Here Are 6 Things You Could Buy for the Price of One Subway Franchise Instead of buying a Subway franchise, you could splurge on 15,478 Italian hoagies, a lifetime of train passes and other cool things.
By Matthew McCreary •
Subway is ranked as the 14th best restaurant in our Franchise 500 list. It costs between $147,050 and $320,700 to buy one of those franchises.
That definitely seems like a big investment. But, just as with any purchase -- or any choice, for that matter -- you have to consider what your alternatives are.
For example, instead of buying even the cheapest Subway franchise, you could, theoretically, get 37 Jan-Pro home-based franchises, which go for as little as $3,985.
But, Subway's six-figure price tag is actually much less expensive than other restaurant franchise options. McDonald's, our top-ranked restaurant, will run you at least $1 million. In that respect, then, a Subway franchise costs about seven times less than the cheapest McDonald's.
That makes it seem almost like a bargain.
In this slideshow, we're breaking down exactly how far $147,050 -- the minimum amount you would need to buy a Subway franchise -- can take you, whether you're thinking about investing in a different franchise, considering business school or just want to buy all of the Subway sandwiches at once.
Related: Our Top 10 Franchises You Can Buy
Subway | FacebookInstead of a Subway franchise, you could buy 15,478 Italian BMTs
There's an important distinction to be made here. You can buy 15,478 Italian BMTs by themselves, because an Italian BMT -- at least at my local subway -- costs $9.50. If you want the combo, with a drink and a side, then that's going to cost an extra $3.10, which would bring down your sandwich count to 11,670.
Related: Just How Much Does It Cost to Own a Fast-Food Franchise?
Laurentiu Garofeanu | Barcoft Media | Getty ImagesThe cheapest Subway costs 101 years' worth of New York City MetroCards.
If you're a New Yorker like me -- or just someone who uses public transportation -- your first association with the word "subway" might be with the overcrowded, underground train tunnels running beneath major metropolitan areas. So, if you wondered, like I did, about the ratio from Subway access to subway access, then here it is: a New York city unlimited monthly pass costs $121. The lowest price of a Subway restaurant costs $147,050. That means you can buy 1,215 subway passes for one Subway.
Glad we cleared that up.
Doc Popcorn | FacebookThe cheapest Subway costs 3.72 of the cheapest Doc Popcorns.
At $39,500, the cheapest Doc Popcorn is the only food-related franchise on our list of best franchises under $60,000. While the most expensive Doc Popcorn ($345,050) is actually costlier than the most expensive Subway ($320,700), the cheapest Doc Popcorn is about a quarter the cost of the cheapest Subway.
Related: The 5 Best Burger Franchises You Can Buy (and How Much They Cost)
Firehouse Subs | FacebookThe cheapest Subway costs 1.18 of the cheapest Firehouse Subs.
The cheapest Firehouse Subs franchise (ranked 15th overall and seventh among restaurants) goes for $124,678. The cheapest Subway franchise goes for $147,050.
You can't exactly buy 1.18 of a franchise, but you definitely can buy a single Firehouse Subs and then pocket the $22,372 difference.
Jersey Mike's | FacebookThe cheapest Subway franchise costs 0.76 of the cheapest Jersey Mike's.
The lowest initial investment for Jersey Mike's (our 21st-ranked franchise and 11th-ranked restaurant) according to our database is $193,204, which is $46,154 more than the lowest initial investment for a Subway franchise.
Related: 5 Low-Cost Franchises You Can Start for as Little as $4,000
Brooks Kraft LLC | Corbis | Getty ImagesThe cheapest Subway franchise costs 0.69 Harvard MBAs.
According to the Harvard website, the student budget for the MBA class of 2019 is $106,800 for one year. Since the MBA takes two years to complete, we can estimate it costs about $213,600, or 1.45 Subways to complete Harvard Business School.
