Roto-Rooter franchise unit economics
Roto-Rooter owners buy a territory at 15 cents a person, and keep paying by head. There is a monthly fee set by population and a local advertising minimum of 11.11 cents a person a year. There is zero percentage royalty. All in, a territory costs about 17.8 cents a person a year, and advertising is 62% of that.
- Primary source
- Roto-Rooter Corporation, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 0 of 333 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.
Everything here is priced by the head. 15 cents a person to buy the territory, about 6.7 cents a person a year in monthly fees. 11.11 cents a person a year that must be spent on local advertising. Revenue itself goes untouched. There is no percentage royalty. Every extra dollar of sales has no extra brand charge.
- The whole brand cost is 17.8 cents a person a year. 6.69 cents of monthly fee plus 11.11 cents of required advertising *, and because revenue stays outside the formula, a territory that doubles its sales pays exactly the same.
- The second 500,000 people cost more per head than the first. $600.40 a month for each 100,000 in the second group against $557.70 in the first *, because a 25% uplift replaces a 10% one.
- Advertising is 62% of what the territory costs you. $55,550 of a $89,012 annual bill at 500,000 people *, and unspent money is handed over and spent nationally instead.
- Population growth resets the fee and leaves the map alone. The count is refreshed in year six for years six through ten. Meanwhile the territory stays exactly as drawn. So growth costs money and buys zero extra ground.
- Zero franchises opened in 2025 and zero are projected. Franchised outlets fell from 348 to 333 across three years, with 12 terminations and 6 reacquisitions, a closed system where buying an existing territory is the way in.
How much does a Roto-Rooter franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for Roto-Rooter does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Percentage royalty: Zero; All-in cost a person: 17.8 cents a year; Advertising minimum, 2026: 11.11 cents a person; Franchised outlets, end 2025: 333.
Top performers
What separates the top Roto-Rooter performers
Roto-Rooter publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 1,200 square feet. 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.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $123,110 to $281,550, a 2.3× 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.
Live operating levers
- What you can change after opening.This filing prices none of the operating lines. Across the Home Services brands in this library that do disclose them, the largest is the cost of what you sell at a median 43.8% of sales *. Model that line first, then ask owners at both ends of the system what it actually runs at, because a few points on the largest line outweighs everything else you can change.
Context you underwrite around
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
- What the rest of the category shows.Across the 66 Home Services brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 8.9× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 35% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
Priced per person
The person is what you pay on.
| Territory population | Monthly fee * | Fees a year * | Advertising minimum * | Total a year * | A person * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | $557.70 | $6,692 | $11,110 | $17,802 | 17.80¢ |
| 250,000 | $1,673.10 | $20,077 | $27,775 | $47,852 | 19.14¢ |
| 500,000 | $2,788.50 | $33,462 | $55,550 | $89,012 | 17.80¢ |
| 1,000,000 | $5,790.50 | $69,486 | $111,100 | $180,586 | 18.06¢ |
The tier rates, uplifts and 2026 advertising minimum are as the brand reported it and every dollar figure applies them to each population, marked *.
Revenue plays zero part in franchise fees. So a territory that lifts its average job value or its close rate keeps every cent of the gain, the single most valuable structural feature of this model.
The territory itself costs 15 cents a person, once. The minimum is $25,000, which applies below 166,667 people *. Small territories pay more a head to start.
A 500,000-person territory costs $75,000 to buy and $89,012 a year to hold. *. The annual bill exceeds the purchase price inside the first year.
The 250,000-person territory is the worst value at 19.14 cents a person. *, because the fee is charged per 100,000 “or any portion thereof”, so a territory ending just above a round hundred thousand pays for the whole block.
The fee is adjusted annually for consumer price inflation. Recalculated from the December index each year, then rounded to the nearest $5, so this cost tracks the economy.
Bigger pays more, not less
The volume discount disappears once the uplifts are applied.
| Population band | Base rate a month, each 100,000 | Uplift | Effective rate * | A person a year * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First 500,000 | $507.00 | 10% | $557.70 | 6.69¢ |
| Second 500,000 | $480.32 | 25% | $600.40 | 7.21¢ |
| Above 1,000,000 | $453.62 | 30% | $589.71 | 7.08¢ |
The base rates and uplift percentages are as the brand reported it and the effective rates multiply one by the other, marked *.
The cheapest people in your territory are the first 500,000. 6.69 cents a head a year against 7.21 cents in the next group *, which is 7.7% more on the second half of a million-person market.
The base rates fall 5.3% and then 5.6% across the groups. While the uplifts rise from 10% to 25% to 30%, which is what turns a sliding discount into a sliding surcharge.
A water restoration test can cut every uplift roughly in half. The rate rises to 5%, 10% and 15% in any year when fewer than half the brand's own branches offer that service. That is worth $304 a year for each 100,000 people in the first group *.
Under the reduced uplifts the tiers behave as expected. 6.39, 6.34 and 6.26 cents a head across the three groups *, so the discount is real only while that test fails.
The stated ceiling on the monthly fee is open-ended. Printed as $280 to $36,000 and more. The largest territories have a stated minimum and no stated maximum.
The minimum advertising charge
Eleven cents a head, rising every year for a decade.
| Year | A person | At 100,000 people * | At 500,000 people * |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11.11¢ | $11,110 | $55,550 |
| 2028 | 11.65¢ | $11,650 | $58,250 |
| 2031 | 12.52¢ | $12,520 | $62,600 |
| 2035 | 13.81¢ | $13,810 | $69,050 |
The per-person rates are as the brand reported it for each year and the dollar columns multiply them by each population, marked *.
The required spend rises 24.3% over the decade. 11.11 to 13.81 cents, about 2.45% a year compounded *, a schedule fixed in the agreement.
Advertising outweighs the monthly fee by 1.66 to one. $55,550 against $33,462 at 500,000 people *, so the media plan matters more to your cost base than the franchise fee does.
Whatever you leave unspent is paid over and spent nationally. Within 14 days of the year end, so the minimum is an amount the owner must spend.
Brand fund contributions are absent entirely. With zero obligation on the brand to run an advertising fund and zero requirement to join a co-operative. So the 11.11 cents is money you direct yourself.
First-year advertising runs $16,110 to $60,550 in the opening budget. Including directory listings of $4,200 to $32,000 and up to $5,000 of elective media, between 13% and 22% of the total investment *.
Territory and the system
A closed system, shrinking slowly.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Reacquired | End | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 348 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 341 | 4 |
| 2024 | 341 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 337 | 13 |
| 2025 | 337 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 333 | 6 |
| Three years | n/a | 3 | 12 | 6 | n/a | 23 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, alongside 115 outlets operated by an affiliate at the end of 2025.
Three outlets opened in three years against 18 exits. *, and with zero agreements signed and zero projected, the only practical entry is buying a territory from an existing owner.
Twenty-three territories changed hands, 6.9% of the system. *, on a transfer fee of 1.5% of the sale price, floored at $1,000 and capped at $7,500. That is among the cheapest exits in this library.
The territory holds its boundaries for the life of the agreement. Unaffected by population growth, sales volume or market penetration. The brand and its affiliate stay out of it for sewer, drain and pipe cleaning under the marks.
You pick your own site with zero approval needed. Most owners start from home with one van, and about 1,200 square feet suits a three-truck operation. That is why the investment table leaves real estate unpriced.
Formal initial training is absent, and the term runs ten years. With one to twelve months between signing and opening, and renewal for a further ten on the terms then current.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
Zero percentage of sales. Instead there is a monthly fee set by the territory's population. It is $507 for each 100,000 people in the first 500,000, raised 10% to $557.70. On top of that there is a local advertising minimum of 11.11 cents a person a year in 2026. On our reading that is about 17.8 cents a person a year all in.
Why does that matter so much?
Because your revenue is invisible to the fee. Raise your average job value, add water restoration or plumbing repair, work the same territory harder, and the bill stays exactly where it was. Very few franchise structures leave the upside entirely with the owner this way.
Do bigger territories get a discount?
The base rates fall across the groups but the uplifts rise from 10% to 25% to 30%, which reverses the effect. On our reading the first 500,000 people cost 6.69 cents a head a year, the second 500,000 cost 7.21 cents and anything above a million costs 7.08 cents.
What is the water restoration test?
If fewer than half the company-operated branches provide water restoration services during a calendar year, the uplifts drop to 5%, 10% and 15% for the following year. On our reading that is about $304 a year for each 100,000 people in the first group. It is the one lever that makes the tiers work as discounts.
What does the territory cost to buy?
15 cents a person, with a $25,000 minimum, which means territories below about 166,667 people pay more than the formula. The cover page range is $25,000 to $75,000 and total investment runs $123,110 to $281,550.
What happens to the advertising money I fail to spend?
You pay it to the brand within 14 days of the year end and it gets spent nationally. The minimum is an amount the owner must spend, and there is no brand fund charge on top.
How do I get in?
By buying an existing territory. Three outlets opened across 2023 to 2025, zero opened in 2025, and zero are projected for the coming year, while 23 territories transferred between owners. The transfer fee is 1.5% of the sale price, between $1,000 and $7,500.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Revenue per thousand people in your territory, because population is what you pay on and revenue is what you keep. Advertising spend against the 11.11-cent minimum, because underspending simply transfers the money.
- No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- 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.
- No range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- No ramp. The filing does not show how a new location builds up, so the first-year curve has to be assumed.
Questions worth putting to Roto-Rooter
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 did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
- 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 Roto-Rooter 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 thousand people worth to you?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around 17.8 cents a person a year of brand cost, a tier structure that charges more per head as territories grow, and revenue the brand leaves alone.
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
Roto-Rooter reads against the rest of the mechanical trades group: Aire Serv · Benjamin Franklin Plumbing · Mister Sparky · Mr. Electric · Mr. Rooter · One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning. The mechanical trades 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.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.
- What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.