FILING · MN · 2024 FDD · 1+ YEAR OLD
MCDONALD'S FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — 2024
The FDD is the 23-item legal disclosure every U.S. franchisor must hand you at least 14 days before you sign or pay anything (FTC Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436). MCDONALD'S's most recent FDD tracked here is the 2024 FDD · 1+ year old, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). Registration-state filings are public records, so you can read it free, with no sign-up.
PUBLIC RECORD · FILED 2024 · SOURCE STATE MN
| ITEM 5 | Initial franchise fee | $45,000 |
| ITEM 6 | Ongoing royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| ITEM 7 | Total initial investment | $1.5M–$2.6M |
| ITEM 19 | Earnings disclosure (FPR) | Yes — financial performance representation made |
| ITEM 20 | Outlets (fiscal 2023) | 12,772 franchised at year end · 107 exits (exit rate 0.8%, fiscal 2023) |
The headline figure is average annual sales volume for Calendar 2023, for 12,605 of 13,457 outlets open at year end, leaving out open less than 1 year, non-traditional restaurants, non-domestic.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
| What is measured | average annual sales volume (gross sales) |
| Period | Calendar 2023 |
| Whose results | Franchised and company-owned outlets together |
| Units included | 12,605 of 13,457 outlets at the end of FY2023 (Item 20) |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $4.0M |
| Median | $3.8M |
| Mean vs median | mean 4.3% above median |
| Costs shown | Yes — through a profit line |
| Where | p. 44 (Item 19 runs pp. 44–46) |
| The filing's words | “Of the approximately 12,605 domestic traditional McDonald's restaurants opened at least 1 year as of December 31, 2023” |
Every figure above was extracted by software from the 2024 MCDONALD'S FDD as filed (figures are not individually checked by a person) and links back to that document. Fields that could not be extracted are omitted; no figure here is estimated. Extraction errors are possible: the filing controls, and FDDs are reissued annually; verify against the current issuance before relying on any number. Spotted an error? Franchisors and owners can report it via the contact on our Terms page.
MCDONALD'S FDD questions, answered
Where can I download the MCDONALD'S FDD for free?
MCDONALD'S's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document is a public record, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). It can be downloaded free from the source link on this page — no broker form, no email signup required.
What year is MCDONALD'S's most recent FDD on file?
The most recent MCDONALD'S FDD tracked here is the 2024 FDD · 1+ year old, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). Franchisors must update their FDD annually; confirm you are reading the current issuance before signing.
Does MCDONALD'S's FDD disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — MCDONALD'S makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2024 FDD. Read the basis fine print: franchisors choose which units and metrics to include.
What does MCDONALD'S's FDD Item 20 show?
In fiscal 2023, MCDONALD'S ended with 12,772 franchised outlets; 107 of 12,764 open at the start of the year left the system (exit rate 0.8%, fiscal 2023) through terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons".
The MCDONALD'S validation checklist
questions built from this brand's own filings · read them all on the profile
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