Home Instead Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Home Instead franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Home Instead discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it B.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses 2024 gross sales for 603 franchises (median $2.26M, average $2.61M) and care platform growth data. Cherry-picks by excluding closed units and using median rather than mean emphasis.
What a Home Instead franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $54,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 5% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 7% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $91,040 – $269,750 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
5% royalty, 2% marketing fund, $500/month tech fee, $209–$3,418/month required systems. Multiple discretionary fees (transfer $25K, renewal $9K).
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Home Instead system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 619 |
| Ceased operations | 10 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 54 |
| Closure rate | 1.6% of outlets |
10 ceased operations in 2024; 54 transfers suggest franchise turnover activity.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2025. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Home Instead worth it? — how it compares to 50 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 7% of sales | about average |
| Startup cost | from $91,040 | cheaper than most (median $101,125) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade B | more honest than 78% of senior & home care franchises |
| Closure rate | 1.6% of outlets | worse than 61% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 3 | more litigious than 67% of peers |
Benchmarked against every senior & home care franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Home Instead
The franchisor's framing: Discloses 2024 gross sales for 603 franchises (median $2.26M, average $2.61M) and care pla… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Home Instead franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Home Instead franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $91,040–$269,750, including a $54,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Home Instead franchise owners make?
- Discloses 2024 gross sales for 603 franchises (median $2.26M, average $2.61M) and care platform growth data. Cherry-picks by excluding closed units and using median rather than mean emphasis. We grade this disclosure B for honesty.
- What are the Home Instead franchise fees?
- Home Instead's FDD discloses a $54,000 initial franchise fee, a 5% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 7% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. 5% royalty, 2% marketing fund, $500/month tech fee, $209–$3,418/month required systems. Multiple discretionary fees (transfer $25K, renewal $9K).
- What is the Home Instead franchise profit margin?
- Home Instead does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses 2024 gross sales for 603 franchises (median $2.26M, average $2.61M) and care platform growth data. Cherry-picks by excluding closed units and using median rather than mean emphasis. Recurring fees alone take about 7% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Home Instead franchise failure rate?
- 10 ceased operations in 2024; 54 transfers suggest franchise turnover activity.
- How many Home Instead locations are there?
- Home Instead's FDD reports 619 total outlets, with 10 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 54 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Home Instead have complaints or lawsuits?
- Home Instead discloses 3 legal matters in Item 3 of its FDD. Item 3 covers the franchisor's litigation history, which is the closest thing to a public record of how it treats franchisees — read the case descriptions, not just the count.
- Is a Home Instead franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Home Instead scores B on disclosure honesty, carries about 7% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 3 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Home Instead to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 34921-202510-04 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Home Instead or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.