Food & Beverage

Burger King Franchise

A flame-grilled-burger quick-service chain and the flagship U.S. brand of Restaurant Brands International (RBI). Predecessor BK Corporation was founded in 1954 as Burger King of Miami, Inc.; a 2022 internal reorganization made Burger King Company LLC the current franchisor of record. Franchised outlet count fell sharply across the three years shown (-352 in 2023, -1,116 in 2024, -6 in 2025) -- the 2024 drop is not attrition but a real corporate event: RBI's May 2024 acquisition of Carrols Restaurant Group converted 1,023 Carrols-owned franchised restaurants into company-owned ones overnight, which is also why company-owned outlets jumped from 138 to 1,177 that same year.

Losing locationsFounded 1954HQ: Miami, FL

Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Burger King's own filing.

What it costs to open

From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.

Franchise fee

$50,000

Total to open

$2,039,200–$4,730,600

Ongoing royalty

4.5% of gross sales

What you'd actually spend, over time

The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.

Your estimated annual revenue

Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Burger King's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.

Years of ownership

Total cost of ownership over 5 years

$2,264,200 – $4,955,600

Startup investment

$2,039,200–$4,730,600

Royalty per year (4.5%)

$45,000

Total royalty, 5yr

$225,000

When would you break even?

Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Burger King's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.

Estimated profit margin (% of revenue)

%≈ $80,000/year

Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Burger King's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.

At that profit, you'd break even in about

25.5–59.1 years

Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Burger King is currently losing locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.

Is Burger King actually growing?

Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:

Locations opened vs. closed, by year

Shrinking

From Item 20 of Burger King's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.

-352

-1116

-6

202320242025

Year	Franchised units, start	Franchised units, end	Net change
2023	6,992	6,640	-352
2024	6,640	5,524	-1116
2025	5,524	5,518	-6

Most recent year (2025): lost 6 franchised units, ending the year at 5,518 total.

What you're actually signing up for

The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.

Training & ongoing support (Item 11)

New-franchisee training, travel, and living expenses run $7,500-$25,000 per Item 7; franchisees also pay a Service Desk Fee ($750-$1,200/year) for centralized IT support and can qualify for reduced royalty/advertising rates under time-limited multi-unit development incentive programs BKC may offer.

Territory protection (Item 12)

You will not receive an exclusive territory. You may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets BKC owns, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands BKC controls.

Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)

Standard Franchise Agreement term is 20 years for a freestanding restaurant (may be shorter for non-traditional locations). There is no automatic renewal right -- only an option to obtain a successor Franchise Agreement (up to 20 years) if the franchisee is in compliance, has secured property control, and meets BKC's then-current successor requirements; no successor option is available for Big-Box Program or Delivery Restaurant franchisees.

How Burger King compares to other Food & Beverage franchises

Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).

Dave's Hot Chicken

$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty

Slim Chickens

$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty

Ziggi's Coffee

$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty

Crumbl

$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty

Little Caesars

$376,500–$1,769,200 · 6% royalty

Jamba

$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty

Playa Bowls

$188,675–$636,458 · 6% royalty

Kona Ice

$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Firehouse Subs

$166,671–$950,351 · 6% royalty

Wingstop

$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty

Jersey Mike's Subs

$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty

Dunkin'

$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty

Del Taco

$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty

Blaze Pizza

$757,000–$1,297,100 · 5% royalty

Church's Texas Chicken

$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty

MOD Pizza

$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty

Twin Peaks

$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty

McDonald's

$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty

Subway

$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty

Taco Bell

$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty

Domino's Pizza

$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty

KFC

$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty

Chick-fil-A

$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Penn Station

$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Nekter Juice Bar

$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty

Jimmy John's

$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty

Sonic Drive-In

$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty

Papa John's

$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty

Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs

$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty

Jack in the Box

$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty

Wendy's

$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty

Marco's Pizza

$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty

Pizza Hut

$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty

Chicken Salad Chick

$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty

Teriyaki Madness

$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty

Cold Stone Creamery

$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty

Scooter's Coffee

$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty

Nothing Bundt Cakes

$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty

Five Guys

$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty

Tim Hortons

$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty

7 Brew

$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Swig

$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty

Culver's

$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty

Dairy Queen

$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty

Paris Baguette

$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty

Jollibee

$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty

Smoothie King

$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty

IHOP

$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty

Cinnabon

$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty

Burger King Franchise FAQ

How much does it cost to franchise a Burger King?

Based on Burger King's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $2,039,200–$4,730,600, including the $50,000 franchise fee. Burger King only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice, not a full FDD, with California DFPI, so this entry is sourced from Minnesota's CARDS registry instead: Clean FDD issued March 26, 2026, as amended 9/2026 (MN File No. 10533, filed 9/2/2026, effective in Minnesota 9/11/2026). Item 5: standard franchise fee is $50,000 for a 20-year term (prorated down to a $15,000 minimum for shorter terms) -- an earlier automated pass on this filing mis-picked a $25,000 figure from the Item 7 training-fee line as the franchise fee; corrected here from the FDD's own Item 5 text. Item 6: royalty is 4.5% of monthly Gross Sales plus an advertising contribution of up to 4.5% -- an earlier automated pass mis-read this as 2.0%; corrected from the Item 6 fee table. Item 7: $2,039,200-$4,730,600 TOTAL for a Traditional (freestanding) facility -- separate, lower ranges apply to Non-Traditional formats (in-line, food-court, co-brand, etc.). Item 20 Table 1 franchised/company-owned rows above, with the FDD's own footnote confirming the 2024 Carrols acquisition as the cause of that year's outlet-count shift.

What is the Burger King franchise fee and royalty rate?

The initial franchise fee is $50,000, and the ongoing royalty is 4.5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.

Is the Burger King franchise growing or shrinking?

Shrinking. Across 2023–2025, Burger King lost a net 1474 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.

Keep going

Burger King and KFC are both food & beverage franchises; Burger King's total investment starts about $68,375 lower than KFC's. KFC Franchise
Burger King and Jack in the Box are both food & beverage franchises; Jack in the Box's total investment starts about $129,700 lower than Burger King's. Jack in the Box Franchise

Where this came from: Burger King only files a Net Worth/Experience Exemption notice, not a full FDD, with California DFPI, so this entry is sourced from Minnesota's CARDS registry instead: Clean FDD issued March 26, 2026, as amended 9/2026 (MN File No. 10533, filed 9/2/2026, effective in Minnesota 9/11/2026). Item 5: standard franchise fee is $50,000 for a 20-year term (prorated down to a $15,000 minimum for shorter terms) -- an earlier automated pass on this filing mis-picked a $25,000 figure from the Item 7 training-fee line as the franchise fee; corrected here from the FDD's own Item 5 text. Item 6: royalty is 4.5% of monthly Gross Sales plus an advertising contribution of up to 4.5% -- an earlier automated pass mis-read this as 2.0%; corrected from the Item 6 fee table. Item 7: $2,039,200-$4,730,600 TOTAL for a Traditional (freestanding) facility -- separate, lower ranges apply to Non-Traditional formats (in-line, food-court, co-brand, etc.). Item 20 Table 1 franchised/company-owned rows above, with the FDD's own footnote confirming the 2024 Carrols acquisition as the cause of that year's outlet-count shift. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-09-11. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.

If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.