Some of the best plumbing franchises for aspiring and existing business owners include:
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Mr. Rooter Plumbing
1-800-Plumber +Air
bluefrog Plumbing + Drain
1-Tom-Plumber
RooterMan
Z PLUMBERZ
Evaluating a plumbing franchise means weighing investment costs, territory structure, brand support, and revenue potential against the risks of buying into an existing system. Prospective buyers often face fragmented information spread across broker pitches, franchise websites, and forums, making it difficult to compare opportunities on equal terms.
In this guide, you'll find a structured comparison of these franchises, along with the data you need to evaluate whether franchising is the right path for your business.
Disclaimer: The information below is accurate as of August 2026.
What Is a Plumbing Franchise and How Does It Work?
A plumbing franchise is a licensing agreement that lets an operator run a plumbing business under an established brand name, systems, and support structure, in exchange for upfront fees and ongoing royalties.
The franchisor supplies training, marketing, pricing tools, and operational playbooks, while the franchisee provides capital, local licensing, and day-to-day management.
Franchising has become one of the most common paths for those who want to own business operations in the U.S. The number of franchise establishments nationwide is projected to grow from 832,521 to 845,000 units in 2026, contributing an estimated $558.4 billion to U.S. GDP.
For the plumbing industry specifically, the model offers a middle path between starting independently from scratch and buying into an unfamiliar industry. The trade knowledge stays the same, but brand recognition, national account relationships, and proven systems turn this business opportunity into a replacement for independent trial and error.
>>Want to know how much your business is worth? Use this company valuation calculator to estimate the current value of your company.
Top Plumbing Franchise Opportunities
The plumbing franchise market includes options for both national brands with decades of history and newer, fast-growing systems. Each comes with different investment requirements, territory models, and support structures.
Some franchisors emphasize emergency and residential repair work, while others build around drain cleaning services, water treatment, or combined plumbing-and-HVAC service offerings.
The seven franchises below represent a range of investment levels and business models, from single-territory operations to multi-unit systems designed for experienced operators. For each, you'll find the estimated investment cost, key advantages and drawbacks, and the type of buyer the franchise tends to fit best.
Franchise #1: Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing has grown steadily in recent years, expanding from 255 to 353 franchised outlets between 2022 and 2024.
Cost: Total investment ranges from $143,273 to $286,702, including a $43,000 franchise fee, a 6 percent royalty (or $1,500/month minimum), and a brand fund contribution that scales down as revenue grows.
Pros: The brand's consistent unit growth points to a stable, expanding system, and top-performing franchise owners show the ceiling is high for operators who execute well.
Cons: Performance varies widely across the system. Revenue between the top and bottom quartiles of territories differs by a wide margin, so results depend heavily on the market and operator.
Ideal for:
Buyers who are comfortable underwriting a franchise with a broad performance range. Or those who plan to actively manage territory selection and operations rather than expecting uniform results.
Franchise #2: Mr. Rooter Plumbing
Mr. Rooter Plumbing has operated since 1970 and now spans more than 240 locations across North America as part of the Neighborly home services network.
Cost: Total investment ranges from $152,900 to $298,675, including a $42,500 franchise fee, a 6 percent license fee, and a 2 percent marketing contribution.
Pros: No plumbing experience is required to own business operations, and Neighborly's ProTradeNet buying power gives franchisees access to vendor discounts and rebates unavailable to independent operators.
Cons: Combined license and marketing fees total 8 percent of gross sales, and franchisees may also owe up to 3 percent more to local marketing groups.
Ideal for:
Management-focused buyers who want to run the business rather than perform the trade work themselves, backed by an established, multi-brand support network.
Franchise #3: 1-800-Plumber +Air
1-800-Plumber +Air combines plumbing and heating/air conditioning service lines under one brand, giving owners two revenue streams within a single territory.
Cost: Start-up costs range from $127,780 to $284,270. The franchise fee is priced by territory count, with $56,500 for one service area, $103,000 for two, and $149,500 for three. Additionally, there’s a 6 percent royalty that drops to 4 percent as revenue grows, and a 2 percent brand development fee.
Pros: Unlike flat royalty structures, 1-800-Plumber +Air's royalty rate decreases as revenue increases, rewarding franchisees for scaling.
Cons: The multi-territory fee structure means buyers who plan on expanding pay significantly more upfront than single-territory competitors, since each additional service area adds to the initial fee rather than following a discounted scale.
Ideal for:
Buyers who want to combine plumbing and HVAC revenue from day one, rather than operating a single-trade franchise.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
Franchise #4: bluefrog Plumbing + Drain
bluefrog Plumbing + Drain positions itself as a home-based drain franchise, avoiding the brick-and-mortar costs that raise overhead at many other plumbing brands.
Cost: Total investment ranges from $144,498 to $345,648, with a minimum liquid capital requirement of $150,000.
Pros: As a home-based business, bluefrog's ongoing operating expenses stay concentrated in marketing and payroll rather than facility costs, which the brand cites as the reason its investment sits below other plumbing franchise brands.
Cons: The $150,000 minimum liquid capital requirement is higher than that of several other franchises on this list.
Ideal for:
Buyers who want to avoid the cost and complexity of leasing or building a physical location and are comfortable running the business from home.
Franchise #5: 1-Tom-Plumber
1-Tom-Plumber built its brand around a 90-minute response guarantee for plumbing emergencies, regardless of time of day.
Cost: Total investment ranges from $516,000 to $2,785,000, with a 6 percent royalty fee and a 2–6 percent marketing fund contribution based on monthly gross sales.
Pros: The response-time guarantee is a clear, marketable differentiator in a category where most competitors don't commit to a specific window. This can support premium emergency-service pricing.
Cons: The investment range is dramatically higher than other franchises on this list, reflecting a model built around larger territories and multi-unit scale rather than a single-truck entry point.
Ideal for:
Well-capitalized buyers planning a larger territory or multi-unit build-out, rather than someone testing the plumbing franchise model with a smaller initial investment.
Franchise #6: RooterMan
RooterMan charges royalties as a flat rate per 1,000 people in a franchisee's territory, rather than as a percentage of gross sales like every other franchise on this list.
Cost: Total investment ranges from $45,075 to $82,475, with a $4,975 franchise fee, a royalty of $3 per 1,000 territory population, and a $1 per 1,000 monthly marketing contribution.
Pros: The flat, population-based royalty means fees don't scale up as revenue grows, which can benefit high-performing franchisees compared to percentage-of-sales models.
Cons: RooterMan does not include an Item 19 financial performance representation in its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) so prospective buyers have no franchisor-disclosed revenue or earnings data to evaluate before investing.
Ideal for:
Cost-conscious buyers who are comfortable doing independent due diligence, since the lowest entry cost on this list comes without disclosed financial performance data.
Franchise #7: Z PLUMBERZ
Z PLUMBERZ is the only franchise on this list offering in-house financing, covering up to 50 percent of the initial franchise fee, directly through the franchisor.
Cost: Total investment for a standard franchise ranges from $264,670 to $426,710. A lower-cost conversion option for existing plumbing companies ranges from $94,520 to $323,010.
Pros: In-house financing covering half the franchise fee reduces reliance on third-party lenders. Plus, backing from BELFOR Franchise Group gives franchisees a track record that can make outside lenders more comfortable extending credit.
Cons: Z PLUMBERZ only began franchising in 2020 with 46 locations so far. It has had less time to build brand recognition and a track record as a relatively new franchise than brands with a decade or more of franchising history.
Ideal for:
Buyers who want in on a newer, smaller system with room to become an early, influential operator, rather than joining an already-mature brand.
Why Are Plumbing Franchises Growing in the U.S. Market?
Franchising overall has expanded rapidly over the past decade. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 Economic Census counted 498,234 franchise establishments, and the International Franchise Association projects that figure will reach 845,000 in 2026, an almost 60-percent increase in under 10 years.
Plumbing specifically has a solid demand potential within that growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 44,000 job openings annually, driven largely by retirements among the existing workforce of 504,500.
IBISWorld estimates the U.S. plumbing services industry to be worth $208.1 billion in 2026, expanding at a 4.9 percent compound annual rate over the past five years.
For entrepreneurs, franchising offers a way to capture that demand without building brand recognition or operational systems from scratch, which explains why plumbing has become one of the more active categories in home services franchising.
Over To You!
Whether you buy into an established system or build independently, running a profitable plumbing business comes down to execution: scheduling jobs efficiently, pricing consistently, and generating enough qualified leads to keep trucks full.
That's where ServiceTitan comes in, running the systems behind many of the largest plumbing franchise systems and independent plumbing businesses in the U.S. They use it to dispatch technicians, standardize pricebooks across multiple territories, and track which marketing campaigns convert the best, all on a single platform.
If you're evaluating a plumbing franchise or taking an existing business to the next level, book a demo to see how the platform supports your growth at every stage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. How much does it cost to open a plumbing franchise?
Total investment varies widely by brand and territory size. Costs range from roughly $45,000 for lower-cost systems like RooterMan up to $2.7 million for larger territory models like 1-Tom-Plumber.
Most fall between $130,000 and $430,000, a range that includes Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mr. Rooter Plumbing, 1-800-Plumber +Air, bluefrog Plumbing + Drain, and Z PLUMBERZ.
Franchise fees within that range also vary, with some, like 1-800-Plumber +Air, scaling with the number of territories purchased and others charging a flat fee regardless of market size.
Q2. What revenue and profit can a plumbing franchise generate?
Revenue varies significantly by franchise, territory, and operator performance. Some Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) disclose average gross revenue per territory, but many franchisors don't publish an Item 19 financial performance representation at all.
Prospective buyers should request the current FDD directly and speak with existing franchisees before estimating potential earnings for any specific system.
Q3. How do I choose the right plumbing franchise?
Compare total investment against your available capital, review royalty and marketing fee structures, and assess how established the system is in your target market.
Confirm that the franchise is actively selling new territories, since brands like Roto-Rooter rarely offer new franchise opportunities. Also consider whether you want a general plumbing service brand or a specialized niche system, such as Ace DuraFlo’s pipe-restoration franchise.
Q4. Should you hire a franchise attorney or consultant?
A franchise attorney can be a worthwhile investment. They can review the FDD and franchise agreement for terms around territory rights, renewal conditions, non-compete clauses, and termination.
A franchise consultant can help you compare various systems objectively to see which franchise business fits your goals best. Both are standard steps before signing, regardless of how established or affordable a franchise appears.
Q5. Do you need a plumbing license to own a franchise?
It depends on the franchise and your state. Many plumbing franchises don't require the owner to hold a plumbing license personally, since they can hire licensed technicians.
However, state and local regulations vary, and some jurisdictions may require a licensed individual to be listed on the business itself.
Q6. What financing options exist for plumbing franchises?
Options include SBA loans, third-party franchise lenders, and in some cases, in-house financing from the franchisor covering a portion of the franchise fee.
Some brands also offer discounts for veterans. Financing terms and availability vary by franchise, so it’s best to confirm options directly with each franchisor.
ServiceTitan Plumbing Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive plumbing business software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.
