Seniors Helping Seniors franchise unit economics
Seniors Helping Seniors franchisees run in-home care agencies that bill hourly companion and personal care delivered by older caregivers.
Seniors Helping Seniors franchise at a glance
Seniors Helping Seniors’ Item 19 reports 2025 revenue for 134 units, for the 51 running the current model and by year in business, plus cost shares, bill rates and pay rates from a survey of 62 franchisees past their first year.
Seniors Helping Seniors franchisees averaged $905,861 of sales in 2025, with a median of $668,384, according to Item 19 of Seniors Helping Seniors’ 2026 FDD, issued 31 March 2026. The 134 in that group are 60%* of Seniors Helping Seniors’ 224 locations. Fees paid to Seniors Helping Seniors come to about 6.48%* of sales.
- A Seniors Helping Seniors franchise costs $95,235 to $155,940 to open, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Seniors Helping Seniors charges a royalty of 6% of sales, a 1% brand fund contribution and a $30 monthly technology fee.
- Seniors Helping Seniors reported 224 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- At the average Seniors Helping Seniors location, wages took 53.3% and rent and space costs took 2.37% of sales.
- Work out Seniors Helping Seniors' fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Seniors Helping Seniors' 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Falling under $25,000 a month from month 49 costs you territory exclusivity. Part-time owners average $14,269 a month, which is 57% of the standard.
- Running the current model is worth $572,903 a year. Outside office, personal care and full-time hours averaged $1,478,764 against $905,861 system-wide.
- Caregiver wages take 53.3% of revenue, office staff 12.8% and advertising 7.2%. That is 73.3% of the top line before royalty, rent or the owner.
- Revenue climbs from $367,253 in year one to $1,369,400 in year three. Medians run $253,935, $641,401 and $1,175,983.
- Bill rates run $27.20 to $47.00 against pay rates of $13.90 to $23.50. Both ends of the range give up about half the hour to the caregiver.
How much does a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise make?
The average Seniors Helping Seniors unit reported $905,861 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $668,384. Item 19 of the Seniors Helping Seniors FDD publishes caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and office rent as a share of revenue, and what an owner keeps depends on the costs set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 6.5% 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.
Where the money goes
Cost structure at the average unit
| Line | Share | At $905,861 |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiver wages | 53.3% | $482,824 |
| Office staff wages | 12.8% | $115,950 |
| Advertising and marketing | 7.2% | $65,222 |
| Royalty | 5.44% | $49,293 |
| Regional advertising fund | 1.0% | $9,059 |
| Office rent | 2.37% | $21,456 |
| Website fee | 0.04% | $360 |
| What is left | 17.85% | $161,697 |
Caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and rent as the brand reported it from a survey of 62 franchisees past their first year. We worked out the royalty, regional fund, website fee and dollar column, applying the published rates to the 2025 system average of $905,861 across all 134 reporting units.
Two thirds of the top line is wages before you count yourself. That is 53.3% to caregivers and 12.8% to office staff. The median unit runs it leaner at 53% and 10%, which on the $668,384 median leaves 23.04% against 17.85%. The whole difference between the two is office staffing and advertising discipline.
The median franchisee spends exactly what the agreement requires on advertising. The local marketing commitment is 5% of gross sales, and the surveyed median advertising spend is 5%. The average is 7.2%, so the spenders above the line are pulling that number up while half the network treats the requirement as the budget.
Office rent is 2.37% of revenue. That is $1,788 a month at the average and $1,288 at the median, against a 350 square foot minimum. 43 of the 62 surveyed franchisees keep an outside office. The units that do are the ones inside the $1,478,764 current-model group, so the rent line buys revenue.
Bill rates, pay rates, clients and caregivers
| Measure | Average | Median | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| hourly rate | n/a | n/a | $27.20 to $47.00 |
| Pay rate | n/a | n/a | $13.90 to $23.50 |
| Clients | 69 | 56 | n/a |
| Caregivers | 52 | 41 | n/a |
| Office rent a month | $1,788 | $1,288 | n/a |
As the brand reported it, from 62 franchisees who had completed at least their first year.
Both ends of the rate range pay about half the hourly rate in wages. A wage of $13.90 against a rate of $27.20 leaves the business 48.9% of the hour. A wage of $23.50 against a rate of $47.00 leaves 50.0%. Markets with a higher hourly rate pay higher wages. So the surveyed wages share lands at 53.3% wherever you sit.
You need three caregivers for every four clients. That is 52 caregivers to 69 clients at the average, 41 to 56 at the median. Every caregiver who leaves takes a share of that book with them until you replace them. This brand's whole recruiting proposition is aimed at older workers who want part-time hours.
A client is worth about $13,128 a year at the average unit. That is $905,861 across 69 clients. Moving from the median's 56 clients to the average's 69 is 13 more households, a quarter a week for a year. On those figures it is worth roughly $170,000 of revenue.
Top performers
What separates the top Seniors Helping Seniors performers
Seniors Helping Seniors splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $1,478,764 a year. The lowest averaged $171,225. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $668,384. The average was $905,861. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 8.6× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Territory.This model sells from a territory quoted at 250,000 people, with no storefront. Population density sets how much driving sits between jobs.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $95,235 to $155,940, a 1.6× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy cost ran 2.4% of sales in this filing. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 6.5% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 53.3% of sales. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost.Rent and building costs take 2.4% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Billed hours.You pay for every hour worked and bill only the hours a client accepts. Track hours worked against hours billed, and the rate charged against the rate paid.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 134 of 224 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 of the Seniors Helping Seniors FDD publishes caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and office rent as a share of revenue. Ask the franchisor or current owners for any cost line the filing leaves out.
Sales
Revenue by year in business
| First year | Second year | Third year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units | 29 | 24 | 18 |
| Average | $367,253 | $665,175 | $1,369,400 |
| Median | $253,935 | $641,401 | $1,175,983 |
| Highest | $1,179,525 | $1,675,784 | $5,207,417 |
| Lowest | $19,742 | $49,291 | $179,074 |
As the brand reported it, covering full-time and part-time franchisees together.
How we calculated this
41.3% of first-year units, 45.8% of second-year units and 27.7% of third-year units reached their own group's average.
The median rises from $253,935 in year one to $1,175,983 in year three. That is $253,935 to $641,401 to $1,175,983. Year two is where a referral base starts feeding itself. Year three is where the caregiver roster is deep enough to say yes to the cases that arrive. An owner flat at $400,000 entering year three is a year behind the middle of the network.
In year three the lowest owner sold $179,074 and the highest $5,207,417. That is twenty-nine times apart after the same three years. The table below shows how the two operating models differ.
Revenue by operating model, 2025
| Group | Units | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current model, outside office, personal care, full-time | 51 | $1,478,764 | $1,296,196 |
| Full-time owners | 116 | $1,019,856 | $709,913 |
| Whole system | 134 | $905,861 | $668,384 |
| Part-time owners | 18 | $171,225 | $127,555 |
As the brand reported it.
Three operating choices are worth $572,903 a year. Those choices are an outside office, personal care services and full-time hours. Excluding first and second-year owners the premium is $580,835, so it holds as the network matures. Everything else on this page is downstream of those three decisions.
Seniors Helping Seniors full-time owners bill 5.96 times what part-time owners bill. $1,019,856 against $171,225, and the medians are $709,913 against $127,555. The part-time group's highest unit reached $424,626, about two fifths of the full-time average. This is a brand where the owner's own hours are the largest single variable in the model.
Personal care is charged at a higher hourly rate. Hands-on care at Seniors Helping Seniors also runs more hours for each client. That is why the current-model median of $1,296,196 sits at 1.94 times the system median of $668,384. Adding the line means licensure in most states, which is the $1,200 to $7,000 permits line in the opening investment.
Standards & network
Monthly sales standard and minimum royalty
| Months open | Monthly standard | Annual equivalent | Minimum royalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 to 12 | $7,500 | $90,000 | $450 |
| 13 to 24 | $10,833 | $129,996 | $650 |
| 25 to 36 | $15,833 | $189,996 | $950 |
| 37 to 48 | $20,833 | $249,996 | $1,250 |
| 49 and beyond | $25,000 | $300,000 | $1,500 |
Monthly standards and minimum royalties as the brand reported it; the annual column is marked *.
Exclusivity depends on meeting the monthly sales standard. The protection against another business opening in your territory holds while you meet the standard, so a quiet quarter is a commercial risk. The full-time average of $84,988 a month clears the top rung three times over; the part-time average of $14,269 falls under every rung past month 24.
Only one part-time unit clears the $25,000 monthly standard. Its highest unit billed $424,626, or $35,386 a month, and only that one clears $25,000. For an owner running this part time past year four, the standard is the number that decides whether the territory stays theirs alone.
The minimum royalty is $1,500 a month. Missing the standard can also cost the exclusive rights to the territory. $1,500 a month is $18,000 a year. At the Seniors Helping Seniors part-time average of $171,225 that is 10.5% against the 6% a compliant unit pays, and the owner can also lose the exclusive right to a 250,000-person market.
What the fees come to
| Group | Revenue | Royalty | Local marketing | Regional fund | Paid to the brand (royalty, regional fund, website fee) | Share paid to the brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current model, average | $1,478,764 | $77,938 | $73,938 | $14,788 | $93,086 | 6.29% |
| Full-time, average | $1,019,856 | $54,993 | $50,993 | $10,199 | $65,552 | 6.43% |
| System average | $905,861 | $49,293 | $45,293 | $9,059 | $58,712 | 6.48% |
| System median | $668,384 | $37,419 | $33,419 | $6,684 | $44,463 | 6.65% |
| Part-time, average | $171,225 | $18,000 | $8,561 | $1,712 | $20,072 | 11.72% |
We applied the 6% royalty on gross sales up to $400,000 and 5% above it, the local marketing commitment of the greater of 5% of gross sales or $2,000 a quarter, the regional advertising fund at its 1% ceiling and the $30 monthly website fee.
Local marketing adds five points of sales that you place yourself, on top of the fees paid to the brand. The local marketing commitment is spend you place with approved suppliers, and at the average that is $45,293 a year under your own direction. Together with the grand opening requirement of $20,000 in the first three months, this brand asks for more marketing spend than most in the category.
The royalty rate falls to 5% above $400,000 of annual sales. Reconciled each January against the prior year, and annualized in your first year once you have six months of trading. At the system average the combined rate is 5.44%; at the current-model average it is 5.27%.
What it costs to open
| Line | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise fee and training fee | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Grand opening advertising, three months | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Licenses, permits and licensing consulting | $1,200 | $14,000 |
| Salaries, three months | $0 | $15,000 |
| Office, equipment, software, insurance, apparel, travel, professional fees | $9,035 | $36,240 |
| Additional funds, three months | $5,000 | $10,700 |
| Total | $95,235 | $155,940 |
As the brand reported it, except the grouped line. That is marked *, adding rent and deposits, utility deposits, building work, furniture and fixtures, insurance, signage, office equipment, software, career apparel, training travel and legal and accounting.
Discounts available
- Seniors Helping Seniors charges current franchisees $40,000 instead of $55,000 for an additional contiguous territory.
- Seniors Helping Seniors takes $3,000 off the first franchise's fee for U.S. military veterans (or majority veteran-owned entities).
- Seniors Helping Seniors charges $40,000 for the second franchise and $35,000 for the third and each later franchise when bought together under a development agreement.
From Item 5 of the Seniors Helping Seniors 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
The $20,000 grand opening requirement is a fifth of the low-end investment. It is due across the first three months, against a first-year median of $253,935, so the marketing spend arrives before almost any of the revenue does. Plan the opening cash around that line.
The network of locations
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Ceased | End | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 121 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 135 | 4 |
| 2024 | 135 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 180 | 5 |
| 2025 | 180 | 54 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 224 | 2 |
As the brand reported it.
The network grew 85% in three years, from 121 to 224. That is 129 units opened across the period against 26 departures. 54 of the 2025 openings will report their first full year in the next filing at something near the $367,253 first-year average. That will pull the system average down even as the mature group keeps climbing.
Terminations jumped from 2 to 9 in 2025 while transfers fell to 2. Owners are leaving through termination. Against the monthly sales standard above, that pattern is worth reading carefully. The units that fall under the standard are the ones with the shortest route to the exit.
Questions we get asked
How much does a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise make?
Seniors Helping Seniors franchisees averaged $905,861 of sales in 2025, with a median of $668,384, according to Item 19 of Seniors Helping Seniors’ 2026 FDD, issued 31 March 2026. The 134 in that group are 60%* of Seniors Helping Seniors’ 224 locations. Fees paid to Seniors Helping Seniors come to about 6.48%* of sales.
What should my Seniors Helping Seniors unit be billing?
Across 134 reporting units the 2025 average was $905,861 with a median of $668,384. By year, Seniors Helping Seniors units averaged $367,253 in year one, $665,175 in year two and $1,369,400 in year three, with medians of $253,935, $641,401 and $1,175,983. Full-time owners averaged $1,019,856 and part-time owners $171,225. Units running the current model (outside office, personal care, full-time) averaged $1,478,764.
What should my cost structure look like at Seniors Helping Seniors?
From the franchisee survey: caregiver wages 53.3% of revenue on average and 53% at the median, office staff wages 12.8% and 10%, advertising and marketing 7.2% and 5%. Add royalty at a combined 5.44%, the regional fund at 1%, the website fee and office rent averaging $1,788 a month. The average unit has 17.85% left before insurance, software and the owner's own pay. The median unit, running leaner on office staff and advertising, keeps 23.04%.
What happens if I miss the sales standard at Seniors Helping Seniors?
Two things happen. The owner pays the minimum royalty for that month, $450 in months 4 to 12, rising to $1,500 from month 49. The brand's promise to keep other Seniors Helping Seniors or competing businesses out of your territory lapses. The franchisor may also require additional training. The standard runs $7,500 a month early and $25,000 a month from month 49, which is $300,000 a year against a system median of $668,384.
What do Seniors Helping Seniors’ fees add up to?
About 6.5% of gross sales at the system average is paid to the brand: royalty at 6% to $400,000 and 5% above, a regional advertising fund of up to 1%, and a $30 monthly website fee. On top of that is a local marketing commitment of the greater of 5% of sales or $2,000 a quarter that you spend yourself. A brand development fund of up to 1% sits in the schedule with no charge at present. Opening also requires $20,000 of advertising in the first three months.
Who does bookkeeping for a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise?
Royalty steps from 6% to 5% at $400,000 of annual gross sales and is reconciled each January against the prior year. So the rate you pay in any month depends on a figure set twelve months earlier. That reconciliation belongs on a schedule. Missing the monthly sales standard costs both a fee and the exclusive territory. Track monthly sales against it. Watch caregiver wages at 53.3% of sales weekly, with overtime on its own line. An hour paid at time and a half against a $27.20 rate takes that hour's margin from 49% to 23%. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- Item 19 of the Seniors Helping Seniors FDD gives no profit after every cost. It publishes caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and office rent as a share of revenue, so what an owner keeps after all costs is not disclosed.
- The filing gives no attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
Questions worth putting to Seniors Helping Seniors
These are questions the Seniors Helping Seniors filing leaves open. An owner or a buyer can put them to Seniors Helping Seniors directly.
- How would wages and rent at a new Seniors Helping Seniors location compare with the figures in the filing? Item 19 of the Seniors Helping Seniors FDD publishes caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and office rent as a share of revenue.
- Which factors does Seniors Helping Seniors see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 Seniors Helping Seniors locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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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Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Seniors Helping Seniors, LLC's 2026 FDD, covering the 2025 calendar year. The document is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. The figures describe past performance at other franchised units. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. This page is an educational summary and is not legal or tax advice. SENIORS HELPING SENIORS® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: Seniors Helping Seniors, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 31 March 2026.
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Seniors Helping Seniors reads against the rest of the non-medical home care group: Assisting Hands Home Care · CareBuilders At Home · Caring Senior Service · ComForCare · Comfort Keepers · Executive Home Care. The non-medical home care 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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.