McDonald’s Menu Prices Have Gone Bananas
This week a story went viral showing the difference in McDonald’s menu prices and how much they’ve risen in just over the past ten years. According to Business Insider prices for all fast food chains have risen dramatically over the past 10 years but McDonald’s has been particularly egregious. For instance, Wendy’s has gone up 55%. Taco Bell has gone up by 88%. But of all of the fast food restaurants on the list McDonald’s had them all beat at a whopping 100% price increase since 2014! That means the prices have literally doubled in just ten years.
And before you shrug and say “Well that’s inflation for you.” No it isn’t. While yes inflation has led to a rise in costs across the board, overall inflation has only risen by 34% in ten years. That’s 66% lower than the price increase we should have from places like McDonald’s. Ironically, the only place close to being in-line with inflation is Starbucks whose prices have risen by 39%.
Just to put that in terms of menu prices. In 2014 A Big Mac Meal cost $6.49 at 31% inflation that should be a price today of $9.09. Instead at the McDonald’s closest to me the price is $10.29!
McDonald’s In The 90s
Now, like many of you, I associate McDonald’s with my childhood. Happy Meals, saving up to ride my bike down there and buying a quarter pounder with cheese. The thrill of going after a little league game . Birthday parties with Ronald McDonald. These were all treasured parts of growing up in the 80s and 90s. So to make the inflation story sting even more I decided to go back even further than 10 years. I wanted to know how much prices have increased since I was just a kid on a Huffy and a pocket full of change from mowing lawns, my mouth watering thinking about a 10 piece chicken McNugget meal. So I found a post with the prices from 1994 and using a CPI calculator looked at the cost then, the cost now, and what the cost would be in a just world.
The answer is sad.
WELL ALMOST
There is one meal on here that is surprisingly below inflation and as a parent I hate to tell you what it is…
But, before we get to that here are the overly inflated prices
