Food & Beverage · registry year 2024 · HQ OK
Sonic Drive-In Franchise
A Inspire Brands brand operating in the food & beverage sector, franchising since 1959. According to the 2024 FDD filing for Sonic Drive-In, this is an editorial comparison record; it does not reproduce the brand's current FDD.
- $1.2M – $3.5M
- Initial investment · Higher entry cost
- 5.0%
- Royalty rate · Mid-range royalty
- 3,526
- Total locations · Large network
- $1.4M
- Avg unit revenue · Above-average unit revenue
FDD outlay schedule
Registry sonic-drive-in Sonic Drive-In
Sonic Drive-In needs $1.2M–$3.5M to open and charges a 5.0% royalty - an entry cost above the typical food & beverage franchise.
- LO $1.2M
- HI $3.5M
- FEE $45K
- ROY 5.0%
- UNT 3,526
- I19 Disclosed
- INV# #26/223
- UNT# #33/223
Same-sector Item 7 peers
Nearest Item 7 peer: Sizzler ($1.2M)
Same-sector Item 7 neighbourhood for Sonic Drive-In (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 Sonic Drive-In's franchise system looks, from 2 of 2 tracked dimensions.
- Network momentum 0.6% net unit growth (YoY) 27/100 · 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.
Where Sonic Drive-In's investment ranks nationally
Sonic Drive-In's listed Item 7 low of $1.2M 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.
Sonic Drive-In vs all tracked franchise brands by listed investment
Initial investment low (FDD Item 7), PlainFranchise brand corpus
$1,241,000 Higher than most higher than 88% 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
- Franchise Fee
- $45K
- Ad Fund Rate
- 3.3%
Revenue Data (Item 19)
- Average Revenue
- $1.4M
- gross revenue per location
* Revenue figures are gross revenue (sales), not profit. This registry does not report operating costs or profit.
Network Size & Growth
Net Growth Rate
Year-over-year unit change
60 locations closed in the last reporting year
Quick Facts
- Sector
- Food & Beverage
- Subsector
- quick service restaurant
- Founded
- 1953
- Franchising Since
- 1959
- Headquarters
- OK
- FDD Year
- 2024
- Item 19
- Disclosed
Important Notice · Sonic Drive-In
This Sonic Drive-In page is a registry comparison record, not a verified FDD extract. It does not establish suitability, operating costs, profitability, or expected results for Sonic Drive-In.
Large-network capital outlay for Sonic Drive-In
Signature read: 3,526 locations · Item 7 low $1.2M
Sonic Drive-In, a Inspire Brands franchise, has been franchising since 1959 - 6 years after the concept was founded in 1953 , currently with 3,526 total locations (3,401 franchised, 125 company-owned; 96% of the recorded total is franchised) in the food & beverage sector, headquartered in OK. The listed total initial investment is $1.2M to $3.5M, recorded as a low-to-high range in the registry. The registry separately records a franchise-fee field of $45K; its summary does not reproduce every Item 7 line item.
The brand charges 5.0% of gross sales in ongoing royalties; the registry also records a 3.3% advertising-fund field, for a 8.3% arithmetic total. Sonic Drive-In has a recorded Item 19 financial-performance field; Item 19 disclosure is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule. The reported average gross revenue per location is $1.4M; the listed royalty rate multiplied by the reported average equals $70K, 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.
Sonic Drive-In's network is expanding: unit count grew at a 0.6% net rate over the past year (80 openings, 60 closures). This is a reported network-size change, not a measure of profitability, demand, or franchisee outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Sonic Drive-In franchise cost?
How many Sonic Drive-In locations are there?
What are the ongoing fees for a Sonic Drive-In franchise?
Related reading for Sonic Drive-In: Understanding FDDs , Sonic Drive-In lists Item 19 revenue here, how Item 19 fits the 23-item FDD.
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 Sonic Drive-In's Item 7 and Item 19 fields are labeled (expand)
Nationwide brands with similar investment or network size
Two data-derived peer sets for Sonic Drive-In , both outside HQ state OK : nearest Item 7 lows and nearest total-location counts, not the same-sector roster below.
Similar listed investment
Nearest Item 7 lows ($1.2M here).
Similar network size
Nearest total location counts (3,526 here).
What to do with this
Sonic Drive-In at a glance, drawn from the same figures above.
- Sonic Drive-In scores 64/100 (D) on our composite opportunity read, combining net unit growth and Item 19 financial-disclosure transparency.
- Its $1.2M – $3.5M entry cost runs above the typical food & beverage franchise.
- Ranks #26 of 223 listed franchises by initial investment. See rankings
- Sizzler sits at a comparable investment level ($1.2M) in the same sector. Compare
Editorial comparison registry, not a source-linked FDD record. Verify the current FDD before relying on any figure.
Read our methodology - what this registry can and cannot establish.
Source: PlainFranchise editorial registry Record-level FDD source link and retrieval date pending
| Publisher | PlainFranchise |
| Sources | Public state franchise disclosure registries and FDD filings |