Charlies Chicken
The total investment to open a Charlies Chicken franchise ranges from $171,600 to $707,500. The initial franchise fee is $25,000. Ongoing royalties are 4% plus a 1% advertising fee.
What is the Charlies Chicken franchise?
Charlies Chicken is a sit down restaurant serving chicken to diners. Estimated total initial investment is $171,600 to $707,500, and the initial franchise fee is $25,000.
The royalty is 4 percent of sales, and the advertising or brand fund fee is 1 percent. The franchise agreement term is 10 years. The brand was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in TULSA, OK.
Loan Activity Score
24/100
SBA Default Rate
16.7%
Active Lenders
6
According to its Franchise Disclosure Document or public business records, Charlies Chicken has 14 locations, all owned by franchisees. Public SBA loan records show 6 lenders made 18 loans to franchisees of Charlies Chicken. PeerSense calculates Charlies Chicken's score as 24 out of 100, using public SBA loan performance and recent lending activity.
Franchising since 1975 · 14 locations
$171,600 to $707,500
$25,000
14
14 franchised
Proprietary PeerSense metric
LimitedDistinct lenders in public SBA records for Charlies Chicken
18
Total SBA loans
$403K
Average loan size
Source: public SBA 7(a) and 504 loan records through December 31, 2025
Referral fee at closing
SBA Lending Activity for Charlies Chicken
Loan Activity Score Breakdown
Growing (10 to 24 loans)
Are lenders increasingly or decreasingly funding this brand? Growing trends score highest.
Blended default rate (recent + all time) compared to NAICS sector peers.
Quality lenders actively backing this brand, with penalty for lender pullback.
FDD availability, Item 19 disclosure, and overall data completeness.
Geographic spread of SBA funded locations across states.
SBA Lending Performance
SBA Default Rate
16.7%
vs 10.3% peer avg
SBA Loans
18
Total Volume
$7.2M
Active Lenders
6
1 selective
States
2
vs. SBA Sector Average
SBA loan default rate vs. all franchises in the same NAICS sector, not limited to direct competitors
Key Highlights
Franchise Financing Resources
Data Insights
Key performance metrics for Charlies Chicken based on SBA lending data
SBA Default Rate
16.7%
6.4% above peer avg
SBA Loan Volume
18 loans
Across 6 lenders
Lender Diversity
6 lenders
Avg 3.0 loans per lender
Investment Tier
Significant investment
$171,600 to $707,500 total
Charlies Chicken: Deep SBA Data
Brand specific metrics derived directly from SBA 7(a) approval records: peak lending year, leading state, average loan size, and lender concentration. PeerSense computes these per brand so capital advisors and prospective franchisees can benchmark this opportunity against the rest of the franchise universe.
Peak SBA Year
2005
4 approvals. The best year on record for Charlies Chicken.
Top SBA State
Oklahoma
17 SBA financed Charlies Chicken locations, the densest operator footprint.
Average Loan Size
$403K
Median $353K. Use as a sizing anchor when modeling your own Charlies Chicken unit.
Lender Concentration
77.8%
Concentrated
Share of Charlies Chicken approvals captured by the top 3 SBA lenders.
Charlies Chicken's SBA lending pipeline peaked in 2005 (4 approvals). Operator density is highest in Oklahoma with 17 SBA financed locations. Average funded ticket sits at $403K, with the median at $353K. Lender mix is concentrated: the top three SBA lenders account for 77.8% of approvals. Credit decisions concentrate with a small group of incumbents.
Payment Estimator
Estimated Monthly Payment
$1,776
Principal & Interest only
Indicative only, as of October 1, 2026. Not a quote, commitment or offer of credit. Final pricing, leverage and terms are determined by the lender at underwriting, after full transaction materials are reviewed. PeerSense sources the file. The lender sets pricing. What these terms mean.
Locations
Charlies Chicken, unit breakdown
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Reviewed by Edward L. Freeman, Founder and Managing Director, PeerSense
- PeerSense is a capital advisory firm that places commercial financing with direct capital sources; it does not lend, fund, or approve loans, and the capital source sets final terms.
- Edward L. Freeman founded PeerSense in January 2020.
- He is a Registered Franchise Consultant with Business Alliance, Inc., a credential issued in March 2022, and worked as a franchise consultant there from March 2022 to May 2023.
- His recorded experience includes a $22 million SBA construction loan, with about $16 million funded on the deal.
- In the 12 months through September 30, 2026, PeerSense tracked 912 publicly announced financings with a disclosed size of $361.32 billion. PeerSense Capital Data Report · Methodology page
Last reviewed LinkedIn profileAbout Edward Freeman