Sonic Drive-In franchise: what it costs
Your cost to open a Sonic Drive-In restaurant is $1,485,200 at the low end and $2,522,900 at the high end. The source is the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), the paperwork a brand must give to you before you buy.
Each part of the Sonic Drive-In franchise cost
- Total opening cost
- $1,485,200 to $2,522,900 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $15,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- 5% of your gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Marketing fund, which covers shared advertising
- At least 3.25% goes to local advertising, with 0.9% based on gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- $1,552,145 a year on average across 3,057 locations it counts, before costs Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Location count as 2025 ended
- Franchise owners ran 3,120, the company 292 Item 20, 2026 FDD
Each figure above comes straight out of the 2026 Sonic Drive-In Franchise Disclosure Document. Sonic Franchising LLC filed it at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and it is dated March 26, 2026. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Sales and earnings figures: what the Sonic Drive-In FDD shows
In Item 19, the FDD section where a brand may state what its locations sell or earn, Sonic Drive-In reports its figures. Average yearly sales came to $1,552,145, the main figure, covering 3,057 franchised traditional drive-ins open throughout fiscal 2025. It is money the store takes in, not profit, because rent, wages and every other cost get paid from it.
Before you rely on any figure, see our guide to reading an Item 19.
Other restaurant franchises side by side with Sonic Drive-In
Most restaurant franchises on this site cost less to open than Sonic Drive-In; the middle one starts at $1.34M.
| Brand | Total cost to opentotal, lowest to highest | Upfront feeone-time fee | Royaltyongoing, usually a % of sales | Sales or earnings showndoes the brand show sales figures | Year filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subway | $263K to $630K | $15,000 | 8% | No | 2026 |
| Jimmy John's | $366K to $734K | $35,000 | 6% | Yes | 2026 |
| Firehouse Subs | $405K to $876K | $20,000 | 6% | Yes | 2026 |
| Jersey Mike's | $436K to $1.16M | $20,000 | 6.5% | Yes | 2026 |
| Arby's | $869K to $2.46M | $37,500 | 4% | Yes | 2026 |
| Five Guys | $928K to $1.38M | $25,000 | 6% | No | 2026 |
| Panera Bread | $1.34M to $4.57M | $50,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
| McDonald's | $1.47M to $2.64M | $45,000 | 5% (plus rent) | Yes | 2024 |
| Sonic Drive-In | $1.49M to $2.52M | $15,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
Before you buy, a brand has to hand over its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD); the brand's latest one is where every figure comes from. Royalty is the portion of sales, or the fixed amount, that you keep paying the brand after opening; "Sales or earnings shown" tells you whether the brand shares what its locations bring in. A K stands for thousand, an M for million. The filing year is the year that FDD was listed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
The number of Sonic Drive-In locations
Franchise owners ran 91% (Item 20) of the 3,412 Sonic Drive-In locations open in the United States when 2025 ended. In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Sonic Drive-In FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Sonic Drive-In FDD and franchise agreement with you.