Firehouse Subs’ 2026 U.S. Franchise Disclosure Document reports official 2025 median Restaurant-level EBITDA of $95,743 across 704 reporting franchised restaurants. The displayed range uses the FDD’s median EBITDA for the lowest and highest annual-sales bands. It is a decision-planning range, not a predicted minimum and maximum, and it is not after-tax take-home pay.
When a full-time Managing Owner actually replaces an otherwise paid restaurant manager, an illustrative labor-inclusive owner-operator benefit is about $89,955–$250,824, with a central reference of $158,783. That higher figure includes the market value of the owner’s work; it is not passive business profit.
Legal franchisorFirehouse of America, LLC
Current disclosure2026 U.S. FDD, issued March 25, 2026
Item 19 statusOfficial Annual Sales and Restaurant-level EBITDA disclosure
Applicable population704 franchised restaurants open throughout 2025 with submitted, complete profit-and-loss statements
FormatsCounter Service, Free-Standing with Drive Thru and End-Cap Strip Center with Drive Thru; EBITDA data combine formats
Supplemental benchmarkBLS Food Service Managers wage data used only for owner-labor sensitivity
Public FDD linkNo matching 2026 FDD was verified on a franchise-controlled public domain; FDD references below are plain-text Item and page citations
Date checkedJuly 17, 2026
What does Firehouse Subs officially disclose about annual earnings?
The official central result is $95,743 of median Restaurant-level EBITDA for 2025. The corresponding average was $103,119, based on 704 U.S. franchised restaurants. The FDD defines Restaurant-level EBITDA as Annual Sales minus Cost of Goods Sold, Labor Costs, Occupancy Costs and Other Costs. This is an earnings measure, but it is not the same as an owner’s salary, distribution, cash draw or after-tax income.
The 704 restaurants represented about 62% of the 1,137 franchised restaurants that operated continuously for all of 2025. The FDD excluded 433 continuously operated restaurants that did not submit complete profit-and-loss statements, 97 restaurants that were not open for the full year and 21 restaurants that permanently closed during 2025. Evidence confidence is still High because the current same-brand Item 19 directly reports a defined earnings measure for a large population, but the missing and closed outlets remain a material limitation. Source: 2026 U.S. FDD, Item 19, pp. 67–72.
How does median EBITDA change by annual-sales band?
Official 2025 median Restaurant-level EBITDA rises sharply once Annual Sales exceed $1.2 million.
Interpretation: Sales volume is the largest disclosed earnings driver. The median EBITDA spread between the lowest and highest sales bands is $160,869.
Source: 2026 U.S. FDD, Item 19, pp. 67–68. These are conditional sales-band medians, not probabilities, forecasts or an actual minimum-to-maximum range.
How does active owner involvement change the result?
A Firehouse Subs owner cannot treat the concept as purely passive. Item 15 requires an approved Managing Owner with at least a 10% ownership or profit interest, a nearby primary residence, full authority over day-to-day activities and full-time best efforts supervising the restaurant or same-area portfolio. The official Firehouse Subs franchise FAQ also states that at least one partner must be actively involved in day-to-day operations.
Item 19’s Labor Costs include restaurant-level hourly and management labor, salaries and payroll burdens. Therefore, a manager-cost-retained unit can use Restaurant-level EBITDA as the nearest disclosed pre-tax owner-earnings proxy. If the Managing Owner actually replaces a paid manager, the owner may capture both residual EBITDA and the value of the management labor performed. The illustrative adjustment below uses the BLS May 2024 median wage of $63,040 for food service managers in food services and drinking places.
Manager-cost-retained earnings versus owner-operator benefit
Three analytical scenarios use official FDD EBITDA reference points plus a $63,040 replacement-manager labor value.
Interpretation: Replacing a paid manager adds labor value, not passive profit. The owner must perform the work, and the benefit disappears if a separate manager remains on payroll.
Sources and formula: 2026 U.S. FDD, Item 19, pp. 68 and 71–72; Item 15, p. 54; BLS Food Service Managers, May 2024. Owner-operator benefit = official EBITDA reference point + $63,040. Conservative and Upside use the FDD’s lowest and highest sales-band medians; Base uses the all-reporting median. Scenario labels are analytical, not FDD probability statements.
- Manager-run pre-tax owner earnings proxy
- Restaurant-level EBITDA after normal unit-level costs, including restaurant management labor and disclosed recurring franchise fees, but before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, capital expenditures, debt principal and personal taxes.
- Owner-operator benefit
- Residual Restaurant-level EBITDA plus the market value of manager labor actually replaced by the owner. Part of this amount compensates the owner for full-time work.
- Not included
- Above-restaurant corporate salaries and office costs, financing costs, loan fees, depreciation, amortization, replacement capital spending, personal income taxes and debt principal payments.
Which costs consume Firehouse Subs sales before the owner is paid?
For the 704-store reporting cohort, the FDD’s average cost structure left 10.0% of Annual Sales as Restaurant-level EBITDA. Average Cost of Goods Sold was 30.5%, Labor Costs were 26.3%, Occupancy Costs were 7.6% and Other Costs were 25.7%. “Other Costs” already include royalties, System Fund contributions, the additional ordering system fee, utilities, repairs, insurance, the MIS System Fee and the Digital Technology Fee, so those franchise charges must not be subtracted again from the disclosed EBITDA.
| Official 2025 average measure | Dollars | Share of sales | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Sales | $1,035,521 | 100.0% | Gross Sales including catering and delivery, excluding refunds and sales taxes. |
| Cost of Goods Sold | $315,746 | 30.5% | Food, beverages, paper and packaging; some shipping and carbonation costs. |
| Labor Costs | $272,237 | 26.3% | Hourly and management labor, salaries, payroll taxes, benefits and training. |
| Occupancy Costs | $78,625 | 7.6% | Rent and property-related costs such as CAM, property taxes and building insurance. |
| Other Costs | $265,793 | 25.7% | Includes franchise royalties, marketing contributions, technology, utilities, repairs and other operating costs. |
| Restaurant-level EBITDA | $103,119 | 10.0% | Official average earnings measure before the exclusions listed above. |
The rounded dollar rows differ from the reported EBITDA by $1 when subtracted, which is consistent with the FDD’s rounding convention. Source: 2026 U.S. FDD, Item 19, pp. 67–72.
How much uncertainty should a buyer attach to the earnings range?
The uncertainty is material even though the evidence is direct and current. The strongest disclosed central measure is $95,743 of median Restaurant-level EBITDA, but the sales-band medians range from $26,915 to $187,784 and the underlying cohort omits incomplete P&Ls, partial-year restaurants and stores that permanently closed. Format-specific EBITDA is not disclosed, and financing can reduce owner cash flow substantially because Item 10 states that Firehouse of America, LLC does not provide or guarantee financing.
The FDD also reports separate sales distributions for Counter Service, Free-Standing with Drive Thru and End-Cap Strip Center with Drive Thru restaurants, but Section B combines those formats for EBITDA. A buyer therefore cannot infer that a drive-thru unit will earn a specific EBITDA amount merely from its higher or lower AUV. Occupancy, build type, labor model and local sales mix may move together.
- Request Item 19 substantiation. The FDD says written substantiation is available on reasonable request. Reconcile the full P&L definition, accounting method and treatment of owner compensation.
- Interview current and former franchisees in the intended format and market. Ask for actual 2025 and trailing-12-month sales, food cost, labor, occupancy, repairs, technology costs, manager pay and capital spending.
- Separate owner labor from business profit. Confirm whether the location requires a paid general manager in addition to the Managing Owner and whether owner salary appears in Labor Costs.
- Model financing separately. Obtain lender terms and calculate interest and principal outside Restaurant-level EBITDA; do not treat the FDD’s EBITDA as cash available after debt service.
- Test downside sales. Compare the site’s rent and wage structure with the FDD’s sub-$0.8 million cohort, where median EBITDA was only $26,915.
The Federal Trade Commission’s franchise buyer guide explains that Item 19 is the required location for franchisor sales or earnings claims and recommends evaluating the source, scope and limitations. The FTC also notes that buyers may ask for written substantiation supporting a financial performance representation.
What is the strongest defensible Firehouse Subs owner-earnings range?
Use $26,915–$187,784 as the strongest evidence-led annual range for Restaurant-level EBITDA, with $95,743 as the official 2025 median reference. This is an official FDD earnings measure conditioned by sales band, not a guarantee of personal income. For a full-time owner who genuinely replaces a paid manager, the illustrative owner-operator benefit is $89,955–$250,824, with $158,783 as the central reference; the added $63,040 is compensation for labor performed.
The most important disclosed driver is Annual Sales, while the largest unresolved uncertainty is how format, local occupancy, owner compensation and manager staffing interact within the mixed-format 704-store EBITDA sample. Before making a decision, verify Item 19 substantiation, obtain site-specific debt terms and interview franchisees whose restaurant format, sales level and owner role match the proposed operation.