This Fast-Food Chain is Raising Prices Faster Than All the Rest
In the not-too-distant past, you could walk into any fast-food restaurant and get an entire meal for less than $5, easily. However, due to inflation and other factors, going through the drive-thru has gotten significantly more expensive to the extent that a recent poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that 25% of people who make under $50,000 are cutting back on it. However, prices aren't rising as rapidly at some fast-food joints as others. According to The Street and SpinGenie, one of the most popular fast-food chains in the world is also raising prices the most: McDonalds.
The Street compared pre-inflation prices in 2019 to March 2024 on menus from a handful of fast-food restaurants. They also considered the inflation rate, around 21.5%, during the same period.
They looked at the prices of five menu items and found that, on average, prices went up 141.4% during the period, ranging from a 68.8% price hike on a 10-piece McNuggets to a whopping 215% increase on a Cheeseburger, that went from $1 to $3.15 – the highest price hike of any fast food items acoss all brands.
| Menu item | End-of-2019 price | Mid-2024 price | Percentage increase |
| Medium French Fries | $1.79 | $4.19 | 134.1% |
| McChicken | $1.29 | $3.89 | 201.6% |
| Big Mac | $3.99 | $7.49 | 87.7% |
| 10 McNuggets | $4.49 | $7.58 | 68.8% |
| Cheeseburger | $1.00 | $3.15 | 215% |
In comparison, the five items selected at Taco Bell went up 57.4%, Chick-fil-A, 80.1%, In-N-Out, 55%, Burger King, 85.7%, and Jack in the Box, 45%.
"Prices of the items we looked at at the six restaurants listed above went up an average of 77.4% between late December 2019 and mid 2024," concludes the publication.
Out of the brands surveyed, "only 3 of the 30 menu items we checked didn't go up in price by more than the inflation rate (and only a single item didn't go up in price at all)," Fast Company points out.
The only three items that didn't go up in price more than the inflation rate were Taco Bell's Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito (19%) and Spicy Potato Soft Taco (19%), and Jack in the Box's Two Tacos (0%).
SpinGenie found a similar trend, finding that prices (in Canadian dollars) increased about 138.48% since 2014. "Cookies increased in price the most, rising by 400% since 2014 when they cost just 55 cents," they writes. "A McDonald's sausage gravy and biscuit had the lowest inflation, rising by 14.87% in 11 years."
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