By Clark 
In 2024, going out to a fast food business is way more expensive than it was in the past. In response to reasons like increasing costs and worker pay, several large chains, including Chipotle and Shake Shack, have instituted price hikes in recent years. But new information is shedding light on how much a staple menu item at the leading fast food business in the world—McDonald’s—has increased in price.
Restaurant Business Magazine, a newspaper for the food service sector, analyzed the pricing of McDonald’s Big Macs and classic cheeseburgers in all 50 states in the US back in March 2021 to determine the menu items’ market value. The magazine decided to revisit the nationwide Big Mac and cheeseburger pricing index three years later to see how much it had changed since 2021, and the findings were illuminating.
The average price of a cheeseburger at McDonald’s has increased from $1.55 in 2021 to $2.40 in 2024, according to a new research released on March 29 by Restaurant Business Magazine. In just three short years, that rose by half.
Since 2021, Big Mac costs have gone up as well, however not quite by the same amount as cheeseburger pricing. The average price of a burger has increased by 16.4 percent since 2021, according to research published in Restaurant Business Magazine.
Customers in some regions of the nation might be paying less for cheeseburgers than those in others, because the prices of all McDonald’s items can fluctuate from shop to store. Also, fans should know that individual McDonald’s franchisees are responsible for setting their own menu prices, thus the corporate arm of Mickey D. could not be directly responsible for today’s inflated prices. Despite the intense criticism of McDonald’s value, data from Restaurant Business Magazine reveals how expensive one of the chain’s core offerings has grown.
A slew of price hikes at McDonald’s in recent years have made eating there much more expensive, with a roughly 10% rise in 2023 being the most recent. People who are affected by the price hikes have spoken out loud and clear on social media.
A picture of a McDonald’s receipt earlier this year shocked fans when it showed that two Egg McMuffins cost $14.58 at a rest stop in Connecticut. The snapshot of a $17.59 Big Mac combination meal at another McDonald’s rest stop location also received a lot of negative feedback online in the summer of 2023, according to CBS News.
The increased pricing at McDonald’s have even caused some customers to alter their fast food habits. The fact that lower-income consumers have been eating at home more often due to cost savings was disclosed by CEO Chris Kempczinski during a February earnings call. Additionally, customers with lower incomes are either ordering fewer items or choosing cheaper selections when they do visit McDonald’s.
The low-income customer is unquestionably the target of the conflict. On the topic of affordability, Kempczinski mentioned it during the February call and predicted that it would receive more attention heading into 2024.
Regarding the rumored cheeseburger pricing hikes, McDonald’s did not immediately react to our requests for comment.