The Week – McDonald’s golden arches might as well be made of real gold and Burger King’s burgers may be reserved for kings.
Fast food was once a cheap and accessible source of food, but now many Americans are being priced out of the restaurants. This is largely attributed to higher prices coupled with the high cost of living.
Why is fast food more expensive?
Across the country, prices are rising across the board, including at fast food restaurants.
“Higher costs of restaurant essentials, such as beef and salaries, have pushed food prices up and driven away lower-income customers,” said the Los Angeles Times.
The average price of a menu item at McDonald’s increased by approximately 40% between 2019 and 2024, according to a company fact sheet.
At the same time, consumer income is not keeping up with the cost of living.
“You are seeing across the country that rents are at pretty high levels. You are seeing food prices are high, whether it’s in restaurants or grocery. You are seeing child care is high,” said McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski to investors. “There’s some significant inflation there that the low-income consumer is having to absorb.”
McDonald’s is not the only chain seeing fewer customers. Chipotle, Burger King and Wendy’s have also reported fewer lower-income patrons. So some restaurants have attempted to create value menus with cheaper items to bring back clientele.
President Donald Trump attended McDonald’s Impact Summit on Nov. 17 and praised McDonald’s for “recommitting to affordable options.” He also claimed that the Biden administration “started the affordability crisis” and that his administration is “ending it” …
