differ by $58,446, so it falls from 15.0% of a median center to 12.8% of an average one.
- Revenue per center rises 25.4% with portfolio size. $373,107 at one center, $407,394 at two, $453,229 at three to five and $467,965 at six or more *.
- Receipts grew 13.3% on the year, and 19.2% in the bottom quartile. The bottom quarter of the system grew fastest, closing on a top quartile that grew 12.0%.
How much does a Mathnasium franchise make?
The average Mathnasium unit reported $384,874 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $326,428. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 30.4% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 12% 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.
Top performers
What separates the top Mathnasium performers
Mathnasium splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $693,314 a year. The worst averaged $176,306. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $326,428. The average was $384,874. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 3.9× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $127,316 to $165,846, a 1.3× 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.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 12.8% 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
- Cost of what you sell.Products and materials take 37.7% of sales, against 30.4% kept at the end. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 12.8% 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.
- 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.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 12.0% 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.914 of 1043 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 is left at the end
Thirty cents in the dollar.
| Line | Average | Share of receipts | Median | Share of receipts | Reaching the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total sales | $384,874 | 100.0% | $326,428 | 100.0% | 355 (39%) |
| Instructor wages | $79,182 | 20.6% * | $65,934 | 20.2% * | 363 (40%) |
| Office supplies and furniture | $8,686 | 2.3% * | $5,793 | 1.8% * | 281 (31%) |
| Professional fees | $2,942 | 0.8% * | $1,297 | 0.4% * | 241 (26%) |
| Other variable expenses | $54,356 | 14.1% * | $24,362 | 7.5% * | 252 (28%) |
| Total variable expenses | $145,166 | 37.7% | $97,386 | 29.8% | 336 (37%) |
| Rent | $49,098 | 12.8% * | $48,884 | 15.0% * | 452 (49%) |
| Utilities and other fixed expenses | $6,727 | 1.7% * | $4,450 | 1.4% * | 268 (29%) |
| Total fixed expenses | $55,825 | 14.5% | $53,335 | 16.3% | 444 (49%) |
| Royalties and marketing fees | $66,883 | 17.4% | $64,077 | 19.6% | 434 (47%) |
| Operating profit | $117,000 | 30.4% | $111,630 | 34.2% | 365 (40%) |
Dollar figures, the bold percentages and the counts are as the brand reported it; the individual line percentages are marked *.
Franchise fees cost 85% of what the teachers cost. $66,883 against $79,182 *. Instructor wages is 20.6% of receipts and the brand 17.4%, which makes the fee the second-largest line in the business.
The brand also costs $17,785 more than the building. 17.4% of receipts against 12.8% *. In a format that leases small space, the franchisor is a bigger landlord than the landlord.
Instructor wages holds at about 20% at both the average and the median. 20.6% and 20.2% *. So the teaching cost scales cleanly with receipts, which is what leaves 30 cents of every dollar at the bottom.
Other variable expenses are where the two columns part. $54,356 on average against $24,362 at the median, 14.1% against 7.5% *. A minority of centers spend heavily on marketing beyond the required fees. That single line accounts for most of the gap between the average and median cost structures.
By sales and growth
Four times, and the bottom is closing.
| quartile | Centers | Average | Median | Lowest | Highest | Growth on 2024 | Reaching the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 229 | $693,314 | $635,510 | $467,777 | $1,511,770 | +12.0% | 81 (35%) |
| Mid-upper | 228 | $391,418 | $391,156 | $326,710 | $466,924 | +13.3% | 112 (49%) |
| Mid-lower | 228 | $278,021 | $274,816 | $235,325 | $326,146 | +13.1% | 107 (47%) |
| Bottom | 229 | $176,306 | $182,523 | $66,925 | $234,408 | +19.2% | 128 (56%) |
| All | 914 | $384,874 | $326,428 | $66,925 | $1,511,770 | +13.3% | 355 (39%) |
As the brand reported it.
The bottom quartile grew 19.2% while the top grew 12.0%. The lowest-selling 229 centers are closing the gap faster than the highest-selling are extending it, unusual in this library, where growth normally concentrates at the top.
The top quartile runs from $467,777 to $1,511,770. 3.2 times inside one quarter of the system *, and only 35% of that group reaches its own average. Every other quartile clusters tightly, with medians within a percent of their averages.
The bottom quarter's median is above its average. $182,523 against $176,306. A handful of centers near the $66,925 minimum pull that mean down, while the bulk of the quarter sits close to $200,000.
A move from the bottom quartile to the mid-lower is worth $101,715 of receipts. At the published cost ratios that is about $30,900 of operating profit *, roughly a quarter of what an average center earns in a year.
One center or eleven
Scale helps here.
| Portfolio | Average receipts | Centers | Franchisees | Centers each * | Median | Lowest | Highest | Reaching the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One center | $373,107 | 289 | 289 | 1.0 | $318,865 | $90,745 | $1,335,332 | 112 (39%) |
| Two centers | $407,394 | 120 | 60 | 2.0 | $338,334 | $91,037 | $1,283,151 | 44 (37%) |
| Three to five | $453,229 | 92 | 26 | 3.5 | $390,326 | $77,077 | $1,511,770 | 32 (35%) |
| Six or more | $467,965 | 158 | 14 | 11.3 | $419,572 | $122,948 | $1,387,460 | 63 (40%) |
| All * | $413,279 | 659 | 389 | 1.7 | n/a | $77,077 | $1,511,770 | n/a |
Receipts, counts and medians are as the brand reported it; the centers-each column and the closing row are marked *.
Revenue per center rises 25.4% from one center to six or more. $373,107 to $467,965 *. The median rises further, from $318,865 to $419,572, 31.6%, so the effect runs through the middle of each group.
Fourteen franchisees run 158 centers. An average of 11.3 each *, and they produce the highest receipts per center in the system. Whatever scale buys here, it shows up in revenue.
The share reaching each group's own average changes by less than a tenth. 39%, 37%, 35%, 40%. So larger portfolios raise the level without tightening the distribution, a six-center owner still has a center at $122,948 somewhere.
A second center is worth $34,287 of extra receipts per center. $407,394 against $373,107 *. At the published cost ratios that is roughly $10,400 of operating profit on each of the two, before the second center's own contribution.
Fees and what it costs to open
Twelve percent, plus $1,516 a month.
| Charge | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly royalty | 10% of total sales | From month 24, the greater of 10% or $1,500 a month |
| Monthly marketing fee | $250 plus 2% of total sales | n/a |
| Digital and local marketing fee | $1,000 a month minimum | Begins two months before opening; credited against the local marketing requirement |
| Technology license fee | $266 a month per center | Begins the month after the agreement is signed |
| Base royalty | $650 a month | One per franchisee group however many centers it runs, plus one for each acquired center |
| Annual convention fee | $550 per attendee | n/a |
| Reported across 914 centers | $66,883, or 17.4% of receipts | Median $64,077, or 19.6% |
As the brand reported it.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $49,000 | $49,000 |
| Additional funds, four months | $35,000 | $45,000 |
| Furniture, signs, equipment and supplies | $17,000 | $25,000 |
| Paint, carpet and tenant improvements | $8,000 | $14,500 |
| Rent, first and last month | $6,000 | $14,000 |
| Pre-opening advertising | $5,500 | $5,500 |
| Expenses while training | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| Video surveillance and related equipment | $500 | $2,500 |
| Professional services | $1,300 | $2,000 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,750 |
| Technology fee before opening | $266 | $1,596 |
| Phone and utilities | $500 | $1,000 |
| Business license and name registration | $250 | $1,000 |
| Total, first center | $127,316 | $165,846 |
| Total, additional center | $104,816 | $143,346 |
As the brand reported it, reordered here by size. Both columns add to their stated totals exactly. The additional-center row is the same total less the $22,500 difference in franchise fee *.
Opening repays in 1.1 years at the published profit line. $127,316 against $117,000 *, or 2.4 years against the bottom quarter's receipts at the same cost ratios. That is among the fastest paybacks in this library.
The minimum royalty governs the bottom quartile. $1,500 a month from month 24 matches 10% at $180,000 of receipts *, and that quartile averages $176,306. For its lowest-selling center the minimum is 26.9% of everything it bills.
The base royalty is charged once per owner, whatever the portfolio. $7,800 a year *. An owner with eleven centers range it across all of them, one of the few places where scale lowers a per-center cost.
A second center costs $104,816 at the low end. $22,500 less than the first, on receipts that run $34,287 higher per center in the two-center group *. Both sides of that comparison favor the second unit.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a Mathnasium center be billing?
Across 914 centers, total sales averaged $384,874 in 2025 with a median of $326,428, and 355 of the 914 reached the average. By quartile the averages were $693,314, $391,418, $278,021 and $176,306, with the full range running $66,925 to $1,511,770. Receipts grew 13.3% on 2024 across the system, with the bottom quartile growing 19.2% and the top 12.0%.
What is left after costs?
Operating profit averaged $117,000, or 30.4% of receipts, with a median of $111,630 at 34.2%. Instructor wages took 20.6% of receipts, other variable expenses 14.1%, rent 12.8%, royalties and marketing fees 17.4%, office supplies 2.3%, utilities 1.7% and professional fees 0.8%. The line percentages are marked *. Operating profit here sits before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and any owner compensation, so an owner who draws a salary takes it out of that figure.
What does the brand take?
A monthly royalty of 10% of total sales, which from month 24 becomes the greater of 10% or $1,500 a month. A marketing fee of $250 plus 2% of receipts. A digital and local marketing fee of at least $1,000 a month, credited against the local marketing requirement. A technology license fee of $266 a month per center. And a base royalty of $650 a month, charged once per franchisee group however many centers it runs. Across 914 centers that totals $66,883 a year, or 17.4% of receipts, with a median of $64,077 at 19.6%.
Does a second center pay?
On the published figures, yes. Among centers open 36 months or longer, one-center owners averaged $373,107 a center, two-center owners $407,394, three-to-five-center owners $453,229 and six-or-more owners $467,965, a rise of 25.4%, which is marked *. The medians rise further, from $318,865 to $419,572. A second center also costs $22,500 less to open, at $104,816 to $143,346, and the $650 monthly base royalty is charged once per owner.
Who does bookkeeping for a Mathnasium franchise?
Three things shape the close here. The brand charges have four moving parts on two different bases (12% of receipts plus $1,516 a month per center plus a base royalty charged once per owner) so a single "royalty" line in the accounts hides which piece is growing. Splitting them is what lets an owner see the fixed element against a month's receipts. Second, the minimum royalty of $1,500 a month arrives in month 24 and bites below $180,000 of annual receipts. Is marked *. So a center still building up at its second anniversary needs that step change in the forecast before it lands. Third, other variable expenses run 14.1% of receipts at the average and 7.5% at the median. Is marked *, the widest range of any line. So tracking marketing spend beyond the required fees separately from the rest of that category is where the real control sits. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
Questions worth putting to Mathnasium
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?
- 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 Mathnasium 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 →Where does your center sit in the 914?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around brand charges split into their four parts, a month-24 minimum royalty. Marketing spend tracked separately from other variable costs.
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