Where the units are and who operates them
São Paulo has 4,712 active CNPJs of the 503 franchise networks measured, and the 10 municipalities with the most CNPJs hold 26.7% of the total
Active CNPJs of the 503 measured networks in São Paulo, the municipality with the highest count in the country, and not open stores
See the full table (6 rows)
| Population band | Municipalities | Population | Units | Share of units | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Most units | Highest density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 50,000 inhabitants | 4,888 | 64,983,389 | 6,849 | 11.8% | 10.5 | Armação dos Búzios (RJ) | Porto Belo (SC) |
| 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants | 344 | 24,029,096 | 5,781 | 10.0% | 24.1 | Itapema (SC) | Itapema (SC) |
| 100,000 to 250,000 inhabitants | 213 | 32,080,454 | 9,718 | 16.8% | 30.3 | Balneário Camboriú (SC) | Balneário Camboriú (SC) |
| 250,000 to 500,000 inhabitants | 77 | 26,472,725 | 9,082 | 15.7% | 34.3 | Barueri (SP) | Barueri (SP) |
| 500,000 to 1 million inhabitants | 33 | 23,019,791 | 8,521 | 14.7% | 37.0 | Florianópolis (SC) | Florianópolis (SC) |
| More than 1 million inhabitants | 15 | 42,829,705 | 17,989 | 31.0% | 42.0 | São Paulo (SP) | Goiânia (GO) |
Municipalities with up to 50,000 inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 4,888 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armação dos Búzios (RJ) | 41 | 31 | Porto Belo (SC) | 98.2 | 31 |
| Porto Belo (SC) | 31 | 30 | Armação dos Búzios (RJ) | 96.4 | 41 |
| Balneário Piçarras (SC) | 29 | 27 | Alexânia (GO) | 95.6 | 27 |
| Campo Verde (MT) | 28 | 27 | Balneário Piçarras (SC) | 94.8 | 29 |
| Alexânia (GO) | 27 | 23 | Água Boa (MT) | 77.9 | 25 |
| Diamantina (MG) | 25 | 21 | Ceres (GO) | 75.3 | 17 |
| Água Boa (MT) | 25 | 25 | Canarana (MT) | 74.1 | 21 |
| Guaratuba (PR) | 24 | 21 | Querência (MT) | 74.0 | 23 |
| Querência (MT) | 23 | 20 | Joaçaba (SC) | 69.2 | 22 |
| Gramado (RS) | 22 | 21 | Xangri-lá (RS) | 64.9 | 11 |
Municipalities with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 344 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Itapema (SC) | 79 | 61 | Itapema (SC) | 91.7 | 79 |
| Primavera do Leste (MT) | 68 | 56 | São Roque (SP) | 75.0 | 61 |
| Lucas do Rio Verde (MT) | 65 | 56 | Primavera do Leste (MT) | 70.8 | 68 |
| Gurupi (TO) | 63 | 45 | Gurupi (TO) | 69.8 | 63 |
| São Roque (SP) | 61 | 54 | Itupeva (SP) | 69.3 | 52 |
| Pato Branco (PR) | 59 | 51 | Lucas do Rio Verde (MT) | 67.9 | 65 |
| Lajeado (RS) | 56 | 51 | Barra do Garças (MT) | 66.3 | 49 |
| Navegantes (SC) | 54 | 43 | Tijucas (SC) | 64.7 | 38 |
| Itupeva (SP) | 52 | 47 | Campo Novo do Parecis (MT) | 63.8 | 33 |
| Eusébio (CE) | 51 | 43 | Vinhedo (SP) | 63.2 | 50 |
Municipalities with 100,000 to 250,000 inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 213 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balneário Camboriú (SC) | 167 | 129 | Balneário Camboriú (SC) | 110.1 | 167 |
| Sinop (MT) | 152 | 117 | São Caetano do Sul (SP) | 79.9 | 138 |
| Rio Verde (GO) | 141 | 95 | Tubarão (SC) | 74.5 | 87 |
| São Caetano do Sul (SP) | 138 | 109 | Araguaína (TO) | 70.5 | 129 |
| Araguaína (TO) | 129 | 98 | Sinop (MT) | 67.9 | 152 |
| Lauro de Freitas (BA) | 124 | 93 | Vilhena (RO) | 63.8 | 70 |
| Ipatinga (MG) | 122 | 86 | Caldas Novas (GO) | 61.8 | 66 |
| Cabo Frio (RJ) | 118 | 86 | Sorriso (MT) | 61.8 | 77 |
| Criciúma (SC) | 115 | 85 | Paulínia (SP) | 61.7 | 72 |
| Marília (SP) | 101 | 80 | Umuarama (PR) | 59.3 | 73 |
Municipalities with 250,000 to 500,000 inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 77 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barueri (SP) | 263 | 148 | Barueri (SP) | 78.8 | 263 |
| Jundiaí (SP) | 246 | 154 | Palmas (TO) | 68.2 | 224 |
| Blumenau (SC) | 239 | 129 | São José (SC) | 64.9 | 192 |
| Maringá (PR) | 230 | 146 | Blumenau (SC) | 62.0 | 239 |
| Palmas (TO) | 224 | 138 | Vitória (ES) | 60.6 | 208 |
| Vitória (ES) | 208 | 124 | Indaiatuba (SP) | 56.0 | 151 |
| Santos (SP) | 207 | 129 | Maringá (PR) | 53.5 | 230 |
| Anápolis (GO) | 198 | 113 | Jundiaí (SP) | 53.1 | 246 |
| São José (SC) | 192 | 107 | Itajaí (SC) | 52.6 | 155 |
| Bauru (SP) | 176 | 115 | Foz do Iguaçu (PR) | 51.5 | 153 |
Municipalities with 500,000 to 1 million inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 33 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florianópolis (SC) | 485 | 198 | Florianópolis (SC) | 82.6 | 485 |
| Niterói (RJ) | 412 | 173 | Niterói (RJ) | 79.7 | 412 |
| Cuiabá (MT) | 403 | 187 | Cuiabá (MT) | 58.2 | 403 |
| João Pessoa (PB) | 401 | 200 | Joinville (SC) | 47.6 | 316 |
| Maceió (AL) | 396 | 191 | Londrina (PR) | 47.0 | 273 |
| Teresina (PI) | 374 | 155 | Vila Velha (ES) | 45.4 | 230 |
| Campo Grande (MS) | 364 | 170 | João Pessoa (PB) | 44.7 | 401 |
| Natal (RN) | 322 | 147 | São José dos Campos (SP) | 43.6 | 317 |
| Santo André (SP) | 318 | 171 | Aracaju (SE) | 43.1 | 268 |
| São José dos Campos (SP) | 317 | 177 | Teresina (PI) | 41.3 | 374 |
Municipalities with more than 1 million inhabitantsThe first 10 by count and by density among the 15 municipalities in the band. Density considers municipalities with 10 or more units.
| Most units | Units | Networks | Highest density | Per 100,000 inhabitants | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo (SP) | 4,712 | 375 | Goiânia (GO) | 71.6 | 1,077 |
| Rio de Janeiro (RJ) | 3,220 | 305 | Brasília (DF) | 61.5 | 1,843 |
| Brasília (DF) | 1,843 | 311 | Campinas (SP) | 50.5 | 600 |
| Goiânia (GO) | 1,077 | 267 | Rio de Janeiro (RJ) | 47.8 | 3,220 |
| Belo Horizonte (MG) | 1,071 | 279 | Curitiba (PR) | 44.4 | 813 |
| Salvador (BA) | 844 | 236 | Belo Horizonte (MG) | 44.3 | 1,071 |
| Curitiba (PR) | 813 | 251 | São Luís (MA) | 43.2 | 470 |
| Recife (PE) | 642 | 216 | Belém (PA) | 42.1 | 588 |
| Fortaleza (CE) | 633 | 207 | Recife (PE) | 40.4 | 642 |
| Campinas (SP) | 600 | 223 | Porto Alegre (RS) | 40.0 | 555 |
The indicator orders Brazilian municipalities by the number of franchise network units, understood as the active CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) that the observatory's census attributes to the 503 measured networks, and by the density of those units per 100,000 inhabitants, in six population bands. The comparison by band prevents the count from reflecting only city size and prevents density from being led by very small municipalities.
São Paulo leads with 4,712 units, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 3,220, and Brasília, with 1,843. The 10 municipalities with the most units hold 26.7% of the total and 16.5% of the population. The measured networks have a unit in 2,526 of the 5,571 municipalities.
In terms of density, the country has 27.1 units per 100,000 inhabitants. Among municipalities with more than 1 million inhabitants, Goiânia has the highest density, at 71.6. In the following bands, the first are Florianópolis (SC), with 82.6, Barueri (SP), with 78.8, Balneário Camboriú (SC), with 110.1, and Itapema (SC), with 91.7. Among municipalities with up to 50,000 inhabitants and 10 or more units, Porto Belo (SC) has 98.2.
How we calculate
In the open CNPJ data of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority), reference month October 2026, we counted the active establishments that the observatory's census attributes to each of the 503 networks with at least 30 establishments in the subset, using the trade name expression and the CNAE (national classification of economic activities) subclasses of the network profile, head office or branch. The Receita Federal municipality code is converted into the IBGE (the national statistics institute) code by name and state. Density divides the units by the estimated population for 2025 (IBGE, table 6579). The density list includes municipalities with 10 or more units. Counts below 5 are not published, and the single establishment with no matching municipality is left out of the total.
What this figure does not show
- The count is of active CNPJs with the brand in the trade name, which does not equal open stores. Units registered only under the legal name are left out, and namesakes are included.
- Only networks with at least 30 identified establishments are included. Smaller regional networks do not appear, which reduces the count in municipalities where they are more present.
- Density uses the resident population. Tourist municipalities and regional hubs also serve non-residents, which raises the indicator without reflecting the size of the effective customer base.
- The CNPJ address may be the company's registered address rather than the point of service, especially in service networks.
Frequently asked questions
Which city has the most franchises in Brazil?
São Paulo, with 4,712 active CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) of the 503 networks measured by the observatory, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 3,220; Brasília, with 1,843; Goiânia, with 1,077; and Belo Horizonte, with 1,071. The count is a floor, because it only considers establishments with the brand in the trade name, in the reference month of October 2026.
Which city has the most franchises per inhabitant?
It depends on the size of the municipality. Among those with more than 1 million inhabitants, Goiânia has 71.6 units per 100,000 inhabitants. Among those with 100,000 inhabitants or more, Balneário Camboriú (SC), with 110.1; Florianópolis (SC), with 82.6; and São Caetano do Sul (SP), with 79.9, have the highest densities. The national average is 27.1.
How many franchises are there in each city?
The indicator file includes the count of units and networks for all municipalities with at least 5 units, 1,098 in total. In the band of up to 50,000 inhabitants, Armação dos Búzios (RJ) has the highest count, with 41 units.
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Where the units are and who operates themOther indicators in the same group
Maintained by Marktech, which serves franchise networks and franchises. The brands cited belong to their owners and are mentioned here only to identify the network the data refers to.