How much does a Sylvan Learning franchise make?

The average Sylvan Learning unit reported $375,780 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. 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 22% 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

Sylvan Learning franchise unit economics

Sylvan Learning franchisees run tutoring centers of 1,000 to 2,400 square feet inside protected areas. Across 409 centers trading all of 2025, gross sales average $375,780. A top quartile at $795,074 and a bottom quartile at $120,331. Territories matching the size offered today average $282,026, a quarter below the system, because many trading centers hold larger legacy areas.

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

Where these figures come from

Primary source: Sylvan Learning, 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: 409 of 433 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

The percentage charges come to 22% of gross sales (11% royalty, 5% national fund, 6% local marketing) and underneath them sit minimums worth $45,568 to $49,768 a year before a dollar of percentage is owed. Against a system average of $375,780 and a bottom quartile of $120,331, those minimums are the whole argument.

Units reporting409 centers

Average gross sales$375,780

Percentage charges22% of sales

Total investment$117,600–$288,400

The percentage charges are 22% of gross sales. 11% royalty, 5% national fund and 6% local marketing, $82,672 at the $375,780 system average *, before technology and call center fees.
The minimums cost $45,568 to $49,768 a year whatever a center bills. A $5,500 quarterly royalty minimum, a $1,500 monthly local marketing minimum, $1,368 of technology and the call center *, and every center in the bottom quartile sits under both percentage thresholds.
Territories the size offered today average $282,026 against $375,780 across the system. 24.9% less *, because many trading centers hold larger areas granted under earlier agreements.
Ten centers bill 14.2% of the system's revenue. $21,766,109 of $153,693,901 *, averaging $2,176,611, 5.8 times the system average.
Franchised centers fell from 476 to 433 during 2025. Twelve openings against 55 departures, and the company's own five centers went to zero during 2024.

Top performers

What separates the top Sylvan Learning performers

Sylvan Learning splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $795,074 a year. The worst averaged $120,331. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 6.6× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 1,000 to 2,400 square feet. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
What you spend to open.Opening costs $117,600 to $288,400, a 2.5× 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

Student hours, the operating driver.This model bills on student hours. Families buy hours in blocks, so the owner works on how many hours are delivered each week and how long a family keeps buying them. 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 22.0% 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.409 of 433 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard, 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, no median, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Top quartile

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

Best to worst, by sales

Six and a half times, top to bottom.

2025 gross sales by quartile, 409 centers, as the brand reported it, with the system row added *Averan calculation
quartile	Centers	Average	Median	Highest	Lowest	Above their own average
Top	102	$795,074	$588,669	$3,497,188	$431,734	27 (26%)
Second	102	$355,018	$352,595	$431,020	$290,328	51 (50%)
Third	103	$234,085	$231,231	$289,821	$185,724	49 (48%)
Fourth	102	$120,331	$130,176	$185,278	$11,035	58 (57%)
All 409 *	409	$375,780	n/a	$3,497,188	$11,035	n/a

quartile figures are as the brand reported it. The system row is marked *, weighting each quartile average by its own center count to give total gross sales of $153,693,901 across 409 centers.

The extremes, from the ten highest and ten lowest centers in each quartile, as the brand reported it, with the aggregates added *Averan calculation
Measure	Value
Ten highest centers, combined	$21,766,109
Their share of the system's $153,693,901 *	14.2%
Their average *	$2,176,611
Against the system average *	5.8 times
Top quartile excluding its own top ten *	$644,907 across 92 centers
Ten lowest centers, combined	$347,532
Their average *	$34,753
Ten highest against ten lowest *	63 times

Derived by us from the filed list of the ten highest and ten lowest centers in each quartile.

The top quarter's median is 74% of its own average. $588,669 against $795,074, and only 26% of that quartile reaches its average. Every other quarter's median sits within a percent or two of its average. So the skew in this system lives entirely in the top 102 centers.

Ten centers take 14.2% of the system's revenue. $21,766,109 between them *. The other 399 average $330,646, which is the number an owner comparing themselves to "the average" should have in mind.

The bottom quarter's median is above its average. $130,176 against $120,331. The only quartile where that happens. Because ten centers below $50,000 pull the mean down while the rest of the quarter clusters near $150,000.

The second and third quartiles run from $290,328 to $431,020 and $185,724 to $289,821. Tight groups about $100,000 wide. Half the system sits inside a $246,000 range, which makes the operating question about moving up a group.

The territory on offer

The area sold today is smaller than the ones trading.

2025 gross sales for the 186 centers whose protected areas match the size currently offered, as the brand reported it, with the comparison added *Averan calculation
quartile	Centers	Average	Median	Highest	Lowest	Against the same quartile across all 409 *
Top	46	$532,008	$487,817	$1,972,396	$363,078	−33.1%
Second	47	$295,866	$281,497	$362,528	$243,685	−16.7%
Third	46	$202,666	$203,286	$240,606	$152,993	−13.4%
Fourth	47	$101,195	$104,282	$152,950	$15,951	−15.9%
All 186 *	186	$282,026	n/a	$1,972,396	$15,951	−24.9%

quartile figures are as the brand reported it; the system row and the comparison column are marked *.

The territory on offer produces a quarter less than the system average. $282,026 against $375,780 *. Every quartile of the subset sits below its all-system equivalent, and the gap is widest at the top: $532,008 against $795,074.

The top of the subset reaches $1,972,396 against $3,497,188. So a territory of the current size has produced close to two million dollars. The three larger results in the system belong to areas bigger than any now granted.

Half the subset bills under about $240,000. The third and fourth quartiles average $202,666 and $101,195 across 93 centers. At those levels the fixed charges described in the next tab become the dominant cost.

The subset's quartiles are tighter than the system's. A range of $15,951 to $1,972,396 against $11,035 to $3,497,188. Smaller areas produce a narrower group of outcomes, which cuts both the upside and the tail.

Fees and the minimums

Twenty-two percent, over a minimum.

Top quartile

$795,074

Second quartile

$355,018

Third quartile

$234,085

Fourth quartile

$120,331

Annual brand charges at each published level *Averan calculation
Level	Gross sales	Royalty at 11%	National fund at 5%	Local marketing at 6%	Technology	Call center	Total	Share of sales
Top quartile	$795,074	$87,458	$39,754	$47,704	$1,368	$8,400	$184,684	23.2%
System average	$375,780	$41,336	$18,789	$22,547	$1,368	$8,400	$92,440	24.6%
Second quartile	$355,018	$39,052	$17,751	$21,301	$1,368	$8,400	$87,872	24.8%
Third quartile	$234,085	$25,749	$11,704	$18,000	$1,368	$8,400	$65,222	27.9%
Fourth quartile	$120,331	$22,000	$6,017	$18,000	$1,368	$8,400	$55,785	46.4%
Territory now offered, average	$282,026	$31,023	$14,101	$18,000	$1,368	$8,400	$72,892	25.8%

Ours, applying the published rates to filed gross sales, with the minimums applied where they govern. Figures shown in bold in the royalty and local marketing columns are the minimum instead of the rate.

The percentage charges alone are 22% of sales. $82,672 at the system average *. Eleven points of royalty is among the highest in this library, and the marketing obligations add eleven more.

Both minimums govern the whole bottom quartile. Every center in it bills under $185,278, against a $200,000 royalty threshold and a $300,000 local marketing threshold *. For those 102 centers the charges behave as a fixed cost of about $40,000 plus 5%.

The minimums total $45,568 to $49,768 a year. $22,000 of royalty minimum, $18,000 of local marketing, $1,368 of technology and $4,200 or $8,400 of call center *. Against a fourth-quartile average of $120,331, that is 38% to 41% of revenue before any percentage rate applies.

The third quartile is where the rate takes over. At $234,085 the royalty runs on its 11% rate and the local marketing minimum still governs *. Moving from $234,085 to $300,000 costs $7,251 of royalty while the marketing charge stays at its minimum. So the marginal load in that stretch is 16% against 22%.

Estimated initial investment, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Low	High
Initial franchise fee	$46,900	$46,900
Real estate improvements and site preparation	$15,000	$118,010
Additional funds, three months	$9,500	$35,000
Specialized furnishings	$6,000	$15,000
Grand opening marketing	$10,000	$15,000
Computers, telephone, internet and software	$7,500	$13,930
Signage	$2,000	$10,000
Development project management fee	$6,000	$6,000
First month's rent and security deposit	$1,500	$5,500
Legal, accounting and professional fees	$3,500	$5,000
Other furniture and miscellaneous supplies	$3,400	$4,500
Initial inventory and instructional materials	$2,750	$4,500
Optional Sylvan Edge and ACE IT! programs	$0	$3,210
Insurance deposit and premium	$2,000	$2,700
Training-related expenses	$1,400	$2,400
Accounting software	$135	$600
Miscellaneous supplies	$15	$150
Total	$117,600	$288,400

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size; both columns add to their stated totals exactly *.

The network of locations

Forty-three fewer centers in a year.

Outlet counts, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it, Item 20 of the 2026 FDD
Measure	2023	2024	2025
Franchised at start	469	473	476
Opened	n/a	24	12
Terminations	n/a	0	10
Ceased for other reasons	n/a	21	45
Franchised at end	473	476	433
Company-owned at end	5	0	0
Total outlets at end	478	476	433
Transfers between franchisees	n/a	48	26

As the brand reported it; 2024 and 2025 reconcile exactly *.

Twelve centers opened during 2025 and 55 left. A net fall of 43, or 9.0% of the estate in a single year *. Ten of the departures are filed as terminations and 45 as ceasing for other reasons.

Openings halved from 24 to 12. While departures rose from 21 to 55. The year before that, the system was flat at 476 outlets, so the contraction is recent.

Thirty-seven agreements are signed and waiting against 433 trading centers. With 30 openings projected for 2026, two and a half times the 12 that opened in 2025.

Transfers fell from 48 to 26. Still six percent of the estate changing hands in a year. For an existing owner is a supply of trading centers to buy alongside a territory that would otherwise be sized to today's smaller standard.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a Sylvan Learning center be billing?

Across 409 centers trading all of 2025, quartile averages were $795,074, $355,018, $234,085 and $120,331. Weight to a system average of $375,780 across total gross sales of $153,693,901, both marked *. Medians were $588,669, $352,595, $231,231 and $130,176. The highest center billed $3,497,188 and the lowest $11,035. Among the 186 centers whose protected areas match the size offered today, the quarter averages were $532,008, $295,866, $202,666 and $101,195, weighting to $282,026, also marked *.

What does the brand take?

A royalty of 11% of gross sales from services other than Sylvan Edge and ACE IT! and 12% from those, subject to a quarterly minimum of $5,500. A national fund contribution of 5% of monthly gross sales. A local marketing expenditure of the greater of 6% of monthly gross sales or $1,500 a month. A technology fee of $114 a center a month with a ceiling of $750. And a mandatory call center at $700 a month plus $10 an inquiry, or $350 a month plus $30 an inquiry. The percentage charges come to 22% of sales, and at the system average the total reaches $92,440 or 24.6%, which is marked *.

When do the minimums bite?

The royalty minimum of $22,000 a year matches an 11% rate at $200,000 of annual gross sales. The local marketing minimum of $18,000 matches 6% at $300,000, both marked *. Every center in the fourth quartile bills under $185,278. So both minimums govern that whole quartile. The third quartile average of $234,085 still sits under the marketing threshold. Together with technology and the call center, the minimums come to $45,568 to $49,768 a year. Is 38% to 41% of the fourth quarter's average revenue. The royalty minimum is waived for six months after a primary center's grand opening. It attaches to the franchise agreement. So a franchisee running additional centers inside one protected area has it once.

Is the territory I would buy the same as the ones trading?

Smaller, in many cases. A separate set of figures covers the 186 centers whose protected areas have an average household income above $65,000 and a population of roughly 15,000 to 20,000 students aged 4 to 18, the opportunity on offer today. Those centers average $282,026 against $375,780 across all 409, which is 24.9% less and marked *. Centers outside that subset hold larger areas, from population growth and from legacy agreements that granted bigger territories. The gap is widest at the top: $532,008 against $795,074.

Who does bookkeeping for a Sylvan Learning franchise?

Three things shape the close here. The royalty runs at two rates, 11% on most services and 12% on the Sylvan Edge and ACE IT! programs, while the national fund and local marketing exclude those same programs from their base, so revenue has to be coded by program. Second, the royalty minimum is tested quarterly and the local marketing minimum monthly. Means a center near either threshold has a fee that behaves as fixed in weak months and variable in strong ones. A monthly comparison of actual charges against both minimums is the control. Third, the call center charges per inquiry on top of a monthly fee. So lead volume is a direct cost as well as a revenue driver. The two models cross over at a volume worth calculating from your own numbers. 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 median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
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 attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.

Questions worth putting to Sylvan Learning

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

Part of our Childcare & Education Franchise Finance guide and the Tutoring And Learning Centers Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from Sylvan Learning, LLC’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. Sylvan Learning® 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

Sylvan Learning reads against the rest of the tutoring and learning centers group: Best in Class Education Center · Brain Balance · Huntington Learning Center · Kumon · LearningRx · Mathnasium. The tutoring and learning centers 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.
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.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
Checking the franchisor’s own finances
What one location earns and spends
What changes at ten 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

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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.

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