Senior Care
Visiting Angels Franchise
A non-medical home care franchise providing companionship, personal care, and assistance to adult and senior clients in their own homes. One of the longer-established brands in the in-home senior care category, franchising since 1998, well before the wave of competitors that followed as the U.S. population aged.
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 Visiting Angels'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
$64,950
Total to open
$125,460–$171,150
Ongoing royalty
3.5% 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 senior care industry average, not a figure from Visiting Angels's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$247,960 – $293,650
Startup investment
$125,460–$171,150
Royalty per year (3.5%)
$24,500
Total royalty, 5yr
$122,500
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Visiting Angels's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical senior care profit margin (~12%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general senior care industry benchmark, not a figure from Visiting Angels'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
1.5–2.0 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Visiting Angels 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 Visiting Angels 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 Visiting Angels's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 532 | 538 | +6 |
| 2024 | 538 | 539 | +1 |
| 2025 | 539 | 541 | +2 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 2 franchised units, ending the year at 541 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)
Initial training is 26.5 hours over 5 days at the company's Bryn Mawr, PA headquarters (or via virtual sessions). Ongoing support includes weekly consultation, a national toll-free referral number, and a Co-op Advertising Fund for marketing and website upkeep -- but attendance at a 3-day annual National Conference is mandatory for the owner during the franchise's first 4 years (and for the manager during the next 4, if operations are handed off), at the franchisee's own expense.
Territory protection (Item 12)
Visiting Angels grants a real Protected Territory defined by zip codes, sized by population (the Initial Franchise Fee itself scales from $51,950 to $89,950 as territory population grows). Unlike several peers in this dataset, the company states it owns no competing outlets and controls no competing brands, and territorial protection does not depend on hitting any sales target. The tradeoff is heavy restriction on soliciting outside your territory, especially toward medical referral sources.
Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)
10-year term with a genuine renewal option (additional 10-year terms if in good standing, via a new contract and renewal fee) -- a real renewal, unlike some peers' one-time "successor agreement" structure. Notably, disputes are not sent to arbitration at all; litigation instead goes to Pennsylvania courts under Pennsylvania law. Non-compete after termination is 2 years within 20 miles of your former territory.
How Visiting Angels compares to other Senior Care franchises
Across the 7 senior care franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $112,135–$249,899, with royalties averaging around 4.8% of gross sales (based on the 7 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
Visiting Angels Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Visiting Angels?
Based on Visiting Angels's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $125,460–$171,150, including the $64,950 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00005194, filed 4/20/2026, effective 6/15/2026.
What is the Visiting Angels franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $64,950, and the ongoing royalty is 3.5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the Visiting Angels franchise growing or shrinking?
Growing. Across 2023–2025, Visiting Angels added a net 9 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Visiting Angels and Amada Senior Care are both senior care franchises; Amada Senior Care's total investment starts about $3,883 lower than Visiting Angels's. Amada Senior Care Franchise
- Visiting Angels and BrightStar Care are both senior care franchises; BrightStar Care's total investment starts about $23,996 lower than Visiting Angels's. BrightStar Care Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00005194, filed 4/20/2026, effective 6/15/2026. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-20. 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.