SERVPRO franchise unit economics
SERVPRO franchisees run a restoration and cleaning business across a territory of 50,000 to 80,000 people. The royalty runs on a nine-step ladder: 10.45% of a $10,000 month falling to 5.99% of a $300,000 one. Rebuilding work is charged at about half that rate. The system grew from 2,114 to 2,354 franchises while 382 changed hands.
- Primary source
- SERVPRO Franchisor, LLC, 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
- 0 of 2354 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 royalty here is a nine-step ladder. 10.45% of a $10,000 month, 7.19% at $60,000, 5.99% at $300,000. Reconstruction work sits on a second ladder at roughly half those numbers, and which column a job lands in is decided by the kind of work.
- The effective royalty falls 4.46 points across the ladder. 10.45% at $10,000 a month down to 5.99% at $300,000 *, so scale is worth more here than in almost any brand in this library.
- Reconstruction has roughly half the royalty of mitigation. 4.5% falling to 3% against 10% falling to 5%, so the job mix decides the rate, and tear-out and demolition stay on the full rate.
- New owners pay the top of the ladder until they finish the integration program. $2,160 a year more at $20,000 a month *, and the same applies to anyone buying a franchise that billed under $100,000.
- Territory costs $1.25 to $2.00 a head and extends at $1.11. $100,000 for 50,000 to 80,000 people *, with extra population at $1,110 for each 1,000, so expansion ground is the cheaper ground.
- Three hundred and eighty-two franchises changed hands in three years. 16.2% of the system *, against 26 terminations, so the way in is usually a purchase.
How much does a SERVPRO franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for SERVPRO does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is below. At $10,000 of sales a month the royalty is 10.45%. At $300,000 a month it is 5.99%. Rebuilding work is charged at 4.5% falling to 3%; Franchises, end 2025: 2,354.
Job mix decides the rate
The same crew pays two different rates.
| Monthly reconstruction volume | Rate | Royalty * | Effective rate * |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 4.5% | $450 | 4.50% |
| $20,000 | $495 plus 4% above $10,997 | $855 | 4.28% |
| $40,000 | $1,320 plus 3% above $32,992 | $1,530 | 3.83% |
| Before the yearly threshold | 5% until cumulative reconstruction volume passes $43,989 in a calendar year | ||
The brand reported every rate and step. We applied them to each monthly sales level to get the royalty columns.
Reconstruction at $40,000 a month costs $1,530 against $3,095 for mitigation. *. The same dollar of revenue at half the royalty, decided purely by what the work is called.
Tear-out, demolition, removal and disposal stay on the full rate. Even though they sit alongside reconstruction on the same job, so the estimate needs splitting line by line.
Fire, smoke, water, mold and disinfection work stays on the full ladder. Which is the core of the business and the reason the combined rate sits near that ladder for most owners.
The reduced rate requires approved estimating software and separate records. Along with required insurance and compliance with the territorial and brand rules, so the discount is earned administratively as well as operationally.
The first $43,989 of reconstruction each year is charged at 5%. Above the 4.5% entry step of the ladder itself, so the discount arrives only once the volume is established.
Top performers
What separates the top SERVPRO performers
SERVPRO publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 80,000 people. 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 $263,305 to $385,570, a 1.5× 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
- Jobs, the operating driver.This model bills on jobs. Every job is won again, so the owner works on how many quotes turn into work and what the average job is worth when it does. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Service and retail mix.Attachment rate on retail, and the share of customers on the higher service tiers, lift what each hour earns without adding an hour or a room. It is the only lever that raises the ceiling without spending capital.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 7.2% 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
- 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.
How the rate steps
Nine steps, and the last one still costs six percent.
| Monthly volume | Rate | Fixed fee | Total a month * | Effective rate * | A year * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 10% | $45 | $1,045 | 10.45% | $12,540 |
| $20,000 | 9% | $65 | $1,865 | 9.32% | $22,380 |
| $30,000 | 8% | $85 | $2,485 | 8.28% | $29,820 |
| $40,000 | 7.5% | $95 | $3,095 | 7.74% | $37,140 |
| $60,000 | 7% | $115 | $4,315 | 7.19% | $51,780 |
| $100,000 | $5,389 plus 6.5% above $76,981 | $115 | $7,000 | 7.00% | $84,003 |
| $150,000 | $7,533 plus 6% above $109,974 | $115 | $10,050 | 6.70% | $120,595 |
| $200,000 | $10,832 plus 5.5% above $164,961 | $115 | $12,874 | 6.44% | $154,490 |
| $300,000 | $13,856 plus 5% above $219,947 | $115 | $17,974 | 5.99% | $215,684 |
The brand reported every rate, step and fixed fee. We applied them to each monthly sales level to get the last two columns.
Going from $10,000 to $60,000 a month cuts the rate by 3.26 points. *, worth $23,472 a year at that larger volume against paying the entry rate *.
Above $76,981 the ladder becomes a base plus a marginal rate. So the first $76,981 of every month is charged at the same $5,389 regardless of what follows it.
The fixed fee tops out at $115 a month. $1,380 a year, trivial against the percentage, and unchanged across the top five groups.
The groups may be changed or removed on 30 days’ notice. With a single flat rate substitutable up to 10%, so the ladder is a current policy.
A new owner forgoes the ladder entirely at first. 10% plus the fixed fee until the integration program is complete, which at $20,000 a month is $2,160 a year *.
What it costs to open
Two hundred and twelve thousand to the brand before anything else.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Equipment and products package | $112,000 | $112,000 |
| Vehicle | $5,000 | $69,900 |
| Insurance, three months | $5,010 | $25,300 |
| Additional funds, three months | $32,250 | $50,000 |
| Total | $263,305 | $385,570 |
| Payable to the brand | $212,000 | |
The brand reported every figure. The high total adds $1,110 for each 1,000 people above the maximum, plus any real estate costs.
The brand’s share is 80.5% of the low total. *, $100,000 of license and $112,000 of equipment, both fixed whatever the territory.
Paying cash saves $5,300. 2.5% of the purchase price, also available by clearing the note within 90 days *.
A converting restoration business may pay $25,000 to $75,000 for equipment. Instead of $112,000, the largest single concession available, worth up to $87,000 *.
Three months of working capital assumes an owner-operated business. It excludes all wages and any pay to the owner. More cash is needed across the first three to seven months, so $32,250 is a minimum.
Half a million dollars of limited service and repair cover is required for the best referrals. Which is what admits a franchise to the “Select” insurer and commercial client referral streams.
Territory and the system
Two thousand three hundred and fifty-four, with a deep resale market.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | End | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,114 | 98 | 8 | 3 | 2,202 | 106 |
| 2024 | 2,202 | 94 | 8 | 2 | 2,286 | 137 |
| 2025 | 2,286 | 79 | 10 | 1 | 2,354 | 139 |
| Three years | n/a | 271 | 26 | 6 | n/a | 382 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with zero company-owned outlets in any of the three years.
Openings outran exits ten to one. 271 against 32 *, and the system grew 11.4% across the three years *.
More franchises changed hands than opened. 382 transfers against 271 openings *, so buying an operating business is the more common route in.
California, New York and Texas carried 53 of the 2025 transfers. 38% of that year’s total *, the deepest resale markets in the system.
The territory holds 50,000 to 80,000 people and may overlap another. The brand reserves the right to include part of yours in someone else’s, and relocating the territory is prohibited outright.
Internet, social media, retail, catalog and telemarketing stay with the brand. Inside your territory, without compensation, so demand generation runs largely through referral relationships.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
A royalty on a nine-step ladder plus a fixed monthly fee of $45 to $115. On our reading the effective rate is 10.45% at $10,000 of monthly volume, 7.19% at $60,000 and 5.99% at $300,000. The contract rate is 10% with the ladder applied as a current discount policy.
Does all revenue pay the same rate?
Reconstruction, construction and property repairs sit on a separate ladder at 4.5% falling to 3%, once yearly reconstruction volume passes $43,989. Fire, smoke, water, mold, bioremediation and disinfection work stays on the full ladder, and so do tear-out, demolition and disposal.
How much is the discount worth?
At $40,000 a month, on our reading, $1,530 on reconstruction against $3,095 on mitigation, roughly half. Since the job mix decides which applies, the estimate has to be split line by line.
When do new owners reach the ladder?
After the integration program. Until then new franchisees, and buyers of a franchise that billed under $100,000 in the prior twelve months, pay 10% plus the fixed fee. At $20,000 a month that is $2,160 a year more on our reading.
What does it cost to open?
$263,305 to $385,570, of which $212,000 goes to the brand, a $100,000 license fee and a $112,000 equipment package. Paying cash saves $5,300, and a converting restoration business may pay $25,000 to $75,000 for equipment instead of $112,000.
How is territory defined?
By population: generally 50,000 to 80,000, using census tract data and Nielsen projections. On our reading the $100,000 fee works out at $1.25 to $2.00 a head, and extra population costs $1,110 for each 1,000, $1.11 a head. It is expressly non-exclusive and may overlap another franchise.
How do people get in?
Usually by buying. From 2023 to 2025 there were 382 transfers, 271 openings and 26 terminations. One owner had signed and not opened at the end of 2025, and 75 new franchises projected.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Watch monthly sales against the rate steps, because crossing one changes the bill. Watch the share of sales that comes from rebuilding work. It pays about half the royalty rate.
- 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 SERVPRO
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 SERVPRO 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 →Which ladder step are you on?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around an effective royalty from 10.45% to 5.99%, a reconstruction rate at roughly half. A job mix that decides which one you pay.
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
SERVPRO reads against the rest of the restoration group: 1-800 WATER DAMAGE · DRYmedic · Paul Davis · PuroClean · Rainbow Restoration · Restoration 1. The restoration 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.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.