Ranked: The 20 Best Franchises in the U.S.
The U.S. is famous for chain restaurants, franchised shops, and brand name hotels. One thing these franchises aim for is consistency in store feel, customer service, product offerings, and prices, no matter which state you’re in.
This visualization uses Entrepreneur’s annual Franchise 500 Ranking to showcase the best franchises in the U.S. worth owning, from Dunkin’ Donuts to Snap-on Tools.
The Best and How They Were Selected
The report assessed five broad categories to score the country’s famous chains:
- Costs & fees: including franchise fee, total investment needed to open one store, and royalty fees
- Support: including training times, marketing support, operational support, franchisor infrastructure, financing infrastructure, and litigation
- Size & growth: including open & operating units, growth rate, and closures
- Brand strength: including social media, system size, years in business, years franchising
- Financial strength & stability: including franchisor’s audited financial statements
A franchise was only considered if it was actively seeking new franchisees and must have already had at least 10 units operating.
Here’s a closer look at the top 20:
| Rank | Franchise | Initial Investment Needed | Global Units 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Taco Bell | $576K – $3.4M | 7,900 |
| #2 | Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen | $384K – $3.5M | 3,851 |
| #3 | Jersey Mike’s Subs | $194K – $955K | 2,402 |
| #4 | The UPS Store | $122K – $508K | 5,464 |
| #5 | Dunkin’ | $438K – $1.8M | 12,957 |
| #6 | Kumon | $67K – $146K | 26,527 |
| #7 | Ace Hardware | $292K – $2.1M | 5,746 |
| #8 | Culver’s | $2.3M – $5.8M | 871 |
| #9 | Hampton by Hilton | $12.3M (Read more…) |