How Much Does a College Hunks Hauling Junk Franchise Owner Make?

The official answer is median EBITDA of roughly $44,000 to $137,000 per franchised store across the three tenure cohorts disclosed for 2025. A more seasoned 60+ month cohort reported average EBITDA of $238,178, but its median was substantially lower at $137,005, so the average should not be treated as the typical result.

The Item 19 population is broad: 144 franchised stores were included, and the overall disclosure covered 149 franchised and affiliate-owned stores, equal to 91% of outlets open for a full 12 months in 2025. The FDD states that the financial information was not audited. Source: 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 65–70.

Median EBITDA rises across the disclosed tenure groups, from $44,031 to $80,289 to $137,005. This is official 2025 Item 19 evidence, but it is not a clean same-unit maturation curve because the average number of territories also rises from one to two to three.

Derived EBITDA margins ranged from approximately 6.4% to 9.2% on a median-to-median basis and from 7.7% to 11.9% on an average-to-average basis. These are compatible calculations from the same Item 19 cohorts, not separately reported margins and not personal take-home percentages.

Owner involvement changes what EBITDA means, but the FDD does not provide separate owner-operated and manager-run franchise results. Item 15 requires a Managing Owner and requires either that owner or an approved manager to provide active supervision, including at least 30 hours per week of physical presence.

The official measure is operating EBITDA, not owner take-home pay. The FDD defines it as Gross Revenue less the disclosed cost-of-service and fixed-cost categories, while explicitly excluding several material owner-level and financing items.

The 2026 FDD requires a 7% royalty, a 2% Brand Development Fee, a 1% Technology Fee subject to a stated annual cap, and 8% local advertising spending, plus Sales & Loyalty Center charges on qualifying booked sales and required bookkeeping fees. Some of these costs are clearly included in Item 19 EBITDA; others need confirmation.

• Continuing Royalty Fee: 7% of Gross Sales in the Designated Territory, with minimum annual royalty provisions by service line and Zone.
• Brand Development Fee: 2% of Gross Sales.
• Technology Fee: 1% of Gross Sales, with a $35,000 annual cap stated as of the FDD date, subject to change or elimination.
• Local advertising: currently 8% of Gross Sales, subject to monthly dollar minimums for junk and moving operations.
• Sales & Loyalty Center appointment fee: 6% of junk-removal Gross Sales and 5% of moving Gross Sales for appointments booked by the center; self-generated and online bookings are treated differently under Item 6.
• ACUTE FS: required bookkeeping services at $380 to $580 per month for typical service levels, with some premium services potentially higher.

Sources: 2026 FDD, Item 6, pp. 9–20, and Item 19, pp. 65–70. Item 7 startup investment is not treated as an annual operating expense.

The observed EBITDA range includes losses and very high performers, so a single average is not a reliable forecast. The largest unresolved issue is comparability: stores differ by age, territory count, service format, owner role, vehicle financing, and market, while the FDD does not publish a normalized single-territory, owner-role-adjusted earnings table.

Item 20 also matters. Franchised outlets declined from 186 at the start of 2025 to 159 at year-end. The FDD explains that 11 territories were transferred into existing franchisees’ operations and 16 territories closed. Those outcomes do not invalidate Item 19, but they make closure, transfer, and survivor effects material due-diligence questions. Source: 2026 FDD, Item 20, pp. 74–83.

A buyer should validate the $44,031–$137,005 median EBITDA range against the exact format, territory count, market, vehicle plan, and management structure being considered. The FTC advises buyers to examine sample size, averages versus medians, Gross Sales versus profit, geographic relevance, and written substantiation.

• Request Item 19 written substantiation and reconcile Gross Revenue, cost of service, fixed expenses, and EBITDA for the applicable cohort.
• Ask whether Technology Fees, ACUTE FS, all manager payroll, vehicle leases, and vehicle-loan interest are included in each reported store’s EBITDA.
• Separate one-territory results from multi-territory store results and identify shared overhead across Zones.
• Compare junk-only, move-only, and combined operations rather than relying on the blended population.
• Interview current franchisees in similar markets about owner hours, manager compensation, truck payments, capital expenditures, and cash distributions.
• Interview former franchisees and ask about the 2025 closures, transfers, working-capital needs, and any period without owner draws.
• Obtain anyFDD amendments and updated financial performance information before signing.

The strongest defensible annual reference is $44,031 to $137,005 in median EBITDA for franchised stores open at least 13 months, with the upper end tied to a 60+ month cohort that averaged three territories per store. This is an official Item 19 operating measure, not personal salary, cash distribution, passive income, or after-tax take-home pay.

The most important earnings driver is the combination of sales scale and cost control across labor, disposal, marketing, office staffing, insurance, and vehicles. The largest unresolved uncertainty is the lack of owner-role, format, territory-normalized, and financing-adjusted results. Before relying on the range, a buyer should reconcile Item 19 substantiation to the proposed operation and confirm the economics through comparable current and former franchisee interviews.