Food & Beverage · registry year 2024 · HQ VA

Five Guys Franchise

A Five Guys Enterprises brand operating in the food & beverage sector, franchising since 2003. According to the 2024 FDD filing for Five Guys, this is an editorial comparison record; it does not reproduce the brand's current FDD.

$314K – $958K
Initial investment · Mid-range entry cost
6.0%
Royalty rate · Above-average royalty
1,757
Total locations · Large network
$1.5M
Avg unit revenue · Above-average unit revenue

FDD outlay schedule

Registry five-guys Five Guys

Five Guys needs $314K–$958K to open and charges a 6.0% royalty - an entry cost below the typical food & beverage franchise.

  • LO $314K
  • HI $958K
  • FEE $25K
  • ROY 6.0%
  • UNT 1,757
  • I19 Disclosed
  • INV# #80/223
  • UNT# #65/223

Nearest Item 7 peer: Jimmy John's ($330K)

Five Guys (this)$314KJimmy John's$330KThe Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf$335KWingstop$336KWendy's$336KArby's$342K
Five Guys Item 7 listed-low neighbourhood vs nearest food & beverage peers

Same-sector Item 7 neighbourhood for Five Guys (registry year 2024). Listed lows only - not a profit, cost-of-living, or suitability claim. Verify the current FDD before relying on these figures. How we place brands →

Franchise Opportunity Health Score

How healthy and transparent Five Guys's franchise system looks, from 2 of 2 tracked dimensions.

76 C
  • Network momentum 2.9% net unit growth (YoY) 52/100 · F
  • Financial disclosure Item 19 disclosed 100/100 · A

Benchmarked against the 223-brand tracked corpus (p10-p90 range per dimension); a higher score means a growing unit count and a disclosed Item 19. See how we place brands.

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Where Five Guys's investment ranks nationally

Five Guys's listed Item 7 low of $314K against every one of the 218 tracked franchise brands with a disclosed initial investment. Listed figures only, verify in the current FDD before relying on them.

Five Guys vs all tracked franchise brands by listed investment

Initial investment low (FDD Item 7), PlainFranchise brand corpus

$314,000 Around the middle lower than 36% of 218 franchise brands

Franchise brands, banded by listed Item 7 low

Each bar is a $0.001K-wide band; taller bars hold more franchise brands. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainFranchise editorial comparison registry · 2024-12-31

Investment Overview

Investment Range $314K – $958K
Franchise Fee
$25K
Ad Fund Rate
1.5%

Revenue Data (Item 19)

Item 19 Disclosed Franchisor provided financial performance data
Average Revenue
$1.5M
gross revenue per location

* Revenue figures are gross revenue (sales), not profit. This registry does not report operating costs or profit.

Network Size & Growth

1,557
Franchised
200
Company-Owned
+80
Opened (Last Year)

Net Growth Rate

Year-over-year unit change

2.85% growth

30 locations closed in the last reporting year

Quick Facts

Subsector
fast casual restaurant
Founded
1986
Franchising Since
2003
Headquarters
VA
FDD Year
2024
Item 19
Disclosed

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Important Notice · Five Guys

This Five Guys page is a registry comparison record, not a verified FDD extract. It does not establish suitability, operating costs, profitability, or expected results for Five Guys.

National footprint registry read for Five Guys

Signature read: 1,757 locations · Item 7 low $314K

Five Guys, a Five Guys Enterprises franchise, has been franchising since 2003 - 17 years after the concept was founded in 1986 , currently with 1,757 total locations (1,557 franchised, 200 company-owned; 89% of the recorded total is franchised) in the food & beverage sector, headquartered in VA. The listed total initial investment is $314K to $958K, with separate listed low and high values. A franchise-fee field of $25K is recorded separately, while the registry summary does not reproduce the full Item 7 schedule.

Ongoing royalties run 6.0% of gross sales, plus a 1.5% national ad-fund field; the listed percentages sum to 7.5%. The registry records an Item 19 field for Five Guys. Financial-performance disclosure in Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule. The reported average gross revenue per location is $1.5M; the listed royalty rate multiplied by the reported average equals $90K, which is not a total-cost or profit calculation. Revenue is not profit; this registry does not contain a complete operating-cost or profit record.

The unit count trend here is positive -- Five Guys posted 2.9% net growth year-over-year (80 openings, 30 closures). This is a reported network-size change, not a measure of profitability, demand, or franchisee outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Five Guys franchise cost?
Opening a Five Guys franchise takes a total initial investment of $314K to $958K. A $25K franchise fee is part of that total. Ongoing royalties are 6.0% of gross sales.
How many Five Guys locations are there?
Five Guys has 1,757 total locations (1,557 franchised, 200 company-owned). Year-over-year, the unit count is up 2.9%.
What are the ongoing fees for a Five Guys franchise?
Five Guys's ongoing royalty is 6.0% of gross sales. There is also a 1.5% advertising fund contribution. These are listed ongoing fee fields, separate from the listed initial-investment range.

Related reading for Five Guys: Understanding FDDs , Five Guys lists Item 19 revenue here, how Item 19 fits the 23-item FDD.

Five Guys among nearby food & beverage registry records: listed entry cost and network size Scatter plot of 11 data points. -5000 locations0 locations5000 locations10000 locations15000 locations20000 locations $250k$300k$350k$400k Listed initial investment low ($000) Total locations (Item 20) Five GuysJimmy John'sThe Coffee Bean & Tea LeafWingstopWendy'sArby'sChick-fil-AChurch's Texas ChickenTropical Smoothie CafePizza HutThe Human Bean
Five Guys among nearby food & beverage registry records: listed entry cost and network size

Snapshot uses the registry's listed Item 7 initial-investment low and Item 20 location-count fields. It is a descriptive comparison, not a ranking or investment recommendation.

How Five Guys's Item 7 and Item 19 fields are labeled (expand)

Nationwide brands with similar investment or network size

Two data-derived peer sets for Five Guys , both outside HQ state VA : nearest Item 7 lows and nearest total-location counts, not the same-sector roster below.

What to do with this

Five Guys at a glance, drawn from the same figures above.

  • Five Guys scores 76/100 (C) on our composite opportunity read, combining net unit growth and Item 19 financial-disclosure transparency.
  • Its $314K – $958K entry cost runs below the typical food & beverage franchise.
  • Ranks #80 of 223 listed franchises by initial investment. See rankings
  • Jimmy John's sits at a comparable investment level ($330K) in the same sector. Compare

Editorial comparison registry, not a source-linked FDD record. Verify the current FDD before relying on any figure.

Editorial comparison registry; a source filing is not linked to this record. Verify the current FDD before relying on a figure.

Source: PlainFranchise editorial registry Record-level FDD source link and retrieval date pending