A new study from LendingTree has revealed the most and least expensive fast food in the 50 most populous areas across the United States, as a Newsweek map compiling this data shows.
Why It Matters
The fast-food industry in America is a significant part of daily life and the economy. The U.S. market is projected to reach approximately $330.56 billion in 2025, with expectations to grow to $436.07 billion by 2029, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1 percent, according to OysterLink, a job platform specifically for the restaurant and hospitality industry.
OysterLink also reports that the average American spends around $148 a month on fast food and around 40 percent of fast-food sales are sold through drive-thru orders, totaling nearly $140 billion annually.
What To Know
The top five most expensive cities for fast food are:
- San Francisco, California: $12.73
- New York City, New York: $12.25
- Los Angeles, California: $12.24
- Seattle, Washington: $12.22
- Sacramento, California: $12.19
LendingTree selected “five of the most well-known national fast food chains,” to calculate an average meal cost, which included meals from Burger King, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s. Then, “the average cost of a fast food meal for each metro was calculated by averaging the prices of the five selected meals, including taxes.”
At the bottom of the list is Austin, Texas with an average cost of $9.63, Houston, Texas, with an average cost of $9.71, Nashville, Tennessee, with an average cost of $9.72, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with an average cost of $9.79.
The lowest price on that list is Indianapolis, Indiana, where the average cost of a fast-food meal is $9.19.
LendingTree’s report included analysis of “Fast food meal data from restaurant websites or mobile apps. Notes: The average cost of a fast food meal includes applicable state and local sales taxes based on the restaurants’ locations.”
The report also states that many fast-food workers aren’t able to afford the meals that they serve. This research follows a 2024 report from LendingTree which found that of 2,000 American adults surveyed, 78 percent of consumers viewed fast food as a luxury because it is increasingly expensive.
The research comes at a time where data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is showing the cost of living to be continually outpacing earnings, leaving many Americans struggling to make ends meet.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.9 percent in December 2024 compared to December 2023. This year-over-year increase indicates that the prices for a broad range of goods and services have gone up over the past year.
Multiple fast food chains have introduced value deals as inflation and cost-of-living concerns impact consumer spending. The price of fast food meals is often posted about on social media, with many people criticizing the cost of meals today.
What People Are Saying
Wall St. Mav in a post on X: “Fast food is not affordable anymore … Almost $40 for 2 burgers and fries…… What is going on?”
Professor Peter St. Onge, in a post on X: “78 percent of Americans now say fast food is a luxury… As you’d expect, this hits families with kids, the working class, and of course the young who once started families but now just doom-spend to the next bail-out.”
Wagie Capital on X: “Yeah…fast food prices are absolutely out of control at this point.”
What’s Next
The price of fast food could go on to change depending on different economic factors. The Conference Board currently projects U.S. GDP to increase by 1.6 percent in 2025, slowed from 2.8 percent in 2024.
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