How much does a Pestmaster franchise make?

The average Pestmaster unit reported $514,024 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $148,210. The filing 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 9% 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,

Breakdown

Pestmaster franchise unit economics

Pestmaster franchisees control pests and vectors for residential, commercial and government customers across one or more territories. Territory count accounts for 2.4% of the difference between franchisees: one holding five territories bills $128,159 while a single-territory operator bills $556,075. Buying ground adds little, and working it is the whole game.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: Pestmaster, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: Pestmaster, 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: 33 of 75 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.

Key idea

Every reporting franchise appears here by number, with its territory count and its gross sales. Line all 33 up and the correlation between territories held and revenue earned is 0.154, territory count accounts for 2.4% of the difference. One franchise holds five territories and bills $128,159; another holds one and bills $556,075.

Franchises reporting33 across 57 territories

Average gross sales$514,024

Median gross sales$148,210

Total investment$92,850–$208,600

Territory count accounts for 2.4% of the variation in revenue across the 33 franchises. A correlation of 0.154 *. Five territories produced $25,632 each at one franchise; one territory produced $556,075 at another.
One franchise is 41.2% of the system's reported revenue. $6,985,408 of $16,962,800 *. Strip it out and the average falls from $514,024 to $311,794.
The median franchise bills $148,210 against an average of $514,024. Only 7 of 33 reach the average, 21%.
The fee waiver costs more than the fee above $106,250 of annual sales. The option refunds $42,500 for four extra points of royalty over ten years *; the median franchise bills $148,210.
Brand cost runs 9.1% of revenue at the largest franchise and 33.0% at the smallest. 9% of sales plus $6,420 of fixed annual fees *.

Top performers

What separates the top Pestmaster performers

Pestmaster splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,683,735 a year. The worst averaged $58,366. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $148,210. The average was $514,024. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 28.8× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
Capacity, fixed at build.capacity is None vans multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
What you spend to open.Opening costs $92,850 to $208,600, a 2.2× 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

Accounts, the operating driver.This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
Membership and rebooking.A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 9.0% 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.33 of 75 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. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

First

This filing does not split its locations into performance bands, so the gap between the highest and lowest Pestmaster location is not disclosed. What it does publish is on the Model and Finance tabs.

Every franchise

Thirty-three businesses, named.

First

$1,683,735

Second

$234,691

Third

$114,220

Fourth

$58,366

2025 gross sales by quartile, with territory counts, as the brand reported it, with revenue per territory added *Averan calculation
quartile	Franchises	Territories *	Average gross sales	Median	Range	Revenue per territory *	Reaching the quarter average
First	8	18	$1,683,735	$823,996	$374,876 – $6,985,408	$748,327	2 (25%)
Second	9	10	$234,691	$242,823	$148,210 – $365,526	$211,222	5 (55%)
Third	8	15	$114,220	$119,230	$84,262 – $142,660	$60,917	4 (50%)
Fourth	8	14	$58,366	$60,489	$26,724 – $81,916	$33,352	4 (50%)
All 33	33	57	$514,024	$148,210	$26,724 – $6,985,408	$297,593	7 (21%)

Gross sales, quartile averages, medians, ranges and attainment are as the brand reported it. The territory counts and revenue-per-territory figures are marked *, summed from the individual franchise rows.

The correlation between territories held and revenue is 0.154. Which puts 2.4% of the variation on how much ground a franchise holds *. Franchise #21 holds five territories and bills $128,159, $25,632 each. Franchise #6 holds one and bills $556,075. Ground is close to irrelevant here.

One franchise is 41.2% of reported system revenue. $6,985,408 of $16,962,800 *, on two territories. Add the second-largest and two of 33 franchises account for 53.7%. Remove the largest and the system average falls from $514,024 to $311,794, and revenue per territory from $297,593 to $181,407.

The median franchise bills $148,210, 29% of the average. Only 7 of 33 reach $514,024. Across the two lowest quartiles, sixteen franchises average $86,293 between them *, which is the figure a prospective owner should sit with.

The fourth quartile holds 14 territories and bills $33,352 a territory. Against $748,327 in the first quartile *. Twenty-two times over, on the same brand, the same services and comparable ground.

Nineteen of the 33 franchises hold a single territory and average $213,182. The fourteen multi-territory franchises average $922,310 across 38 territories, $339,798 each *. That looks like multi-territory winning, until you notice the multi-territory average is carried almost entirely by the two largest businesses in the system.

Years open

Nine years, and then what.

2025 gross sales by years open, as the brand reported it
Years open	Franchises	Average gross sales	Median	Range	Reaching the group average
9 or more	11	$1,219,726	$554,519	$72,237 – $6,985,408	3 (27%)
5 to 9	7	$264,997	$244,230	$80,478 – $599,509	3 (43%)
1 to 5	15	$112,722	$84,576	$26,724 – $374,876	5 (33%)

As the brand reported it.

The nine-year group averages $1,219,726 and the one-to-five group averages $112,722. Nearly eleven times. Some of that is genuine build-up and some is survivorship. The largest franchise in the system opened before 1996 and sits inside the oldest group, pulling its average up by itself.

The oldest group's median is $554,519 and its lowest member bills $72,237. After nine or more years. So time in the business is a condition for the largest outcomes here, a franchise open nine years can still be billing under $75,000.

The five-to-nine group averages $264,997 and the one-to-five group $112,722. A 2.4-times step across roughly four years of trading. On that path a franchise starting today would expect to reach the second quarter's $234,691 somewhere around year six.

Fifteen of 33 reporting franchises have traded under five years. Nearly half. Read against a system where 11 further franchises were excluded for reporting under twelve months, this is a network in the middle of a rebuild.

Fees & the waiver

The waiver that costs more than the fee. (Items 5 and 6)

The Franchise Option Program against the fee it replaces *Averan calculation
Annual gross sales	Extra royalty at 4 points	Over ten years	Against a $42,500 fee
$6,985,408, largest franchise	$279,416	$2,794,163	66 times the fee
$514,024, system average	$20,561	$205,610	4.8 times the fee
$234,691, second quartile average	$9,388	$93,876	2.2 times the fee
$148,210, system median	$5,928	$59,284	1.4 times the fee
$106,250, break-even *	$4,250	$42,500	Equal
$58,366, fourth quartile average	$2,335	$23,346	55% of the fee

Ours, built from the filed terms.

Any franchise averaging more than $106,250 a year pays more through the option than the fee itself. *. The system median is $148,210 and the average is $514,024, so for most of this network the waiver is the more expensive route. It is financing, priced accordingly.

At the system average the option costs $205,610 to avoid $42,500. 4.8 times. For a franchise at the largest reporting business's scale it would cost $2,794,163. The program makes sense for a business that expects to stay small, and becomes steadily worse the better it does.

Only the fourth quartile comes out ahead. At $58,366 of annual sales the four points cost $23,346 over ten years against a $42,500 fee saved. Eight of the 33 reporting franchises sit at or below that level, which is the honest size of the group the program favors.

What the fees come to.

Annual brand cost at points across the reported range *Averan calculation
Franchise	Gross sales	Royalty at 7%	Brand fund at 2%	Technology and email	Total	Share
Largest reporting	$6,985,408	$488,979	$139,708	$6,420	$635,107	9.1%
System average	$514,024	$35,982	$10,280	$6,420	$52,682	10.2%
System median	$148,210	$10,375	$2,964	$6,420	$19,759	13.3%
Fourth quartile average	$58,366	$4,086	$1,167	$6,420	$11,673	20.0%
Smallest reporting	$26,724	$1,871	$534	$6,420	$8,825	33.0%

Ours, built from the published rates applied to filed revenue.

Franchise fees take 9.1% at the largest franchise and 33.0% at the smallest. *. $6,420 of fixed annual technology and processing is 24.0% of the smallest franchise's revenue and 0.09% of the largest's. On a business billing $26,724 a year, the software costs more than the royalty.

At the median the load is 13.3% and at the fourth quartile average 20.0%. That sits before the minimum monthly royalty, which would push the smaller rows higher still. For a business at $58,366 of annual sales, one dollar in five of everything billed goes to the brand before a chemical is bought.

The 2026 initial fee was charged at anywhere from $0 to $42,500. The same range held for 2025, alongside a 20% reduction for military members and first responders. So the headline fee is a starting point in a negotiation more often than a price.

The network and what it costs to open

52 to 75 in three years.

Franchised outlets, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it, Item 20 of the 2026 FDD
Year	Start	End	Net change
2023	52	52	0
2024	52	57	+5
2025	57	75	+18

As the brand reported it.

Franchised territories grew from 52 to 75, up 44% in three years. With 18 added in 2025 alone. Against 44 franchises holding those 75 territories, the system averages 1.7 territories each, and the expansion has been in territories.

Zero franchises permanently closed in 2025. While 11 of 44 reported for less than a full year, two of them owned by the franchisor's own brand leader and opened during 2025. A system growing 18 territories in a year with zero closures is a steady shape; the reporting exclusions are what a prospective owner should ask about.

Company-owned outlets halved from 6 to 3. Across three years, while franchised territories rose 44%. The franchisor's affiliates are stepping back from operating as the franchise base grows.

What it costs to open a territory.

Estimated initial investment, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Low	High
Initial franchise fee	$42,500	$42,500
Vehicle and wrap	$10,000	$60,000
Additional funds	$20,000	$40,000
Licensing	$1,000	$18,000
Advertising	$9,000	$9,000
Training	$3,000	$7,000
Equipment	$1,500	$6,500
Technology and office supplies	$1,500	$6,000
Insurance	$2,000	$5,000
Signage	$0	$5,000
Real estate and utilities	$0	$3,500
Chemical storage and handling	$700	$2,000
Inventory and supplies	$700	$2,000
Safety gear	$750	$1,500
Uniforms	$200	$600
Total	$92,850	$208,600

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.

Licensing runs $1,000 to $18,000, an eighteen-fold range. Pest and vector control is a licensed trade and the requirement varies sharply by state. Makes this line the one that most changes the entry price depending on where a territory sits.

The build is 0.18 to 0.41 times the system average revenue. $92,850 to $208,600 against $514,024, or 0.63 to 1.41 times the median $148,210 *. Measured against the median, this is one of the heavier entries in the library relative to what a typical business actually bills.

$42,500 of fee plus $9,000 of opening advertising is 55% of the low column. With the vehicle at $10,000 to $60,000 the next largest commitment. A pest control business is a truck, a license and a chemical store. So the capital is light and the operating question is entirely about filling the route.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a Pestmaster franchise be billing?

The 33 franchises operating 57 territories that reported for all twelve months of 2025 averaged $514,024 of gross sales with a median of $148,210, ranging from $26,724 to $6,985,408. 7 of the 33, 21%, reached the average. By quartile the averages were $1,683,735 across 8 franchises, $234,691 across 9, $114,220 across 8 and $58,366 across 8. Revenue per territory works out at $297,593 across the system, and $748,327, $211,222, $60,917 and $33,352 by quartile. One franchise accounts for 41.2% of the reported total.

Does holding more territories help?

Barely, on these figures. The correlation between territory count and gross sales across the 33 franchises is 0.154, which puts 2.4% of the variation on ground held. Franchise #21 holds five territories and bills $128,159; Franchise #6 holds one and bills $556,075. Nineteen single-territory franchises average $213,182 and fourteen multi-territory ones average $922,310 across 38 territories. But that second figure is carried almost entirely by the two largest businesses in the system.

Should I take the fee waiver?

The Franchise Option Program refunds the $42,500 initial franchise fee within ten days of opening, in exchange for a four-point royalty increase, 7% to 11%, for ten years covering the initial term and the first renewal. Four points over ten years equals $42,500 at $106,250 of annual gross sales. So any business averaging more than that pays more through the program than it saved. The system median is $148,210 and the average $514,024. At the average the option costs $205,610 to avoid $42,500. It favors a business that expects to stay in the fourth quartile.

What does the brand take?

A continuing royalty of 7% of monthly gross sales or a minimum monthly royalty, whichever is greater, plus a brand fund fee of 2%. Technology costs $500 a month, additional email licenses $15 a month each, and payment processing $35 a month per account plus transaction fees. A renewal costs 20% of the then-current initial franchise fee. Additional training is $500 per attendee per day, a vehicle left unwrapped 120 days after signing costs $250 a month, late submissions cost $100 per violation plus interest. A management fee of up to $5,000 a day applies if the franchisor has to step in and operate the business.

Who does bookkeeping for a Pestmaster franchise?

Three things make the close matter here. The royalty is the greater of 7% and a minimum monthly figure. So for a business in the lower half of this distribution the accrual is a minimum. The effective rate rises as revenue falls, at the fourth quartile’s $58,366 the whole franchise fees is 20.0% of sales. Second, if the Franchise Option Program was taken, the royalty is 11% for ten years, and that decision belongs in the model as financing. Third, pest control is a licensed trade with state-specific requirements priced anywhere from $1,000 to $18,000, a recurring compliance calendar as much as a cost line. Underneath all three, there is zero system-level cost data, so your own route-level costing is the only source of a margin figure. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.

What this filing does not disclose

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 Pestmaster

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 Pestmaster locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

Part of our Home & Commercial Services Franchise Finance guide and the Lawn, Pest And Irrigation Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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.

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What is each territory actually producing?

A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast, and reporting, built around revenue per territory and the fixed fees that decide this model.

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from Pestmaster’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled 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. Pestmaster® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.

Where this sits

the franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners

The same business, other brands

Pestmaster reads against the rest of the lawn, pest and irrigation group: Conserva Irrigation · Lawn Doctor · Mosquito Joe · Mosquito Shield · Mosquito Squad · The Grounds Guys. The lawn, pest and irrigation 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.
At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.
I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
What one location earns and spends
What changes at ten units
Running the books across several units
Fractional CFO, for the forecast behind a second location and the cash plan that carries it
Bookkeeping for franchise owners, what this looks like when someone else keeps the books
Āveran Franchise Resource Center, every breakdown in the library
Bookkeeping, monthly close built around the way your brand reports
Controller, when the numbers need someone reading them as well as recording them

Scott Engler

Founder & Principal, Averan Advisors

Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team. More about the team →

If you want this done for you

What happens next

Everything above came out of a filing. Doing it on your own numbers means the books have to produce the same lines: sales, wages, occupancy, fees and what is left, by location, every month. That is the work.

The call, twenty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and what we would start with. No pitch deck.
We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
A written scope and a priceWhat we do each month, what you get, the date it lands, and the fee. Agreed before anything starts, and it does not move without you agreeing it.
Transition, then the first closeAccess, systems, and the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.

Start with the call →How an engagement runs

Averan is not a CPA firm and does not file taxes. Your CPA keeps that, and we keep the books they file from.