---
title: "How Much Does a Chick-fil-A Franchise Cost?"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/4d1dabf1-b530-4db1-b82d-1edbe5ecbdfe
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/how-much-does-a-chick-fil-a-franchise-cost-2715278
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2021-03-17T15:10:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T01:21:47.810Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/108faf614750af91c018c6349c798fa37712.jpg
---

# How Much Does a Chick-fil-A Franchise Cost?

**TL;DR:** The cost of opening a Chick-fil-A franchise is between $342,990 and $1,982,225, including a $10,000 franchise fee. Chick-fil-A has no requirements for minimum net worth or liquid assets, but charges a 15% royalty and takes 50% of all profits for franchisees.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-03-17. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/how-much-does-a-chick-fil-a-franchise-cost-2715278).*

## Story

Opening a Chick-fil-A franchise costs between $342,990 and $1,982,225, including a $10,000 franchise fee , but unlike most other franchisors, Chick-fil-A covers all opening expenses, meaning franchisees are on the hook only for that $10,000. That makes Chick-fil-A one of the least expensive major fast-food chains to buy into by a long shot. Additionally, Chick-fil-A has no requirements for minimum net worth or liquid assets.

However, Chick-fil-A charges a 15% royalty and takes 50% of all profits for franchisees, by far the steepest structure of any quick-service brand. Wendy’s , for example, requires franchisees to have a minimum net worth of $5 million with $2 million in liquid assets but charges them just a 4% royalty.

Because Chick-fil-A covers all expenses involved in building and opening a restaurant, the franchisor also owns the real estate, building, equipment and virtually everything else in the store; the franchisee simply operates the business.

While the franchising opportunity doesn’t cost much, Chick-fil-A “requires a holistic commitment to own and operate the business in a hands-on manner” from owners.

Overall, Chick-fil-A’s unorthodox strategy has paid off. Chick-fil-A franchise stores makes more money per store than McDonald’s , " target="_blank" rel="nofollow Burger King or Wendy’s, and doesn’t even open on Sundays.

Of course, Chick-fil-A is far from the only fried chicken game in franchising. Even before Popeyes ' chicken sandwich ignited a fried chicken arms race among the biggest names in fast food, fried chicken had long been one of the most popular segments in franchising.

The truth is, it is notoriously difficult to buy a Chick-fil-A franchise , which is why many prospective franchise buyers end up investing in other brands in the segment.

If owning a Chick-fil-A franchise isn’t the best fit for you, here are five other restaurant franchise brands to look into:

- MOOYAH | Total Investment: $551,918 to $715,161

- Wings & Rings | Total Investment: $1,280,000 to $2,412,000

- Layne’s Chicken Fingers* | Total Investment: $769,000 to $1,320,000

- A&W Restaurants | Total Investment: $269,000 to $1,200,000

- Paris Baguette* | Total Investment: $378,270 to $1,638,554

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- McDonald's (company)
- Wendy's (company)
- Burger King (company)
- Chick-fil-A (company)
- MOOYAH (company)
- Paris Baguette (company)
- Popeyes (company)
- Layne's Chicken Fingers (company)
- Wings and Rings (company)
- A&W Restaurants (company)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/how-much-does-a-chick-fil-a-franchise-cost-2715278). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/4d1dabf1-b530-4db1-b82d-1edbe5ecbdfe).