To see our entire 2025 Franchise 500 list, including category rankings, click here

What do the best franchises in America look like?

Here are some answers, based on our latest Franchise 500.

Age: The best franchises can be as old as A&W, which began franchising in 1925 and is the oldest on our list. Or they could be as young as Spark by Hilton and Lawn Pride, both of which saw their first franchise in 2023 and are the newest entrants to the list. Our listed brands truly span the ages, with eight that began franchising before 1955 and 92 that began since 2015.

Cost: The best franchises can start for as little as $1,945 — the most affordable franchise investment on our list, from Cruise Planners. (In fact, eight of the listed franchises can start for less than $10,000. That includes five commercial cleaning brands, two travel agencies and one fitness brand.) Or they can cost as much as $190.9 million to start, which is the highest investment in our ranking, for Hilton Hotels and Resorts. (At the highest level, 62 of our top franchises have a minimum start-up cost of $1 million or more—most of which are hotels and restaurants.)

Units: The best franchises can have fewer than 100 total units open (like 85 companies in this year's ranking) or more than 10,000 units open (like 11 of the selected brands). Exclusively, the biggest it doesn't mean automatically the best — as evidenced by our company no. 1, Taco Bell, which is NO one of those brands with 10,000 or more units! (He had 8,565 as of mid-2024.)

Actually, let's spend another moment on size: If you just looked at it average Of all the companies in our ranking, the average franchisee would have 1,269 units open and open 33 new units per year. But that number is skewed by massive brands like 7-Eleven and McDonald's. When you look at average the number of units per franchise in the ranking, you see something much more realistic: only 269.

All of which is to say: the best franchises don't look like one thing. They are young and old, affordable and expensive, big and small. The only consistency is theirs SIGNIFICANCE: They all deliver value to their customers and franchisees – building systems that are robust enough to replicate in tens or thousands of units, yet nimble enough to adapt to changing times. That's why we publish our Franchise 500 ranking every year.

Here's how it works: We collected data from July 31, 2024 and spent half a year analyzing it for trends and movements. All numbers are specific to that date – so when we say a brand grew “last year”, we're talking about between July 2023 and July 2024.

Every year brings familiar names and new surprises. This year, for example, we saw a steady increase in fast-food brands: in last year's ranking there were 104 of them, and in this year there were 111, including 32 in the top 100. This won't come as a shock, but the nuance is important: There's unique growth among better-for-you products like acai bowls and Mediterranean food, as well as beverages (coffee, smoothies/juices, teas) and desserts.

We also saw growth in the Health & Wellness category, with 34 franchises ranked this year (vs. 31 last year). This includes brands offering autism treatment services—a relatively new franchise offering, which joins other new entrants into the mental health space.

IN entrepreneurWe are very proud of producing this list. We offer it as a resource for anyone in franchising, especially those who are considering buying a franchise for the first time (like maybe you?). So what do the best franchises in America look like? Really, the answer is simple: it's for whatever brand is best you.