Food & Beverage
Little Caesars Franchise
The third-largest pizza chain in the United States, built on the carry-out "Hot-N-Ready" model with no dine-in and minimal delivery until recent years. Founded in Garden City, Michigan in 1959 by Mike and Marian Ilitch and still privately held by the Ilitch family; the franchisor was incorporated in 1962 and has franchised since then.
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 Little Caesars'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
$20,000
Total to open
$376,500–$1,769,200
Ongoing royalty
6% of gross sales
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 food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Little Caesars's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$676,500 – $2,069,200
Startup investment
$376,500–$1,769,200
Royalty per year (6%)
$60,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$300,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Little Caesars's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Little Caesars'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
4.7–22.1 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Little Caesars 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 Little Caesars 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 Little Caesars's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3,599 | 3,641 | +42 |
| 2024 | 3,641 | 3,701 | +60 |
| 2025 | 3,701 | 3,788 | +87 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 87 franchised units, ending the year at 3,788 total.
How Little Caesars compares to other Food & Beverage franchises
Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty
Slim Chickens$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty
Ziggi's Coffee$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty
Crumbl$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty
Jamba$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty
Tropical Smoothie Cafe$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty
Playa Bowls$188,675–$636,458 · 6% royalty
Kona Ice$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Firehouse Subs$166,671–$950,351 · 6% royalty
Wingstop$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty
Jersey Mike's Subs$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty
Dunkin'$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty
Del Taco$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty
Blaze Pizza$757,000–$1,297,100 · 5% royalty
Church's Texas Chicken$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty
MOD Pizza$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty
Twin Peaks$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty
McDonald's$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty
Subway$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty
Taco Bell$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty
Domino's Pizza$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty
KFC$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty
Burger King$2,039,200–$4,730,600 · 4.5% royalty
Chick-fil-A$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Penn Station$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Nekter Juice Bar$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty
Jimmy John's$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty
Sonic Drive-In$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty
Papa John's$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty
Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty
Jack in the Box$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty
Wendy's$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty
Marco's Pizza$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty
Pizza Hut$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty
Chicken Salad Chick$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty
Teriyaki Madness$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty
Cold Stone Creamery$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty
Scooter's Coffee$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty
Nothing Bundt Cakes$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty
Five Guys$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty
Tim Hortons$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty
7 Brew$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Swig$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty
Culver's$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty
Dairy Queen$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty
Paris Baguette$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty
Jollibee$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty
Smoothie King$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty
IHOP$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty
Cinnabon$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty
Little Caesars Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Little Caesars?
Based on Little Caesars's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $376,500–$1,769,200, including the $20,000 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004573, filed 3/29/2026, effective 5/26/2026. FDD issued March 27, 2026. Item 5: standard initial fee $20,000, reduced to $15,000 for veterans and first responders and $7,500 for a food truck. Item 6: royalty is the greater of 6% of gross sales or $300 per week; advertising obligations are allocated among the Caesar Fund and cooperative/local advertising. Item 7: restaurant total $376,500-$1,769,200 (Note 12); a separate territory reservation table totals $41,000-$45,000. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets.
What is the Little Caesars franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $20,000, and the ongoing royalty is 6% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the Little Caesars franchise growing or shrinking?
Growing. Across 2023–2025, Little Caesars added a net 189 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Little Caesars and IHOP are both food & beverage franchises; Little Caesars's total investment starts about $4,050 lower than IHOP's. IHOP Franchise
- Little Caesars and Jimmy John's are both food & beverage franchises; Jimmy John's's total investment starts about $10,300 lower than Little Caesars's. Jimmy John's Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004573, filed 3/29/2026, effective 5/26/2026. FDD issued March 27, 2026. Item 5: standard initial fee $20,000, reduced to $15,000 for veterans and first responders and $7,500 for a food truck. Item 6: royalty is the greater of 6% of gross sales or $300 per week; advertising obligations are allocated among the Caesar Fund and cooperative/local advertising. Item 7: restaurant total $376,500-$1,769,200 (Note 12); a separate territory reservation table totals $41,000-$45,000. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-03-29. 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.