Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 641083
Panda Express franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Panda Express cost $514,500 to $3,275,500 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,328,594 in the franchisor's 2025 figures; 1.9% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Citadel Panda Express, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-04-17. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $25,000 | Item 5, p. 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 8% per Royalty Period, subject to a minimum of $4,000 per period, monthly | Item 6, p. 14 |
| Advertising fund | not read in this pass | Item 6, p. 14 |
Initial License Fee; fees received in 2025 ranged $12,500 to $25,000.
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, 2025, licensed units by venue type (Total column) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 167 units: licensed units by venue type: airport (median $4,064,585), hospital ($539,339), military ($1,550,464), university ($877,833), casino ($1,881,242), travel plaza ($2,278,489); the Total column is all licensed units in the table (167 units: airport 23, hospital 3, military 55, university 74, casino 4, travel plaza 8) | |
| Period | 2025 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 Total-column median / Item 7 total (midpoint, low, high); venue economics differ widely. 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 | 157 | 165 | 173 |
| Opened | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Terminated | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| End of year | 165 | 173 | 184 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 2,248 | 2,329 | 2,423 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 78; Table 3 totals p. 82.
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.
As filed: Table 1 prints a 2023 net change of +54 for company-owned (2,195 to 2,248 is +53) and +61 for total (2,353 to 2,413 is +60); 2024 and 2025 totals derived.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Panda Express Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-04-17, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 641083, 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.
Panda Express licenses only captive-venue locations (airports, hospitals, military, universities, casinos, travel plazas); 2,423 of its restaurants are company-owned and 184 are licensed. The page describes a licence program, not a street-side franchise.
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.