Culver’s Franchise Review 2025: Costs, Fees, News, Average Revenues and/or Profits

Culver’s is a fast casual restaurant chain, sitting in the part of the dining ecosystem between fast food and full-service dining, where the quality of food is often a little higher but speed still matters. It started out in small-town Wisconsin and leans into those roots, as well as its identity as a family-founded business, crafting a homely brand identity. It has around a thousand restaurants across the US, serving a menu of classic American foods, including chicken, corn dogs, and cheese curds, with butter burgers as one of its defining items. Dessert is primarily frozen custard.

Having started in Wisconsin, the chain is strongest in the Midwest but is currently working to expand out from there. Available territories are concentrated in middle America, and opportunities aren’t currently available on the west coast or in the northeast, so its potential as a franchise depends upon where you’re based.

Franchisees are expected to engage with the business on a day-to-day basis, working alongside their staff and leading by example. This might make it less appealing for a franchisee who wants to build an empire and run businesses at a distance, but a good fit for someone who wants to mix directly with customers and staff.

In this exclusive Franchise Chatter FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

Section I – Estimated initial investment (franchise costs) for a Culver’s franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2025 FDD

Section II – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, and marketing fee for a Culver’s franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2025 FDD

Section III – Number of franchised and company-owned Culver’s outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2022, 2023, and 2024, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2025 FDD

Section IV – News updates on the Culver’s franchise opportunity

Section V – Presentation and analysis of Culver’s financial performance representations (average revenues and/or profits), based on Item 19 of the company’s 2025 FDD, including information on the:

• 2024 average, median, high, and low sales for the 935 franchised Culver’s Restaurants open for the entire 12-month period ended December 31, 2024

• 2024 average sales, food cost, paper cost, gross profit, salaries and wages, employee benefits, direct operating expenses, supplies and chemicals, utilities, general and administrative expenses, repairs and maintenance, advertising royalty, local advertising, service royalty, and income as a percentage of sales, for the 7 company-owned Culver’s Restaurants open for the entire 12-month period ended December 31, 2024

Section VI – Key ratios, comparables, computations, and analyses for the Culver’s franchise opportunity (exclusive content for Platinum subscribers)

Section I – Culver’s Franchise Costs

• Culver’s franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2025 FDD:

• Initial Franchise Fee:  $20,000 to $55,000
• Land:  $240,000 to $2,700,000
• Site Work:  $95,000 to $1,590,000
• Building:  $1,507,000 to $2,946,000
• Travel, Living, and Other Expenses During Training:  $20,000 to $80,000
• Initial Inventory:  $50,000 to $65,000
• Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment, and Supplies (excluding sign package and POS cash register system):  $467,000 to $590,000
• Sign Package:  $120,000 to $336,000
• POS System:  $38,500 to $51,000
• Miscellaneous Expenses:  $20,000 to $40,000
• Additional Funds (Working Capital) for 3 Months:  $65,000 to $120,000
• Total Estimated Culver’s Franchise Costs:  $2,642,500 to $8,573,000

Section II – Culver’s Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, and Marketing Fee

• Culver’s initial franchise fee, royalty fee, and marketing fee, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2025 FDD:

• Initial Franchise Fee:  $20,000 to $55,000
• Service Fee (i.e., Royalties):  4% of Gross Sales
• Advertising Fee:  2.5% of Gross Sales
• Cooperative Advertising:  up to 4% of Gross Sales, as approved by a majority vote of the members of the Co-op Advertising Region

Section III – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Culver’s Outlets

Franchised

2022

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  831
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  886
• Net Change:  +55

2023

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  886
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  937
• Net Change:  +51

2024

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  937
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  990
• Net Change:  +53

Company-Owned

2022

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  6
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  6
• Net Change:  0

2023

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  6
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  7
• Net Change:  +1

2024

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  7
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  7
• Net Change:  0

Section IV – News Updates on the Culver’s Franchise

• Culver’s Is Quietly Becoming a Fast-Food Powerhouse

• Culver’s Steady Growth Continues to Set It Apart

• The Culver Family Opened Their First Restaurant in 1984 — Now Culver’s Has 1,000 Locations. What’s Its Secret?

• Culver’s Thank You Farmers Project Reaches $6.5 Million in Donations

• Culver’s Burger Chain Planning to Open as Many as 51 New Locations in 2024: Here’s Where

• Franchise CEOs Embrace Change, New Start in 2024

• Culver’s Promotes CMO Julie Fussner to CEO

• Culver’s Introduces New Hot Honey Cheese Curds, Brings Back CurderBurger This October

• Culver’s Ranked No. 7 on Entrepreneur’s 2025 Franchise 500 List

Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Average Revenues and/or Profits) for the Culver’s Franchise (Item 19, 2025 FDD)

Schedule of Restaurant Financial Data

• The following information discloses sales of the 935 franchised Culver’s Restaurants (“Franchised Restaurants”) and the 7 company-owned Culver’s Restaurants (“Company-Owned Restaurants”) open for the entire 12-month period ended December 31, 2024, and also selected cost percentages for the 7 Company-Owned Restaurants for the entire 12-month period ended December 31, 2024.

• This includes information about non-typical locations (including 4 Culver’s Restaurants that do not have a drive-thru window, 5 Culver’s Restaurants that share a building with a convenience store, and 4 Culver’s Restaurants that occupy an end-cap of a multi-tenant building).

• The following information does not include information from Restaurants that did not operate for the entire 12-month period, including the 53 franchised Culver’s Restaurants that opened in 2024, nor does it include information from 2 franchised Culver’s Restaurants that were closed for a period of time during 2024 due to a substantial remodel, rebuild, or relocation of the Restaurant, and therefore none of these Restaurants operated for the entire 12-month period.

• The Company-Owned Restaurants are located in Sauk City, Spring Green, Richland Center, Baraboo, Middleton, Madison, and Oregon, Wisconsin.

• The buildings housing the Company-Owned Restaurants are single-purpose, one story, and freestanding, seating 88 to 120 guests at one time, which is comparable to the Culver’s Restaurants expected to be operated under the Franchise Agreement.

• Substantially the same services were offered to the Company-Owned Restaurants as are provided to the Franchised Restaurants. The franchisor does not, however, provide certain services to franchisees such as financing, accounting, legal, personnel, construction, management, financial, and food and labor cost systems.

• The Company-Owned Restaurants also offered substantially the same products and services to the general public as will the Culver’s Restaurants to be operated under the Franchise Agreement.

• The following tables were prepared on a basis consistent with generally accepted accounting principles and the same accounting system was used for each Company-Owned Restaurant.

• The figures used in the tables are based on an annual performance. The information presented in the tables has not been audited, and the franchisor has not independently verified that the information provided by Franchised Restaurants is correct.

Part 1 – Franchised Restaurants Open 12 Months

• $4,500,000 and Above:   183 Restaurants
• $4,250,000 to $4,499,999:  83 Restaurants
• $4,000,000 to $4,249,999:  81 Restaurants
• $3,750,000 to $3,999,999:  98 Restaurants
• $3,500,000 to $3,749,999:  121 Restaurants
• $3,250,000 to $3,499,999:  112 Restaurants
• $3,000,000 to $3,249,999:  81 Restaurants
• $2,750,000 to $2,999,999:  75 Restaurants
• $2,500,000 to $2,749,999:  51 Restaurants
• $2,250,000 to $2,499,999:  27 Restaurants
• $2,000,000 to $2,249,999:  12 Restaurants
• Below $2,000,000:  11 Restaurants

• Highest Sales:  $8,732,701
• Lowest Sales:  $1,188,064
• Average Sales:  $3,790,055
• Median Sales:  $3,693,525

• Of the 935 Franchised Restaurants, 429 (or 46%) met or exceeded the average sales.

• Average sales were taken from Franchised Restaurants open for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2024.

• “Sales” are defined as the total revenue received from the sale of goods and services, whether by cash or by check or credit card, at or through a Culver’s Restaurant, less sales tax, customer refunds, and unreimbursed amounts involving the franchisor’s approved coupon or discount programs.

Part 2 – Company-Owned Restaurants Open 12 Months

• Average Sales:  $4,249,539 (100.0%)

Select Cost Percentages

• Food Cost:  $1,297,567 (30.5%)
• Paper Cost:  $126,192 (3.0%)
• Total Food and Paper Cost:  $1,423,759 (33.5%)

Gross Profit:  $2,825,780 (66.5%)

• Salaries and Wages:  $1,381,075 (32.5%)
• Employee Benefits:  $247,804 (5.8%)
• Direct Operating Expenses:  $20,770 (0.5%)
• Supplies and Chemicals:  $44,370 (1.0%)
• Utilities:  $61,824 (1.5%)
• General and Administrative:  $163,126 (3.8%)
• Repairs and Maintenance:  $67,650 (1.6%)
• Advertising Royalty:  $106,238 (2.5%)
• Local Advertising:  $42,495 (1.0%)
• Service Royalty:  $169,982 (4.0%)
• Total Operating Expenses:  $2,305,334 (54.2%)

Income: $520,446 (12.2%)

• “Sales” are defined as the total revenue received from the sale of goods and services, whether by cash or by check or credit card, at or through a Company-Owned Restaurant, less sales tax, customer refunds, and unreimbursed amounts involving the franchisor’s approved coupon or discount programs.

• “Food Cost” includes costs of food and beverage items, as reduced by vendor rebates.

• “Paper Cost” includes paper product expenses.

• “Gross Profit” is Sales less Food Costs and Paper Costs.

• “Salaries and Wages” includes wages paid to Company-Owned Restaurant managers and crew. Hourly Manager wages range from $17.50/hour to $29.50/hour. Salaried Manager wages range from $73,000/yr to $90,697/yr. Crew wages range from $10.00/hour to $23.09/hour. Franchised Restaurants may incur higher percentages depending on wages paid and staffing levels.

• “Employee Benefits” includes payroll taxes and workers’ compensation, health, vision, dental, life, hospital indemnity, accident, critical illness, STD and LTD insurance, health savings accounts, as well as a 401K plan and a flexible spending account, and team instruction and education account. Franchised Restaurants may incur different expenses depending on benefits offered to employees and staffing levels.

• “Direct Operating Expenses” includes licenses, permits, uniforms, laundry, music and cable, printed supplies, auto expenses, team recruitment, background checks, and miscellaneous expenses. Franchised Restaurants may incur different expenses for auto or travel expenses.

• “Supplies and Chemicals” includes supplies and chemicals used at the Company-Owned Restaurants.

• “Utilities” includes electricity, fuel, water and sewer, and garbage collection. Franchised Restaurants may incur different expenses depending on rate differences.

• “General and Administrative” includes bank charges, credit card fees, delivery commissions and adjustments, dues and subscriptions, liability insurance, office supplies, postage, telephone, POS support, internet, payroll service, and legal and accounting service. Franchised Restaurants may incur higher expenses because the Company-Owned Restaurants are supported by office personnel, and the personnel wages and benefits are not included in this expense.

• “Repairs and Maintenance” includes repair and maintenance expenses actually incurred. Franchised Restaurants may incur different expenses depending on the repairs and maintenance needed at the Franchised Restaurant.

• “Advertising Royalty” represents the percentage of sales that a Franchised Restaurant will pay to the Advertising Fund under the Franchise Agreement. This percentage will be 2.00% for all Franchise Agreements signed prior to March 31, 2012 and 2.50% for all Franchise Agreements signed on or after March 31, 2012.

• “Local Advertising” represents 1.00% which is the minimum percentage of sales that a Franchised Restaurant must spend on local advertising expenses under the Franchise Agreement.

• “Service Royalty” represents 4.00% which is the percentage of sales that a Franchised Restaurant would pay to the franchisor as a service royalty under the Franchise Agreement.

• “Income” is sales less the expenses listed above. The income above is before deductions for rent, real estate taxes, personal property taxes, interest costs, depreciation and amortization, or income tax.

• The statements shown in the table do not include the following expense items, which must be calculated and included separately for every Culver’s Restaurant:

• Depreciation of property and equipment;
• Rent, interest, or other financing cost for land, buildings, equipment, and inventory;
• Initial franchise fee and organization costs;
• Any management fees;
• Income taxes and property taxes;
• Travel and entertainment;
• Other employee benefits, such as incentive, other team member compensation, team events, and team recognition;
• Other expenses, such as furniture and equipment, technology software and equipment, flowers and decoration, meeting expense, cash over/short, and credit card chargebacks and discrepancies.

• These excluded items will affect the net income and/or cash flow of any Culver’s Restaurant and must be carefully considered and evaluated by any prospective franchisee. The actual performance of any Culver’s Restaurant will depend on a number of factors specific to the property, including the above factors.

Section VI – Culver’s Franchise Ratios, Comparables, Computations, and Analyses (Exclusive Content for Platinum Subscribers) ⬇️

💼Corporate Executives: Your Management Experience Is Your Greatest Franchise Asset

Whether navigating a career transition or planning your next chapter, franchise ownership gives you a proven system to put decades of management experience to work for yourself. Severance packages, 401k rollovers, and SBA loans make funding more accessible than most executives realize. Enter your ZIP code to explore franchise opportunities still available in your area and find out which brands are actively seeking experienced business leaders like you.

The Best of Franchise Chatter

🥇The Most Profitable Franchises of 2026

🥈Franchises Ranked by Average Revenues

🥉Franchises Ranked by Average Profits

🏆Franchise Winners, Survivors & Losers

Subscribe Now or Log In

🎖️Military Veterans: Your Service Prepared You for Franchise Ownership Better Than You Think

Franchisors actively seek out veterans because the discipline, leadership, and ability to follow a proven system that the military instills are exactly the qualities that make franchise owners successful. Through the VetFran program, many leading brands offer significant incentives including reduced franchise fees and special financing. Enter your ZIP code to explore franchise opportunities still available in your area and find out which brands are actively looking for veterans like you.







Franchise Chatter is reader-supported. We may receive a commission for leads generated from affiliate links and banners on our site.