Education
Kumon Franchise
An after-school math and reading supplemental education franchise built on the mastery-based Kumon Method, operated from small storefront learning centers with in-person, hybrid, and online instruction options. Toru Kumon developed the method in Osaka, Japan in 1954 for his own son, and Kumon Educational Japan Co., Ltd. was established in 1958; Kumon North America's predecessors have offered U.S. franchises since March 1983. Franchised unit count grew every year of the FDD's three-year window while company-owned centers were sold down from 28 to 5.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Kumon's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$2,000
Total to open
$101,630–$233,780
Ongoing royalty
Not a %-of-revenue fee -- see FDD
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough education industry average, not a figure from Kumon's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Startup investment (royalty not included -- see below)
$101,630 – $233,780
Kumon doesn't charge a straightforward percentage-of-revenue royalty -- its FDD describes a different ongoing-fee structure instead. That cost isn't included in the total above; check the FDD directly for the real terms before using this figure to compare against other franchises.
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Kumon's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical education profit margin (~15%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general education industry benchmark, not a figure from Kumon's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
1.9–4.5 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Kumon is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Kumon actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Kumon's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,618 | 1,637 | +19 |
| 2024 | 1,637 | 1,671 | +34 |
| 2025 | 1,671 | 1,705 | +34 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 34 franchised units, ending the year at 1,705 total.
What you're actually signing up for
The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.
Training & ongoing support (Item 11)
Item 11: a required Instructor Development Program (Training Kit loaned, $1,000 refundable deposit), Center naming and site approval, initial promotional/instructional materials, and ongoing supply of Placement/Achievement Tests and Worksheets plus periodic Instructor Conferences.
Territory protection (Item 12)
Item 12: no exclusive territory of any kind -- Kumon reserves the right to franchise other Centers, sell Workbooks through retail and online channels, and otherwise compete with an existing franchisee anywhere; franchisees are instead restricted to enrolling students within a "reasonable commutable distance" of their own Center.
Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)
Item 17: 5-year renewal terms if in good standing (current PDC/performance requirements apply); a franchisee may terminate on 270 days' notice or owes liquidated damages equal to 3 months' average royalty.
How Kumon compares to other Education franchises
Across the 9 education franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $861,117–$2,127,434, with royalties averaging around 7.5% of gross sales (based on the 8 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$174,250–$265,750 · 8.25% royalty
Mad Science$127,050–$185,859 · 8% royalty
Primrose Schools$2,152,500–$7,960,300 · 7% royalty
Goldfish Swim School$2,584,033–$5,968,481 · 6% royalty
KidStrong$476,400–$671,200 · 7% royalty
School of Rock$387,050–$756,100 · 8% royalty
Aqua-Tots Swim School$1,619,820–$2,939,590 · 6% royalty
Mathnasium$127,316–$165,846 · 10% royalty
Keep going
- Kumon and Mad Science are both education franchises; Kumon's total investment starts about $25,420 lower than Mad Science's. Mad Science Franchise
- Kumon and Mathnasium are both education franchises; Kumon's total investment starts about $25,686 lower than Mathnasium's. Mathnasium Franchise
Where this came from: MN CARDS file 2869, Clean FDD issued March 27, 2026, filed 3/31/2026, effective 4/14/2026. Item 5: $2,000 Initial Franchise Fee ($3,000 if adding English as a Foreign Language), plus a separate $2,000 initial materials purchase and $2,500 pre-opening marketing payment. Item 6: royalty is NOT a percentage of gross sales -- it's a flat per-student monthly fee ($38 per full-paying student and $19 per partially-exempt/prorated student, per subject, after an initial Temporary License Period at $42.75/$21.38) -- so royaltyPercent is set to null here rather than a misleading percentage; the automated parser's "10%" figure was actually a management fee Kumon may charge only if it steps in to run a defaulted Center, not the royalty. A separate Marketing Fee of $300/month (from month 7) plus a required $3,600/year New Center Marketing Fee apply. Item 7 Total: $101,630-$233,780. Item 20 Table No. 1 was hand-corrected: the automated parser's compact table formatting caused it to capture only the 2025 row (1,671->1,705); the full three-year table is 2023: 1,618->1,637, 2024: 1,637->1,671, 2025: 1,671->1,705. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-14. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.