PrideStaff franchise unit economics
PrideStaff franchisees run a staffing office placing office, light industrial and accounting staff. The franchisor bills the clients, pays the temporary associates and remits the owner’s share of gross profit. Across 53 offices trading two years or more, 2025 billings averaged $3,195,828 at a $27.76 hourly rate. Each hour produced $7.61 of gross profit and $4.31 to the owner, and the hourly rate varies twice across the system while margin an hour varies five times.
- Primary source
- PrideStaff, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure
- Population
- 53 of 65 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.
An hour here bills at $27.76, has $7.61 of gross profit and returns $4.31 to the owner. Across the system the hourly rate spans 1.92 times and the margin an hour spans 4.98 times.
- Gross profit an hour varies five times. The hourly rate charged varies twice. $3.54 to $17.62 against $21.24 to $40.75 *, so the pay rate you set matters more here than the rate you charge.
- The owner keeps $4.31 of the $7.61 of gross profit each hour produces. 65% less the support and advertising charges *, which arrives at exactly the filed $4.31, so the technology and fund charges are already inside it.
- Below about 17% of gross profit, the brand's 6% minimum costs more than its share. Since 35% of gross profit falls below 6% of billings there *, and the lowest-selling office in the system runs 14.62%.
- The brand’s effective take ran 7.826% of billings, from 5.11% to 11.41%. The brand reported this. 21 of 53 offices paid above that average.
- $14,637 of fixed technology charges is 3.0% of the average owner’s share. And 13.7% of the lowest-selling office’s *, the only part of the load that ignores how the year went.
How much does a PrideStaff franchise make?
The average PrideStaff unit reported $3,195,828 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $2,674,511. 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 7.8% 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.
The hour, priced three ways
Twenty-eight dollars in, four dollars thirty-one out.
| Measure | Average | Median | High | Low | Offices at or above average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross billings | $3,195,828 | $2,674,511 | $10,642,484 | $573,582 | 18 (34%) |
| gross profit | $719,416 | $611,549 | $2,372,005 | $162,756 | 17 (32%) |
| Owner share | $481,350 | $404,930 | n/a | $106,875 | 17 (32%) |
| hourly rate | $27.76 | $28.53 | $40.75 | $21.24 | 31 (58%) |
| gross profit rate | 22.51% | 22.79% | 41.63% | 14.62% | 28 (53%) |
| gross profit an hour | $7.61 | $6.52 | $17.62 | $3.54 | 22 (42%) |
| Owner share an hour | $4.31 | $4.30 | $12.79 | $2.30 | 26 (49%) |
Every figure is as the brand reported it for offices operated continuously by the same franchisee for at least two years. The high owner share is printed with a digit missing.
The average office bills about 115,000 hours a year. $3,195,828 at $27.76 *, roughly 55 people on assignment full time, against about 45 at the median office.
Fifty cents more of gross profit an hour is worth $37,415 to the owner. Across those hours at the 65% share *, which is 7.8% of what the average owner takes, from a change most clients would barely notice.
The average owner share an hour and the median are a cent apart. $4.31 and $4.30, while the average gross profit an hour sits $1.09 above its median. So the brand’s share absorbs most of the skew at the top.
58% of offices charge above the average hourly rate. Only 42% earn above the average gross profit an hour. *. The clearest evidence that charging well and buying labor well are separate skills here.
The highest-selling office earned $12.79 an hour and the lowest-selling $2.30. A 5.56-fold range *, on bill rates that differ by less than twice.
Top performers
What separates the top PrideStaff performers
PrideStaff splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $10,642,484 a year. The worst averaged $573,582. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $2,674,511. The average was $3,195,828. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 18.6× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- 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 $151,950 to $244,600, a 1.6× 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
- Cost of what you sell.Products and materials take 22.5% of sales. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume.
- Billed hours, the operating driver.This model bills on billed hours. The owner pays for every hour worked and bills only the hours a client accepts, so the job is to keep those two close and to protect the gap between the rate charged and the rate paid. 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 7.8% 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.53 of 65 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.
The split and its minimum
The owner keeps 65% of gross profit, with a minimum charge underneath it.
| Line | An hour | Share of the hourly rate * | At average annual hours * |
|---|---|---|---|
| hourly rate | $27.76 | 100% | $3,195,828 |
| Wages and burden | $20.15 | 72.6% | $2,476,412 |
| gross profit | $7.61 | 27.4% | $719,416 |
| Brand keeps | $3.30 | 11.9% | $238,066 |
| Owner share | $4.31 | 15.5% | $481,350 |
The brand reported the hourly rate, the gross profit and the owner's share. We worked out the rest from the differences, applied to the average office's implied hours, marked *.
Taking 65% of $7.61 gives $4.95, and the filed share is $4.31. The 64-cent difference is the 1.9% support fee and 0.35% advertising cap on the hourly rate *, so the filed hourly share is already net of them.
The fees take the greater of 35% of gross profit or 6% of billings. The two are equal at 17.14% gross profitate *, below which the minimum applies, and the lowest-selling office in this system runs 14.62%.
The effective take averaged 7.826% of billings and reached 11.41%. With a low of 5.11% and 21 of 53 offices above the average. At the high end the 6% minimum costs more than the share of gross profit.
Direct hire placements pay the owner 79% against 65%. Which is why the average owner share works out at 66.91% of gross profit against 65% *, the permanent desk quietly improves the blend.
Wages cash stays with the brand throughout. The brand bills clients, pays the associates and remits monthly, on the accrual for temporary work and on cash received for direct hire. Is why three months of additional funds covers the office.
Franchised against company-owned
The company offices bill more and keep less of it.
| Measure | Franchised (53) | Company-owned (4) | All 57 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gross billings | $3,195,828 | $5,796,043 | $3,286,929 |
| Median gross billings | $2,674,511 | $2,883,275 | $2,591,465 |
| Average gross profit | $719,416 | $1,152,486 | $749,807 |
| Average gross profit rate | 22.51% | 19.76% | 22.18% |
| Average hourly rate | $27.76 | $28.43 | $27.84 |
| gross profit an hour | $7.61 | $5.31 | n/a |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, and the all-office low billings of $518,050 sits below both group lows, which we flag instead of adjust.
Brand-owned offices bill 1.81 times an owner-run one, and keep a smaller share of it. $5,796,043 against $3,195,828, at 19.76% against 22.51% *, and they earn $2.30 less of margin an hour.
Their median billings are within $209,000 of the franchised median. $2,883,275 against $2,674,511, so the gap in averages comes from one very large company office at $16,456,006.
The offices charging more an hour keep a smaller share of it. $28.43 an hour against $27.76, while the margin falls nearly three points. The signature of larger accounts won on price against a higher pay rate.
That is the useful read for a franchisee. The four company offices show what chasing volume does to the range, and the range is what the owner is paid on.
One figure in the all-office table cannot be right. $518,050 of billings against group lows of $573,582 and $961,618, worth knowing before quoting the combined table.
Territory, build and the system
A territory measured in employees, and a system getting smaller.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 74 |
| 2024 | 74 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 68 |
| 2025 | 68 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 65 |
Every column is as the brand reported it and each year's arithmetic returns the filed closing count exactly.
A territory holds between 50,000 and 200,000 employees. Measured with mapping software, so the average office’s billings run $63.92 a head in a small territory and $15.98 in a large one *.
This is one of the few staffing brands granting an exclusive territory. Stated plainly, with the brand agreeing to keep other offices out and to stop them soliciting inside it, subject to national account clients. The brand reserves and currently offers back to franchisees.
The system went from 80 franchised offices to 65. An 18.8% decline, with 18 departures across three years against 7 openings, and company-owned offices rising from 3 to 6.
An office costs $151,950 to $244,600 to open. 0.32 to 0.51 times what the average owner earns ine *, with $90,000 to $110,000 of that covering three months. Buying an existing office instead runs $105,600 to $164,100.
A veteran pays $20,000 against $40,000 for the franchise. And $5,000 against $10,000 on a resale, the largest veteran discount among the staffing brands in this library.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does a PrideStaff office bill?
Across 53 franchised offices trading two years or more, 2025 billings averaged $3,195,828 with a median of $2,674,511. Gross profit averaged $719,416 and the owner's share $481,350, with a median of $404,930. The highest-selling office billed $10,642,484 and the lowest-selling $573,582.
What does an hour produce?
$27.76 of billing, $7.61 of gross profit and $4.31 to the owner at the average office. The median figures are $28.53, $6.52 and $4.30. The hourly rate charged runs from $21.24 to $40.75. Gross profit an hour runs from $3.54 to $17.62.
What does the brand take?
The greater of 35% of gross profit or 6% of net billings on temporary work, and 21% of direct hire and conversion fees. It is retained before the owner is paid. The filed effective figure for 2025 was 7.826% of billings on average, with a median of 7.67%, a low of 5.11% and a high of 11.41%.
When does the 6% minimum bite?
On our reading, below about 17.14% of gross profit. That is where 35% of gross profit equals 6% of what is invoiced. The lowest office in this system keeps 14.62% as gross profit. The minimum applies at the bottom of the system, which is why the brand's share reaches 11.41% there.
Why is the filed hourly share $4.31 against $4.95?
Because 65% of $7.61 is $4.95, and the 1.9% franchise support fee plus the 0.35% advertising cap on a $27.76 hourly rate come to about 64 cents. On our reading the filed hourly share is already net of both, which makes it directly comparable to your own.
What technology do you pay for?
About $14,637 a year on our reading. That is staffing software at $136.09 an user with three users minimum, skills testing at $700 a year, electronic signatures at $41 a month, email marketing at $200, brand management at $377.16 and customer loyalty surveys at $135. That is 3.0% of the average owner's share and 13.7% of the lowest-selling office's.
What territory do you get?
An exclusive territory holding between 50,000 and 200,000 employees, mutually agreed and mapped before signing. The brand agrees to keep other offices out of it and to stop them soliciting inside it. It reserves digital marketing and national account clients, currently offering those back to franchisees on a revocable basis, and soliciting outside the territory needs consent.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Gross profit an hour against $7.61, because it is what the owner is paid on and it varies five times across this system. And gross profit rate against 22.51%, because dropping under about 17% hands the brand a minimum instead of a share.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to PrideStaff
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 PrideStaff 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 each hour actually earning you?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around $7.61 of margin an hour, the $4.31 of it that reaches you. The 17% profit share where the brand's minimum takes over.
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
PrideStaff reads against the rest of the staffing offices group: AtWork Group · Express Employment Professionals · Labor Finders · Spherion.
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.