What percentage of sales should rent be for a restaurant?

DoorWorthy plans with total occupancy cost, meaning base rent plus CAM, property taxes and insurance, at 6% to 10% of sales for restaurants and bars. Restaurant industry figures put the typical share near 5% to 6%, so treat the top of the band as a ceiling to stay under, not a target.

What is a good rent-to-sales ratio?

It depends on the business. DoorWorthy's healthy bands for rent plus charges are 8% to 10% for cafés and bakeries, 6% to 10% for restaurants and bars, 10% to 15% for salons and personal services, 8% to 12% for retail stores and 10% to 15% for fitness and wellness studios. Base rent alone should sit lower, because CAM, taxes and insurance come out of the same share.

Should I start from sales or from seats?

Start from sales if you have a projection you trust, such as a lender's model or the numbers from a location you already run. Start from seats if you are earlier: the calculator works out full capacity from seats, turns, average check and days open, then plans at 75% of it so slow days are already counted.

Does a rent inside the band mean I should sign the lease?

No. It means the rent fits a common planning range for the sales you entered. Whether a particular address can produce those sales is a separate question about customers, competition and what the rules allow there. A free location check is a place to start on that.

How much rent can a restaurant afford?

Enter your monthly sales, or your seats and average check, and see the base rent that fits a healthy occupancy share for your type of business.

Rent you can afford$3,600 to $6,000a month in base rent

At a healthy 8% to 12% occupancy share for a retail store, after $1,200 a month in other charges.

Monthly sales used: $60,000
Rent plus charges: $4,800 to $7,200
Base rent to sales: 6% to 10%

Rent you can afford at each share

$2,400$2.4K6%outside

$3,600$3.6K8%healthy

$4,800$4.8K10%healthy

$6,000$6K12%healthy

$7,200$7.2K14%outside

Blue columns are the healthy 8% to 12% band for a retail store. Base rent after other charges, to the nearest $50.

How the math works

Rent you can afford = monthly sales × healthy occupancy share, minus other monthly charges

Healthy occupancy share: Rent plus CAM, property taxes and insurance, as a share of sales. Each business type has its own band, the same one DoorWorthy reports use:
Healthy occupancy share by business type
Business type Healthy share of sales
Café or bakery 8% to 10%
Restaurant or bar 6% to 10%
Salon or personal services 10% to 15%
Retail store 8% to 12%
Fitness or wellness 10% to 15%
Another concept 8% to 12%
Sales from seats: Full capacity is seats × turns a day × average check × days open (or customers a day × average sale × days open). The calculator plans at 75% of full capacity, the same planning case DoorWorthy reports use.
Other charges: CAM, property taxes and insurance come out of the same share, so they are subtracted from the rent. A blank charge is left out, which makes the answer higher until you add it.
Not included: Payroll, food and supplies, loan payments and build-out. This is a planning estimate for a lease conversation, not a sales or profit forecast.

Healthy occupancy share by business type
Business type	Healthy share of sales
Café or bakery	8% to 10%
Restaurant or bar	6% to 10%
Salon or personal services	10% to 15%
Retail store	8% to 12%
Fitness or wellness	10% to 15%
Another concept	8% to 12%

DoorWorthy reports run this same calculation for a real address, next to the spending, competition and rules found there.

Add this calculator to your site

Free for chambers of commerce, small business centers, brokers and blogs. Paste the code where you want it. It sizes itself to fit and links back to DoorWorthy.

<iframe src="https://doorworthy.app/embed/rent-to-sales" title="Rent-to-sales calculator from DoorWorthy" width="100%" height="900" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:1080px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://doorworthy.app/calculators/rent-to-sales">Rent-to-sales calculator</a> from DoorWorthy</p>
<script>window.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e.origin!=="https://doorworthy.app"||!e.data||e.data.type!=="sitekick:embed-height")return;document.querySelectorAll('iframe[src^="https://doorworthy.app/embed/"]').forEach(function(f){if(f.contentWindow===e.source)f.style.height=e.data.height+"px";});});</script>

Preview the embed

How much rent can a restaurant afford?

Your numbers

Rent you can afford at each share

How the math works

Add this calculator to your site

Questions