Franchises $500K+: 796 brands by filed minimum
796 brands file a minimum investment of $500,000 or more, per their franchise disclosure filings. The median filed minimum here is $979,275, and the median initial franchise fee is $50,000. The biggest categories at this level are Food & Beverage (371 brands), Lodging & Leisure (147), and Health & Fitness (99). Placement uses each filing's low end — "starting from" money — so read the full range and the fees on every brand page before you shortlist.
What's actually available at $500K+
Franchises with a filed minimum in the $500K+ band
Banded by the filed minimum — the low end of each brand's own estimate. The "Cash to open" column shows the full filed range, which can run past the band. Where a row carries a "3-yr survival" figure, it is our metric recomputed from filed unit history; brands without three reported years show no figure — never a guess.
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
- Cash to openFranchise feeRoyalty
Know the trade before the brand
The cost columns can't tell you what the daily work is — the hours, the physical reality, who actually runs the schedule. These trades have brands in the $500K+ band, and each guide covers what the work is really like:
- QSR at $500K+? Read the trade guide (24 matched brands here)
- Spa at $500K+? Read the trade guide (17 matched brands here)
- Car wash at $500K+? Read the trade guide (5 matched brands here)
- Massage at $500K+? Read the trade guide (5 matched brands here)
- Gas station at $500K+? Read the trade guide (2 matched brands here)
- Boba tea at $500K+? Read the trade guide (1 matched brand here)
- Laundromat at $500K+? Read the trade guide (1 matched brand here)
- Preschool at $500K+? Read the trade guide (1 matched brand here)
- Senior care at $500K+? Read the trade guide (1 matched brand here)
What to watch at this price
The band is a starting-from label, not a cap: placement uses each brand's filed minimum, and full ranges often run past the band's top. The real opening number is the whole range plus the initial fee plus working capital while the unit ramps.
Ongoing fees are the quiet cost: 415 of the 796 brands here disclose a royalty rate (median 5% of sales); the rest leave it out of the figures we can source. Where a cell reads "n/d," ask the franchisor for Item 6 of the FDD before you compare brands on the opening number alone.
Which franchises count as $500K+?
Brands whose filed minimum investment is at least $500,000, per their disclosure filings. Placement uses the filing's low end, so a brand listed here can have a full range that runs past the band — each row shows the whole range.
What does a franchise in the $500K+ band typically cost?
Across the 796 brands in this band, the median filed minimum is $979,275 and the median initial franchise fee is $50,000. Medians are computed over disclosed figures only — "not disclosed" is a filing gap, not a zero.
Does the filed minimum cover everything?
No. It is the low end of the franchisor's own estimate of opening costs. Ongoing royalties (median 5% among the 415 brands here that disclose a rate), working capital while the unit ramps, and your local build-out prices sit outside that number.
Not sure this is your band? Run the 60-second affordability check — no contact info needed to see your result — or compare all investment levels.