Subway franchise cost 2026
From the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document of DOCTOR'S ASSOCIATES LLC, registered in Wisconsin (filing 641453, effective 4/30/2026). Every number links to the page it was read from.
| Total initial investment | $263,000 to $630,000 | p.51 |
| Initial franchise fee | $15,000 | p.29 |
| Royalty | 8% of total gross sales | p.36 |
| Advertising fund | 4.5% of total gross sales | p.36 |
| Item 19 financial performance | No representation made | p.93 |
| Units, end of 2025 | 18,773 | p.94 |
Units by year (Item 20, Table 1)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 20,576 | 20,133 | -443 | p.94 |
| company owned | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.94 |
| total | 2023 | 20,576 | 20,133 | -443 | p.94 |
| franchised | 2024 | 20,133 | 19,502 | -631 | p.94 |
| company owned | 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.94 |
| total | 2024 | 20,133 | 19,502 | -631 | p.94 |
| franchised | 2025 | 19,502 | 18,773 | -729 | p.94 |
| company owned | 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.94 |
| total | 2025 | 19,502 | 18,773 | -729 | p.94 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Item 20, Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 20,576 | 455 | 3 | 19 | 98 | 733 | 20,133 | p.102 |
| 2024 | 20,133 | 453 | 4 | 30 | 90 | 881 | 19,502 | p.102 |
| 2025 | 19,502 | 499 | 4 | 46 | 148 | 1,026 | 18,773 | p.102 |
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $15,000 | $15,000 | p.51 |
| Real Property | $3,000 | $12,000 | p.51 |
| Leasehold Improvements | $75,000 | $250,000 | p.51 |
| Equipment, Furniture and Décor | $110,000 | $210,000 | p.51 |
| Optional Security System | $2,500 | $4,000 | p.51 |
| Freight Charges | $8,000 | $15,000 | p.51 |
| Opening Inventory | $7,500 | $15,000 | p.51 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $7,500 | p.51 |
| Supplies & Smallwares | $5,000 | $9,000 | p.51 |
| Training Expenses | $4,500 | $6,500 | p.51 |
| Legal and Accounting | $1,000 | $6,000 | p.51 |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $2,500 | $4,500 | p.51 |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | $8,000 | $20,000 | p.51 |
| Additional Funds | $15,000 | $45,000 | p.51 |
| Exterior Signage | $5,000 | $12,000 | p.51 |
| Total | $263,000 | $630,000 | p.51 |
Item 19: what the filing says about revenue
Subway makes no financial performance representation in this filing. That means the franchisor does not publish unit sales, costs or profits in the document, and no one selling you the franchise may quote you numbers outside it.p.93
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $263,000 | rank 1 of 10 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 12.5% | rank 10 of 10 |
| Three-year unit growth | -8.8% | rank 12 of 12 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 6.3% | rank 1 of 11 (1 = most) |
| Discloses unit revenue | no | |
| Litigation disclosed | held | held |
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 has not been read for this filing yet, or the two readers disagreed and it is held for review.
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Every recurring fee, the Item 19 method and what it leaves out, three years of openings, closures and transfers, litigation and bankruptcy items, territory and renewal terms, and the questions to ask existing Subway franchisees based on this filing. What's in the report.
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This is a summary of a public filing, not legal advice. Take the filing to a franchise attorney before signing.
Provenance
Source: Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 641453, effective 4/30/2026, expires 4/30/2027. Extracted 2026-09-03 by two independent passes; only figures both passes agreed on and that appear verbatim on the cited page are shown. 1 field(s) held back as unresolved. Arithmetic checks flagged: Item 20 Table 3 does not foot for 2025: start + opened - closures = 18,777, filing states 18773; Item 20 Table 3 does not foot for 2024: start + opened - closures = 19,581, filing states 19502; Item 20 Table 3 does not foot for 2023: start + opened - closures = 20,178, filing states 20133. How this works.