Express Employment Professionals franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening an Express Employment Professionals franchise takes $140,000 – $400,000 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $96,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 9% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 1%. To qualify, Express Employment Professionals asks for $50,000 in liquid cash and a $250,000 net worth. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Express Employment Professionals franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $96,000 | $96,000 | $96,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $140,000 | $400,000 | $140,000 to $400,000 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $250,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 | |
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $140,000 | $400,000 | $140,000 to $400,000 |
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 9% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 1% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 5 years |
See the full Express Employment Professionals cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Express Employment Professionals's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Express Employment Professionals's disclosed cost sits against the Professional Services category:
- Minimum startup cost of $140,000 — about 1.7× the Professional Services median of $84,700.
- Initial franchise fee of $96,000 — about 2.4× the Professional Services median of $39,700.
Category medians are computed from the Professional Services brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Professional Services franchises
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How Express Employment Professionals's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2022: began the window at 516 units; 407 units opened, 143 closed, ending at 789 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Express Employment Professionals or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Express Employment Professionals for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Express Employment Professionals is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Express Employment Professionals grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Express Employment Professionals can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Express Employment Professionals franchise
Express Employment Professionals is a professional services franchisor with 789 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2022, it began the window at 516 units; its filings record 407 unit openings and 143 closures, ending at 789 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Express Services Inc..
Disclosure filings report 10 franchise-related lawsuits. Review Item 3 of the FDD. (as of 2026-05)
From the franchisor's materials
The temporary staffing industry is on track to generate a projected $620 billion in sales globally each year. Express reached $3.7 billion in sales in 2025.
Express Employment Professionals franchise: quick answers
- How much does an Express Employment Professionals franchise cost?
- $140,000 – $400,000 all-in to open, per Express Employment Professionals's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Express Employment Professionals units are there?
- 789 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Express Employment Professionals's units held up?
- 95.3% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).
- Is Express Employment Professionals SBA-eligible?
- Express Employment Professionals is flagged SBA-eligible in our dataset (as of 2026-05). Confirm current status on the SBA Franchise Directory before relying on it for financing.