Fast food joints used to be the go-to choice for convenient, budget-friendly meals, but over the years, they’ve becoming increasingly tough on the wallet.
This article was written by Kayla Zhu and originally published by Visual Capitalist.
One major franchise that has seen substantial price hikes over the past decade is none other than the Golden Arches. This visualization shows the price increase of 10 McDonald’s menu items from 2014 to 2024.
The data comes from Finance Buzz and was accessed in May 2024.
FinanceBuzz analyzed menu prices from 2014, 2019, and 2024 for 10 items available consistently across those years, sourcing data from menu price websites, restaurant official sites, and archived records via the Wayback Machine. Additional adjustments were made to account for franchise pricing variations.
McRaising the Price
Below, we show the price increases of 10 different McDonald’s menu items according to Finance Buzz.
| Menu item | Price increase | 2014 price | 2024 price |
|---|---|---|---|
| McChicken | 199% | $1.00 | $2.99 |
| McDouble | 168% | $1.19 | $3.19 |
| Medium Fries | 138% | $1.59 | $3.79 |
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal | 122% | $5.39 | $11.99 |
| Oreo McFlurry | 88% | $2.39 | $4.49 |
| 10-Piece McNugget Meal | 83% | $5.99 | $10.99 |
| 4-Piece McNugget Happy Meal | 67% | $2.99 | $4.99 |
| Filet-O-Fish | 57% | $3.49 | $5.49 |
| Big Mac | 50% | $3.99 | $5.99 |
| Medium Drink | 25% | $1.29 | $1.61 |
McDonalds is by far the industry leader in fast food, and they’ve also led the way in terms of menu price increases this past decade, according to Finance Buzz.
Among the restaurants Finance Buzz measured inflation for, McDonald’s was the top of the list with a 100% average price increase across 10 different menu items since 2014.
Four of their menu items have more than doubled in price since 2014, including their McDouble burger, medium fries, and Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, which used to cost $5.39 and will now run customers back almost $12.
The McChicken sandwich saw the greatest price increase, almost tripling in price from $1.00 in 2014 to $2.99 in 2024.
