Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S0448 since 2017
Culligan
Other · independent · est. —
Culligan is a water treatment company that sells and services water softeners, filtration systems, and drinking-water products for homes and businesses. A franchisee runs a local dealership with technicians who install equipment, deliver salt and bottled water, and maintain systems on recurring service contracts.
Culligan net unit count declined -0.7% from 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: the system is shrinking.
Exit rate · latest year
0.7%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$130K–$816K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
0.0%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 3 of 458 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.7% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 556 | 554 | 551 |
| Opened | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Transfers | 16 | 7 | 13 |
| Terminations | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 32 | 14 | 18 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Outlets at end | 554 | 551 | 550 |
| Net change | -2 | -3 | -1 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 123 SBA-backed loans to Culligan franchisees since 1991. Of the 102 that have resolved, 0.0% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
0.0%
0 of 102 resolved defaulted
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$713,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 3
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO CULLIGAN BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Wells Fargo Bank National Association
14.8% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 15.6% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
55.4%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
+0.0pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 0.0%; single-unit owners at 0.0%.
Computed from 123 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Culligan franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $41K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $130K–$816K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$130K–$816K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$41K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
2%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$20K
2% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$200K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Culligan with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 5 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $12K in back wages for 28 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
5
Back wages owed
$12K
Employees affected
28
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Culligan franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Culligan itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2018.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 71% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
29 / 100
Measured
Modeled SBA charge-off
10.0%
Observed SBA charge-off
0.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (raises). 50+ resolved loans and complete disclosure data — the score is checkable against the brand's observed rate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Culligan. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Culligan's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Culligan franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Culligan franchises closed last year?
In Culligan's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 3 of 458 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.7%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Culligan franchise cost?
Per Culligan's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $41K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $130K–$816K (Item 7).
What royalty does Culligan charge?
Culligan charges an ongoing royalty of 2.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Culligan disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Culligan's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.
How often do SBA loans for Culligan franchises default?
Across 123 SBA-backed loans to Culligan franchisees since 1991, 0 of the 102 that have resolved were charged off — a 0.0% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.