SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · VIRGINIA
Zaxby's franchise in Virginia: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Zaxby's in Virginia have taken 14 SBA loans since 1991 (average $1,333,657)— 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 3.9% is the better guide.
Loans in VA
14
Resolved
4
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
3.9%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = VA. 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
15,756
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
178.8
national 179.9
Versus the country
-1%
thinner
Every business in Zaxby's's industry operating in Virginia — 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
$517
Virginia, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$537
same industry, all states
Versus the country
-4%
cheaper to staff
What Zaxby's's industry actually pays workers in Virginia, 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 VA | Local charge-off | Units in VA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Smoothie Cafe | 70 | 8.6% | 124 |
| Quiznos | 59 | 32.6% | — |
| Cold Stone Creamery | 44 | 21.9% | — |
| Firehouse Subs | 31 | 5.3% | 57 |
| Jimmy John's | 31 | 12.0% | — |
| Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins Co-Brand | 27 | 6.3% | — |
| Cicis Pizza | 21 | 23.5% | — |
| Marco's Pizza | 21 | thin | — |
| Nothing Bundt Cakes | 18 | thin | — |
| Bruster'S | 17 | 0.0% | — |
| Domino's Pizza | 17 | 0.0% | — |
| DUCK DONUTS | 17 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how Zaxby's compares to the systems a buyer in Virginia 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 Zaxby's's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.