MaxLiving franchise unit economics
MaxLiving franchisees run chiropractic and wellness clinics. The 77 clinics reporting for 2024 averaged $908,947 on 319 patient visits a week, which is $54.80 a visit. Visits fell 7.0% on the year while revenue held, so the clinic is doing less work for more money. The share of revenue coming from insurance rose from 9.36% to 13.76%.
- Primary source
- MaxLiving, 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
- 77 of 169 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 average clinic billed $908,947 on 319 patient visits a week, which is $54.80 a visit. Visits fell 7.0% while revenue held, so the price went up 6.62% and the room emptied. The brand charges a flat $1,850 a month whatever the clinic bills, which makes every visit after the 41st of the month royalty-free.
- The average clinic earns $54.80 a visit, up from $51.39. $908,947 across 319 weekly visits against $916,679 across 343 *, so a 6.62% price gain covered a 7.0% fall in volume, and revenue landed 0.84% lower anyway.
- The royalty is a flat $1,850 a month, so 41 visits clear the whole brand bill. $1,850 plus $400 of marketing is $2,250 a month, which is 41 visits at $54.80 *, roughly two patients a day, after which every visit has zero brand cost.
- That flat fee is 9.14% of revenue at the bottom fifth and 1.36% at the top fifth. $27,000 a year against $295,293 and $1,979,752 *, and at the smallest clinic in the system, billing $90,700, it reaches 29.77%.
- The top fifth bills 6.70 times the bottom fifth on 5.31 times the visits. $1,979,752 against $295,293 on 658 weekly visits against 124 *. The price gap between them is only 1.263 times, $57.86 against $45.80, so the distance is volume.
- Insurance went from 9.36% to 13.76% of the average clinic’s revenue in one year. A 4.4 point move, which is $125,071 against $85,801 *, insurance dollars rose 45.8% while everything else the clinic collected fell 5.66%.
How much does a MaxLiving franchise make?
The average MaxLiving unit reported $908,947 of revenue in the 2025 disclosure document, and the median reported $678,008. 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 3% 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.
Insurance and cash
Insurance grew 45.8%. Everything else shrank.
| Source | 2023 | 2024 | Change * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance share of gross sales | 9.36% | 13.76% | +4.4 points |
| Insurance dollars * | $85,801 | $125,071 | +45.8% |
| Everything else * | $830,878 | $783,876 | −5.66% |
| Total gross sales | $916,679 | $908,947 | −0.84% |
The two percentages and the two revenue totals are as the brand reported it; the dollar rows and the change column are marked *.
All of the growth in this system last year came from insurers. $39,270 more from insurance against $47,002 less from everything else *, so the cash side of the average clinic shrank by more than the insurance side grew.
Insurance revenue is now about 2,282 visits a year at the average clinic. $125,071 at $54.80 *, 44 visits a week, or 9 patients a day, whose payment schedule, documentation and collection cycle sit outside the clinic’s control.
A 4.4 point shift in one year is fast for a who pays the bill. 9.36% to 13.76% *, and it lands on a system whose average visit price rose 6.62% at the same time. Is the combination to watch. A higher list price collecting a growing share through a third party.
Top performers
What separates the top MaxLiving performers
MaxLiving splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,979,752 a year. The worst averaged $295,293. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $678,008. The average was $908,947. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 6.7× 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 $207,390 to $537,000, a 2.6× 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
- 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.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 3.0% 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.77 of 169 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.
Revenue and visits
The price of a visit went up. The visits went down.
| Group | 2023 gross sales | 2024 gross sales | 2023 weekly visits | 2024 weekly visits | 2023 a visit * | 2024 a visit * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 20% | $1,863,787 | $1,979,752 | 672 | 658 | $53.34 | $57.86 |
| Middle 60% * | $812,527 | $763,048 | 308 | 273 | $50.76 | $53.74 |
| Bottom 20% | $298,051 | $295,293 | 125 | 124 | $45.85 | $45.80 |
| All clinics, average | $916,679 | $908,947 | 343 | 319 | $51.39 | $54.80 |
| All clinics, median | $717,519 | $678,008 | 290 | 242 | $47.58 | $53.88 |
The top and bottom group figures, the all-clinic averages and medians. The visit counts are as the brand reported it; the right-hand columns and the middle row are marked *.
The middle 60% of the system earns almost exactly what the bottom fifth does for each visit. $53.74 against $45.80, against $57.86 at the top *, so across a system where revenue differs 6.70 times over, the price of an hour differs 1.26 times over.
The gap from average to top fifth is 75 patients a day. $1,070,805 of revenue at $54.80 a visit is 19,542 visits a year, which is 376 a week, or 75 a day across a five-day week *, on top of the 64 a day an average clinic already sees.
The median clinic gained more on price than the average did and still went backwards. $47.58 to $53.88 a visit, up 13.24%, on visits down from 290 a week to 242 *, a 16.55% fall in volume, and revenue 5.51% lower.
Roughly a third of clinics reach the system average. 27 of 77, 35% *, against 26 of 67 in 2023, and the median sits at 74.6% of the average, down from 78.3%. So the top pulled further ahead of the middle in a year when the system as a whole stood still.
Clinic to clinic the range runs 46.7 times. $4,235,940 against $90,700 *, on 1,703 weekly visits against 67, which is 341 patients a day at one end of this system and 13 at the other.
A flat monthly fee
$2,250 a month, whatever you bill.
| Clinic | Gross sales | $27,000 a year as a share * | At the incentive rate, $14,100 * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest in the system | $4,235,940 | 0.64% | 0.33% |
| Top 20% average | $1,979,752 | 1.36% | 0.71% |
| System average | $908,947 | 2.97% | 1.55% |
| System median | $678,008 | 3.98% | 2.08% |
| Bottom 20% average | $295,293 | 9.14% | 4.77% |
| Smallest in the system | $90,700 | 29.77% | 15.55% |
Revenue figures and fees are as the brand reported it; the share columns are marked *.
The 41st visit of the month clears the brand bill, and visits 42 onward have zero brand cost. $2,250 at $54.80 a visit *, against an average clinic seeing about 1,382 visits a month, so 97% of its volume is free of royalty.
A clinic at the bottom fifth pays 6.7 times the share a top-fifth clinic pays. 9.14% against 1.36% *, identical dollars, and the entire difference is denominator. Is a reason the smaller end of this system feels the fee as a tax and the larger end barely registers it.
The incentive rate halves that exposure where it bites hardest. 9.14% to 4.77% at the bottom fifth, worth $12,900 a year *. The same $12,900 is 0.65% of a top-fifth clinic’s revenue. So qualifying matters roughly seven times more at the bottom of this system than at the top.
The waived local marketing requirement is the largest single variable in the franchise fees. 1.5% of gross sales is $13,634 at the average clinic *, which is half the current all-in bill again. It is the one line that would scale with revenue. So it lands heaviest on exactly the clinics the flat fee currently favors.
Opening and the system
Eight openings, twenty exits, zero projected. (Item 20)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Ceased, other | End | Openings as a share of start * | Exits as a share of start * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 192 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 192 | 12.0% | 8.9% |
| 2023 | 192 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 181 | 5.7% | 9.9% |
| 2024 | 181 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 169 | 4.4% | 11.0% |
Counts are as the brand reported it; the two right-hand columns are marked *.
| Route | Total investment | Paid to the brand | As weeks of average gross sales * |
|---|---|---|---|
| New clinic | $207,390 to $537,000 | $90,000 | 11.9 to 30.7 weeks |
| Existing clinic conversion | $65,950 to $279,500 | $55,000 to $90,000 | 3.8 to 16.0 weeks |
Totals and amounts payable to the brand are as the brand reported it. The right-hand column is marked *, dividing each figure by the $908,947 system average and multiplying by fifty-two.
Openings fell 65.2% in two years while exits rose. 23, then 11, then 8, against 17, 18 and 20 leaving *, and the brand projects zero openings for the year ahead against 3 agreements already signed.
The system is 12.0% smaller than it was two years earlier. 169 against 192 *, which for an owner means fewer clinics carrying the marketing fund, the training program and the supplier relationships that the $400 a month pays for.
Almost half the remaining locations sit outside the current franchise system. 76 of 169, 45.0% *, legacy licensees the brand is working to convert, which is the population the two $775 incentive programs are aimed at.
Converting an existing clinic starts at 31.8% of what building one costs. $65,950 against $207,390 at the low end and $279,500 against $537,000 at the high, which is 52.0% *, because building work drop to a $0 minimum, and those improvements are where three fifths of the cost variation lives.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a MaxLiving clinic bill?
The 77 clinics reporting for 2024 averaged $908,947 against a median of $678,008. The top fifth averaged $1,979,752 and the bottom fifth $295,293. Clinic to clinic the range ran $4,235,940 to $90,700.
How many patients is that?
319 visits a week at the average clinic and 242 at the median, which is about 64 and 48 patients a day across a five-day week. The top fifth averaged 658 a week, roughly 132 a day, and the bottom fifth 124, roughly 25 a day. The busiest clinic in the system saw 1,703 visits a week.
What is a visit worth?
$54.80 at the average clinic in 2024, up from $51.39 a year earlier. The range across the system is narrow: $57.86 at the top fifth, $53.74 through the middle and $45.80 at the bottom fifth, all on our own reading of revenue against visits.
What does the brand take?
A flat royalty of $1,850 a month and a marketing fee of $400 a month, which is $27,000 a year regardless of what the clinic bills. Two incentive programs cut the royalty to $775 a month, taking the annual total to $14,100. A local marketing requirement of up to 1.5% of gross sales is reserved but described as currently waived.
How much of the revenue comes from insurance?
13.76% of the average clinic’s gross sales in 2024, up from 9.36% in 2023. In dollars that is roughly $125,071 against $85,801, a 45.8% rise, while the remainder of what the clinic collected fell 5.66%.
What does it cost to open?
$207,390 to $537,000 for a new clinic, of which $90,000 goes to the brand as a $50,000 franchise fee and a $40,000 training fee. Converting an existing clinic runs $65,950 to $279,500. Building work, at $13,200 to $216,100, drive most of the range.
Is the system growing?
It shrank. Clinic counts went 192, 192, 181 and 169 across the three years to the end of 2024, a fall of 12.0%. Openings dropped from 23 to 11 to 8 while exits rose from 17 to 18 to 20. The brand projects zero new clinics for the following twelve months.
- 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.
Questions worth putting to MaxLiving
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 MaxLiving 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 →What is a visit worth in your clinic?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around revenue a visit against the system’s $54.80, your insurance share against 13.76%. How much of your volume sits above the 41 visits a month that cover the flat fee.
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
MaxLiving reads against the rest of the chiropractic group: ChiroWay · HealthSource Chiropractic · The Joint Chiropractic. The chiropractic 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.
- What does this location earn on the money I put into it?Payback period and cash-on-cash return for one unit.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.