Chicken Express
The total investment to open a Chicken Express franchise ranges from $162,220 to $1.3M. The initial franchise fee is $35,000. Ongoing royalties are 4% plus a 2% advertising fee.
What is the Chicken Express franchise?
Chicken Express is a quick service restaurant franchise selling fried chicken, tenders and seafood to customers. The estimated total initial investment to open a restaurant is $162,220 to $1,348,300, and the initial franchise fee is $35,000.
The royalty is 4 percent of sales, and the advertising or brand fund fee is 2 percent. Its headquarters are in Brownwood, Texas.
Loan Activity Score
40/100
SBA Default Rate
1.0%
Active Lenders
29
According to its Franchise Disclosure Document or public business records, Chicken Express has 144 locations, all owned by franchisees. Public SBA loan records show 29 lenders made 98 loans to franchisees of Chicken Express. PeerSense calculates Chicken Express's score as 40 out of 100, using public SBA loan performance and recent lending activity.
Franchising since 1990 · 144 locations
$162,220 to $1.3M
$35,000
144
144 franchised
Proprietary PeerSense metric
FairDistinct lenders in public SBA records for Chicken Express
98
Total SBA loans
$499K
Average loan size
Source: public SBA 7(a) and 504 loan records through December 31, 2025
Referral fee at closing
SBA Lending Activity for Chicken Express
Loan Activity Score Breakdown
Established (25 to 99 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
1.0%
vs 10.3% peer avg
SBA Loans
98
Total Volume
$48.9M
Active Lenders
29
States
5
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 Chicken Express based on SBA lending data
SBA Default Rate
1.0%
9.3% below peer avg
SBA Loan Volume
98 loans
Across 29 lenders
Lender Diversity
29 lenders
Avg 3.4 loans per lender
Investment Tier
Premium investment
$162,220 to $1,348,300 total
Chicken Express: 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
2011
14 approvals. The best year on record for Chicken Express.
Top SBA State
Texas
142 SBA financed Chicken Express locations, the densest operator footprint.
Average Loan Size
$737K
Median $581K. Use as a sizing anchor when modeling your own Chicken Express unit.
Lender Concentration
48.1%
Concentrated
Share of Chicken Express approvals captured by the top 3 SBA lenders.
Chicken Express's SBA lending pipeline peaked in 2011 (14 approvals). The last five fiscal years account for 23% of cumulative volume ($25M approved). Operator density is highest in Texas with 142 SBA financed locations. Average funded ticket sits at $737K, with the median at $581K. Lender mix is concentrated: the top three SBA lenders account for 48.1% of approvals. Credit decisions concentrate with a small group of incumbents.
Payment Estimator
Estimated Monthly Payment
$1,679
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
Chicken Express, 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