SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · CALIFORNIA
Doctors Express franchise in California: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Doctors Express in California have taken 5 SBA loans since 1991 (average $525,060)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 7.7% is the better guide.
Loans in CA
5
Resolved
3
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
7.7%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = CA. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
5,553
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
14.1
national 11.6
Versus the country
+22%
denser
Every business in Doctors Express's industry operating in California — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
Avg weekly wage, this industry
$961
California, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$806
same industry, all states
Versus the country
+19%
costlier to staff
What Doctors Express's industry actually pays workers in California, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025), employment-weighted across counties. This is a real cost signal independent of the FDD — a market can look demand-rich above and still carry a margin headwind here if local wages run hot for the sector.
| System | Loans in CA | Local charge-off | Units in CA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday Men's Health | 27 | thin | — |
| General Nutrition Center | 21 | 16.7% | — |
| AFC/AMERICAN FAMILY CARE | 20 | thin | 19 |
| HEALTH MART | 17 | thin | 461 |
| Medicine Shoppe | 14 | thin | — |
| MASSAGE HEIGHTS | 12 | thin | — |
| Max Muscle | 11 | 50.0% | — |
| Armstrong Mccall | 8 | thin | — |
| THE JOINT CHIROPRACTIC (RD) | 8 | thin | — |
| The Joint...the chiropractic place | 7 | thin | 33 |
| Pearle Vision | 6 | thin | — |
| Arcpoint | 5 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how Doctors Express compares to the systems a buyer in California would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Doctors Express's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.