descriptionThe Franchise Dossier
FDD Sourced
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Molly Maid. All figures sourced from public FDD filings.
Franchise dossier · Residential cleaning

Owning a Molly Maid: what actually happens

VERDICT · ASSET — IF YOU SCALE
A real recurring-revenue service business, but one territory is a management job; it becomes an asset when it is big enough to carry a manager.
You'd pocket / yr*
$20K–$120K
1 unit · before your salary
Your time
40–55 hrs/wk
semi-absentee OK
Becomes an asset at
~2 units
real wealth: 2-4 territories
Agreement term
10 yrs
then renewal
Year one, honestly

Year one is a recruiting and scheduling business more than a cleaning one. The owner does not clean; the owner hires, trains and replaces two-person teams, buys or leases the cars, runs local marketing and builds a base of recurring customers one home at a time. Recurring customers are 91% of cleanings in the Item 19, so revenue is sticky once built, but the ramp is slow and cleaner turnover is the constant problem. Expect thin or negative cash flow until several teams are fully booked.

Where each sales dollar goes
Supplies / goods ~6%Labor ~50%Rent ~4%Franchisor fees ~8%Other opex ~24%Left before debt & you ~15%

Illustrative split for a typical unit (industry estimate). The green slice is store cash flow before your loan payment and before paying yourself a salary — not profit.

If you want out

Established Molly Maid businesses do resell: the recurring customer base, trained teams and territory rights are what a buyer pays for, typically at a modest multiple of owner earnings. Transfers need franchisor approval and the buyer signs the then-current agreement. A small or half-built territory sells for little, and the declining system count means some owners have left rather than sold.

Smart for

A people manager with patience and $150K-$200K who will run hiring, scheduling and local marketing personally for the first few years.

Dumb for

Anyone expecting passive income from one territory, or who dislikes constant hourly-staff recruiting.

The disclosure it's built on

The verdict above is our read of the numbers Molly Maid files with regulators — here they are, cited.

Molly MaidFDD 2025
Item 5 · Initial franchise fee
$14,900
Item 7 · Initial investment
$139,900 – $197,200
Item 6 · Royalty
3-6.5% tiered (6.5% at entry level)
Item 6 · Ad / brand fund
2%
Item 19 · Avg unit revenue
No unit average given
Item 20 · US units (~2024)
448
SOURCEFranchiseChatter review of the 2025 FDD: $14,900 fee, territory fee $45,000-$70,000 (about $1 per target household), Item 7 $139,900-$197,200, license fee 3-6.5% of gross sales with minimums, 2% MAP fund, Item 19 metrics, 448 franchised businesses at end of 2024 (high confidence). FranchiseOverview's 2024 FDD summary shows Item 7 of $110,200-$160,200 and a 10-year term with 10-year renewal (term high confidence; investment differs by filing year). Royalty tier thresholds were not available in the sources opened; 6.5% is the entry tier and is used for the calculator (medium confidence as a representative rate; larger operators pay less).
The catch

The $14,900 franchise fee is the small number. The real entry price is the territory fee, about $1 per target household or $45,000 to $70,000, which is why Item 7 runs $139,900 to $197,200. The Item 19 then tells you sales per cleaning and per target household, not what a whole business grosses, so you have to do the arithmetic for your own territory: at the $16.23 average per target household, a 50,000-household territory implies roughly $800K, but the disclosed range runs from $2.59 to $88.13 per household. Franchised businesses fell from 501 in 2022 to 448 at the end of 2024.

*How to read these numbers. Disclosed (2025 FDD via FranchiseChatter): fee, territory fee, Item 7, 3-6.5% license fee, 2% MAP, Item 19 per-cleaning and per-household metrics, unit counts. Item 19 gives no total sales per business and no costs, so revenue per unit, cost structure, take-home and hours are ESTIMATES (medium-low confidence) from residential cleaning industry norms. 10-year term from FranchiseOverview. — "You'd pocket" is estimated owner cash flow for one average unit before a salary for your own full-time work, so it is not take-home pay. Averages are not promises; your unit could earn far less. This is analysis, not advice — read the current FDD in full and talk to current and former franchisees before you commit.

Seriously considering Molly Maid?

Pressure-test the affordability, then read the full FDD and validate Item 19 (or its absence) with existing franchisees. When we add vetted franchise-consultant and financing partners, they'll be clearly disclosed here and never change our analysis.

Run a rough affordability check →