SonicFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Sonic franchise requires a total initial investment of $670K – $2.5M, including a $15K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.6M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 8.3% charge-off rate across 144 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $670K – $2.5M
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 3,412
- 98th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 8.3%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchising since 1974. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 3194 to 3120 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Large franchise systems benefit from brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and proven operations.
Bottom line
- Total investment $670K – $2.5M including a $15K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.5M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 40/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 8.3% across 144 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- Established system with 3,412 units across 52 years of franchising. Strong brand recognition and operational playbook.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- SONIC FRANCHISING LLC
- Parent company
- Inspire Brands, Inc.
- CEO title
- President
- Paul J. Brown
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- Three Glenlake Parkway NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30328
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $59.0M
- vs $51.9M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service drive-in restaurants featuring burgers, hot dogs, and beverages, managing drive-thru and patio seating operations. Day-to-day responsibilities include inventory management, crew scheduling, food preparation oversight, and customer service across multiple dayparts (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Operators typically manage 15-30 employees and handle marketing within their protected territory.
- CEO
- Paul J. Brown
- Headquarters
- GA
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 47
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $15K | $15K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses During Training | $8K | $94K | |
| Crew Training Expenses | $15K | $43K | |
| Prepaid Expenses | $2K | $125K | |
| Real Property / Occupancy Charge | $0 | $35K | |
| Building Costs | $250K | $800K | |
| Site Work | $0 | $700K | |
| Restaurant Equipment | $175K | $310K | |
| Point-of-Sale System (POS), Digital Menu Housings (POPS) & Other Technology | $60K | $160K | |
| External Signage | $20K | $80K | |
| Beginning Inventory | $10K | $50K | |
| Advertising Funds | $2K | $5K | |
| Insurance Premiums | $10K | $22K | |
| Payroll | $27K | $95K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $5K | $25K | |
| Total initial investment | $599K | $2.6M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$213K
13.8% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $670K – $2.5M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $5K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $1K – $45K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.3%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.3%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.3% of gross sales |
| Training fee | $250 |
| Transfer fee | $3K |
| Renewal fee | $15K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $50K |
| Total fee load | 8.3% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.5M
- Item 19 type
- AUV (Annual Unit Volumes)
- Sample size
- 3057 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $255K→$4.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $920K→$2.3M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 1.0x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Sonic Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 3,412
- Opened
- 32
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 54
- Turnover rate
- 1.6%
- Company-owned
- 292
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 91%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 5.6%
- Net growth (yr3)
- -0.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -2.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Closed (3yr)
- 320
- Terminated (3yr)
- 51
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 2
- Transfers (3yr)
- 100
- Transfer rate
- 2.9%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 1.5%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 9.4%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 47 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Michigan
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 144
- Loan volume
- $132.1M
- Median loan
- $683K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 8.3%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 91.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 53
- Defaults
- 10
Vintage analysis
Sonic charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Sonic's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 33-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Sonic presents caution-level risk: a shrinking franchise system with undisclosed profitability, material litigation/regulatory issues, and insufficient financial transparency to validate investment returns.
Litigation (Item 3)
Two concluded data breach-related class actions: (1) In re Sonic Corp. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation - settled August 12, 2019 for $4,325,000 paid by cyber liability insurance; (2) Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union v. Sonic Corp. et al. - consolidated financial institution class action filed October 16, 2018 regarding September 26, 2017 data breach incident. No pending litigation disclosed.
Largest disclosed settlement: $4,325,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.8% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation
- 02MINORNo average net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation despite $670K-$2.5M investment range
- 03MINORMultiple data security breaches and regulatory settlements (non-poaching violations) indicate compliance and operational governance issues
- 04MEDHigh investment relative to disclosed revenue ($670K-$2.5M capex vs. $1.55M avg revenue) creates 6-12+ month breakeven risk
- 05MINOR5% royalty on gross sales (not net) means franchisees pay fees even during unprofitable periods
- 06HIGHLitigation history involving affiliated brands (Arby's, Dunkin', Jimmy John's) under same parent suggests systemic corporate compliance problems
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1.5 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 3 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Georgia |
| Litigation count | 6 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Two concluded data breach-related class actions: (1) In re Sonic Corp. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation - settled August 12, 2019 for $4,325,000 paid by cyber liability insurance; (2) Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union v. Sonic Corp. et al. - consolidated financial institution class action filed October 16, 2018 regarding September 26, 2017 data breach incident. No pending litigation disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 91 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 135 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisor
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
3,195 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Sonic · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Sonic franchise?
The total investment to open a Sonic franchise ranges from $670K – $2.5M, with an initial franchise fee of $15K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Sonic franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Sonic FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.6M. The median is $1.5M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Sonic's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Sonic has a charge-off rate of 8.3% across 144 loans, meaning 8.3% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Sonic franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Sonic has 3,412 total units in the United States, including 3,194 franchised units and 292 company-owned units. 32 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Sonic a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Sonic as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 40 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.