Jersey Mike's vs Firehouse Subs franchise USA 2026: which one wins on real numbers?
Firehouse Subs is the lighter bet on entry — $405K vs $436K (about $31K less). Jersey Mike's runs the bigger network at 3201 vs 1249 outlets. Firehouse Subs takes less off the top (6% royalty vs 6.5%).
01 What actually matters
Numbers that separate them on a 5-year horizon — not the franchise-development pitch.
Jersey Mike's charges 6.5% royalty on revenue — recurring, uncapped, and deducted before your own margin is calculated. Factor it into every pro-forma.
Jersey Mike's is expanding fastest here — 82 outlets per year since founding in 1987. High-velocity brands signal momentum but also mean new territory for individual franchisees gets handed out quickly; lock in your preferred area early.
On pure entry capital, Firehouse Subs is 1.1× cheaper than Jersey Mike's — $405K vs $436K. That gap compounds over a 5-year horizon because build-out, equipment, opening inventory and the additional funds in FDD Item 7 all scale with format size.
02 The numbers, visualised
Primary format per brand, from FDD Item 7. A brand's smaller express or non-traditional formats can cost materially less.
Initial investment (FDD Item 7)
Total initial investment, low end of each brand's FDD Item 7 range for its primary format. Several US brands also run smaller express, non-traditional or conversion formats at materially lower investment — check the brand page for the full Item 7 table.
Network scale — total outlets
Total US outlets from FDD Item 20. Bigger networks mean more brand recognition and supplier scale; smaller ones mean less intra-brand competition in your trade area.
Customer ratings
Which brand's outlets are rated higher by customers, aggregated across locations. Exact star rating and review volume are in Brand Health.
Direction only — the underlying rating & review count are Pro data.
03 Side-by-side
Straight from each brand’s FDD. Green badge marks the more favourable value for a typical first-time operator.
| Metric | Jersey Mike's | Firehouse Subs |
|---|---|---|
| Initial investment (Item 7) | $436K | $405K ↓ Lower |
| Royalty (Item 6) | 6.5% | 6% ↓ Lower |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Min space (sq ft) | 1000 ↓ Smaller | 2000 |
| Total US outlets (Item 20) | 3201 ↑ Bigger | 1249 |
| Franchise fee (Item 5) | $20K | $20K |
| Additional funds | — | — |
Not sure if Jersey Mike's or Firehouse Subs actually fits *you*?
BrandFit asks 6 visual questions about your operator profile, capital, and location — then ranks all 182 brands by predicted success-fit for your situation. See where these brands really stand for someone like you.
Ready to talk to Jersey Mike's or Firehouse Subs?
FRANticc is independent — not the franchisor, and paid nothing by either brand. We send you straight to the brand's own franchise-development team, and we never collect or forward your contact details.
04 Explore these brands in depth
Same data plus the full FDD breakdown, fee load, contract fairness and SBA lending picture — free on every brand page.
05 Frequently asked
Wrapped in FAQPage JSON-LD for SERP rich-result eligibility.
How many Submarine Sandwiches / QSR franchise brands are available in the US?
FRANticc's database lists 2 brands matching this comparison with verified investment data, store counts, and format details. Several more are covered across our full directory. Every figure is traced to the brand's Franchise Disclosure Document.
Can I own multiple Submarine Sandwiches / QSR franchises?
Yes — multi-unit ownership is the norm in mature US Submarine Sandwiches / QSR systems, and most franchisors sell it as an area development agreement: a fee paid up front for the right to open N units on a fixed schedule inside a defined territory. The terms sit in FDD Items 5 and 12. Miss the development schedule and the franchisor can usually reclaim the territory, so treat the schedule as a covenant, not a target.
How do Submarine Sandwiches / QSR franchises pay out — revenue share or fixed margin?
US Submarine Sandwiches / QSR franchisors almost always take a percentage of gross sales, not a share of profit — so the fee is due whether or not the unit is profitable. FDD Item 6 lists the full stack: royalty (commonly 4–8%), a national advertising fund (1–4%), technology fees, and often a local-marketing minimum. Add them together before modelling take-home; the headline royalty is rarely the whole load.
What is the minimum space required for a Submarine Sandwiches / QSR franchise?
Among these brands, the smallest footprint is Jersey Mike's at 1000+ sqft. Square footage is only half the site test — most US franchisors also specify traffic counts, co-tenancy, parking ratios and a trade-area population in the franchise agreement, and will reject a site that hits the minimum footprint but misses those.