The premier content provider for and about entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur magazine released its January 2013 issue featuring its 34th annual Franchise 500® line-up yesterday. For the third year running, franchise opportunity giants such as Hampton Hotels, Subway, Jiffy Lube, 7-Eleven and Supercuts headed up the list and in that order.

However, this year’s list reflects greater diversity than it has in a long while, with a number of notable newcomers joining its ranks. Among them are 100-year-old family-owned pizza franchise Rosati’s, a local Chi-Town legend that finally broke through this year, coming in at number 499, and FirstLight HomeCare, one of only two franchise concepts that were selected for inclusion after just three years in franchising.

Citing the fact that companies that focus on providing products and services to specific demographic groups, such as children, seniors, Latinos and veterans, seem to be doing particularly well, Entrepreneur magazine believes its newest listing overall “reveals signs of recovery in franchising.” In fact, this year’s 500 added close to double the number of units they did last year, and the International Franchise Association (IFA) forecasts the industry will net as many as 167,000 new jobs by the end of the year.

“With thousands of new franchise establishments that are creating more jobs, things are looking up in the franchise world and for business as a whole,” said Amy Cosper, Entrepreneur’s VP and editor in chief. “Plenty of newcomers (are) making big strides.”

Financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system are three of the most prominent factors used to determine which companies rank in the Franchise 500® each year and in what order.