# Drive Thru Index

> Daily prices from every US restaurant of McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC, Popeyes and Chick-fil-A, collected from each chain's own ordering app. Figures are free to quote with attribution ("Source: Drive Thru Index, prices checked 2026-09-30").

Brands are only ever compared with themselves. An index of 100 is the brand's typical (median) US restaurant on a basket of items every full-menu restaurant of that brand sells; 95 means 5% cheaper, 110 means 10% pricier. A state or city score averages each brand's own index there.

## Pages
- [Fast food price insights](https://drivethruindex.com/insights): key findings, cheapest and priciest states, delivery markups, methodology.
- [Prices by state](https://drivethruindex.com/prices): every state ranked on the Drive Thru Index, with a page per state and city.
- [US Big Mac Index](https://drivethruindex.com/big-mac-index): the Big Mac price at every McDonald's, by state and city.
- [Menu prices](https://drivethruindex.com/items): popular items from every brand, by state and city, with the cheapest restaurants.
- Restaurant pages (https://drivethruindex.com/restaurants/<brand>/<id>/<town-state>): every restaurant's full menu with prices; listed in https://drivethruindex.com/sitemap.xml.
- [Price history](https://drivethruindex.com/history): restaurants raising or cutting prices each day, per brand, and the typical price over time.
- [McDonald's prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/mcdonalds): McDonald's by state and city.
- [Burger King prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/burger-king): Burger King by state and city.
- [Wendy's prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/wendys): Wendy's by state and city.
- [Taco Bell prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/taco-bell): Taco Bell by state and city.
- [KFC prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/kfc): KFC by state and city.
- [Popeyes prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/popeyes): Popeyes by state and city.
- [Chick-fil-A prices](https://drivethruindex.com/brands/chick-fil-a): Chick-fil-A by state and city.
- [Interactive map](https://drivethruindex.com/): every restaurant's price, cheapest and priciest near any location.

## Data
- [states.csv](https://drivethruindex.com/data/states.csv): each state's index and each brand's typical price there.
- [cities.csv](https://drivethruindex.com/data/cities.csv): the same for 2,396 cities.
- [history.csv](https://drivethruindex.com/data/history.csv): the daily record for the US and every state (date, area, brand, typical price, index).

## Key findings
- Popeyes has the biggest price gap between locations: its priciest restaurant charges 136% more than its cheapest for the same basket. Taco Bell has the smallest gap, 52%.
- Houston, TX is the biggest cluster of bargain fast food in the US: 241 of its 389 restaurants rank in their brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- Mississippi is the cheapest state for fast food overall (Drive Thru Index 94, where 100 is the national typical price) and Alaska the most expensive (130), averaging each brand against its own national prices.
- A McDonald's Big Mac costs anywhere from $3.99 to $9.50 across 13,662 US restaurants; the typical price is $5.99.
- Texas is the cheapest state for McDonald's and Alaska the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 13,659 restaurants.
- Ordering McDonald's for delivery costs 28% more than picking up the same items.
- McDonald's airport locations charge 9% more than the brand's typical US restaurant.
- McDonald's in Alaska is 42% pricier than on the mainland.
- McDonald's in Hawaii is 22% pricier than on the mainland.
- A Burger King Whopper costs anywhere from $3.99 to $10.19 across 6,211 US restaurants; the typical price is $6.19.
- Oklahoma is the cheapest state for Burger King and Hawaii the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 6,180 restaurants.
- Ordering Burger King for delivery costs 28% more than picking up the same items.
- Burger King in Hawaii is 53% pricier than on the mainland.
- A Wendy's Dave's Single costs anywhere from $3.99 to $9.99 across 5,403 US restaurants; the typical price is $5.99.
- New Mexico is the cheapest state for Wendy's and Alaska the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 5,403 restaurants.
- Wendy's airport locations charge 9% more than the brand's typical US restaurant.
- Wendy's in Alaska is 24% pricier than on the mainland.
- Wendy's in Hawaii is 21% pricier than on the mainland.
- A Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme costs anywhere from $3.99 to $9.59 across 7,719 US restaurants; the typical price is $6.69.
- Kansas is the cheapest state for Taco Bell and Alaska the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 7,716 restaurants.
- Taco Bell in Alaska is 14% pricier than on the mainland.
- A KFC Chicken Sandwich costs anywhere from $3.99 to $12.99 across 3,232 US restaurants; the typical price is $5.39.
- Nevada is the cheapest state for KFC and Alaska the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 3,231 restaurants.
- Ordering KFC for delivery costs 0% more than picking up the same items.
- KFC in Alaska is 39% pricier than on the mainland.
- KFC in Hawaii is 16% pricier than on the mainland.
- A Popeyes Classic Chicken Sandwich costs anywhere from $4.49 to $9.99 across 3,050 US restaurants; the typical price is $5.79.
- Arkansas is the cheapest state for Popeyes and Washington the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 3,042 restaurants.
- Popeyes in Hawaii is 16% pricier than on the mainland.
- A Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich costs anywhere from $1.00 to $11.99 across 3,053 US restaurants; the typical price is $5.25.
- Texas is the cheapest state for Chick-fil-A and Hawaii the priciest, comparing the same basket of 4 items at 3,025 restaurants.
- Chick-fil-A in Hawaii is 27% pricier than on the mainland.
- For McDonald's, Houston, TX has the most bargain restaurants: 122 of 128 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For Burger King, Houston, TX has the most bargain restaurants: 81 of 83 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For Wendy's, Columbus, OH has the most bargain restaurants: 22 of 31 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For Taco Bell, Indianapolis, IN has the most bargain restaurants: 21 of 38 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For KFC, Las Vegas, NV has the most bargain restaurants: 14 of 14 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For Popeyes, San Antonio, TX has the most bargain restaurants: 23 of 24 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.
- For Chick-fil-A, Houston, TX has the most bargain restaurants: 22 of 46 are in the brand's cheapest fifth nationally.

- [Full facts for LLMs](https://drivethruindex.com/llms-full.txt): every state ranked and every brand's figures.