Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640450
Burger King franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Burger King cost $2,039,200 to $4,730,600 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,593,606 in the franchisor's 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 figures; 7.4% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Burger King Company LLC. FDD issued 2026-03-26, amended 2026-09-02. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Freestanding restaurant. Other formats: Co-Brand $896,200 to $1,682,800; In-Line/End Cap $944,800 to $1,942,800 (p.43); Mall Food Court $655,720 to $1,131,700; Indoor MRS $348,400 to $789,100 (p.44); Big-Box $564,600 to $979,100 (p.45). Freestanding figure includes land and building.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | Item 5, p. 20 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.5% of monthly Gross Sales, monthly | Item 6, p. 25 |
| Advertising fund | an amount not to exceed 4.5% of monthly Gross Sales | Item 6, p. 25 |
standard 20-year term; prorated for shorter terms, minimum $15,000; application fee $250 per individual or $5,000 per entity.
a deferred-remodel royalty of 6.0% or 7.5% applies where a required remodel is deferred (p.29).
What a unit sells
Item 19 is optional and is the franchisor's own representation. It is shown here as filed, with the franchisor's measure, sample and period, and nothing is estimated where it is missing.
| Measure | Gross Sales (all sums charged for goods and services, excluding sales taxes) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | — units: franchisee-owned Traditional Restaurants open the entire 12 months of 2025 (the 2,037 at or above average at 43% implies about 4,737 restaurants); consolidated and company-owned columns also given | |
| Period | 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 | |
| High / low | $5,532,973 / $188,523 | |
| Excluded | non-traditional formats (in-line, institutional, conversion, drive-thru only, mall, mobile, big box, fuel co-brand) are in separate distributions; 76 franchised and 14 company restaurants that closed in 2025 excluded | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 franchised traditional median / Item 7 freestanding total (midpoint, low, high); freestanding total includes real estate, unlike most brands. A ratio of 1.00 means one year of median unit revenue equals the investment; it says nothing about profit.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 6,992 | 6,640 | 5,524 |
| Opened | 61 | 63 | 83 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Not renewed | 55 | 49 | 33 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 88 | 1,061 | 13 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 270 | 69 | 36 |
| End of year | 6,640 | 5,524 | 5,518 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 138 | 1,177 | 1,132 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 111; Table 3 totals p. 120.
Closures are the franchisor's Item 20 counts of units terminated, not renewed, or ceased for other reasons, summed over 2023–2025 and divided by franchised units at the start of 2023. Units the franchisor reacquired are not closures. This is an Item 20 count, not a failure rate.
the 2024 franchised drop is mostly 1,061 reacquisitions by the franchisor (the Carrols acquisition), not closures.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Burger King Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-03-26 and amended 2026-09-02, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640450, registry record). The PDF is the franchisor's and is not hosted here; the item and page beside each figure is where to check it. Item 7 and Item 20 tables were read cell by cell; Item 19 was read by hand; each Item 20 year was checked to sum (start + opened − exits = end) before it was recorded.
Informational only, not professional, legal or investment advice. Unitnomics computes from the filing and does not advise on, rank, or refer to any franchise. Last reviewed: November 2026.