Pubblicato il 2026-10-19
Delivery adds 23% to the same McDonald's order in the US
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared the delivery and pickup prices of the same items at 13,535 McDonald's restaurants across the US on October 19, 2026. Delivery costs 23% more at the typical restaurant.
Dati al .
Dati chiave
- Delivery adds 23% to the same McDonald's orderThe same 6-item order picked up and delivered, at the median of 13,535 restaurants.
- Highest in Alaska: 29% more for deliveryAcross 25 restaurants.
- Lowest in New Mexico: 13% moreAcross 99 restaurants.
- Pickup: the typical Big Mac costs $5.99Median pickup price at 13,732 restaurants.
Fast food chains are collecting more and more data about their customers through mobile apps and loyalty programs: accounts with their details, and what they order and when. They are also experimenting with AI and data-driven pricing. Meanwhile the same item can cost very different amounts from one restaurant to the next, and customers cannot see why. Drive Thru Index publishes every restaurant's real price, every day, so anyone can check. McDonald's said in August 2026 that across 70 markets it had nearly 220 million loyalty users active in the previous 90 days, and $40 billion in systemwide sales to loyalty members over the previous twelve months.
On October 19, 2026, ordering from McDonald's for delivery cost 23% more at the typical restaurant than picking up the same order from the same restaurant.
By state, the markup is highest in Alaska (29%) and lowest in New Mexico (13%).
Anthony Gherghetta, an Australian software developer who built Drive Thru Index, started it after reading some of the buzz about AI being used to set fast food prices: he wanted to see whether it was true, and how big the price differences between restaurants really were. Prices bear out the contrast he noticed. In Australia, 97% of McDonald's restaurants charge within 10% of the typical Big Mac price; in the US, 53% do. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest tenth of restaurants is 10% of the typical price in Australia and 33% in the US.
“I kept reading that fast food chains were starting to use AI and customer data to set prices, so I wanted to see if it was true and how big the differences really were. In Australia, where I’m from, a Big Mac costs much the same wherever you buy it. In the US the price changes from one restaurant to the next. Fast food apps now know what you order, when and where, but customers can’t see how prices are set. So I built Drive Thru Index to check every restaurant, every day,” said Gherghetta.
Frasi da citare
Ordering McDonald's for delivery costs 23% more than picking up the same order.
Alaska has the highest McDonald's delivery markup (29%); New Mexico the lowest (13%).
Immagini
I dati dietro il comunicato
Ogni dato viene dai nostri prezzi del 2026-10-19, con la pagina di questo sito che lo mostra.
| Dato | Valore | Dove vederlo |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery adds 23% to the same McDonald's order | The same 6-item order picked up and delivered, at the median of 13,535 restaurants. | Vedi la pagina |
| Highest in Alaska: 29% more for delivery | Across 25 restaurants. | Vedi la pagina |
| Lowest in New Mexico: 13% more | Across 99 restaurants. | Vedi la pagina |
| Pickup: the typical Big Mac costs $5.99 | Median pickup price at 13,732 restaurants. | Vedi la pagina |
Mediana per stato
| Zona | Mediana | Ristoranti |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 13% | 99 |
| South Dakota | 15% | 31 |
| Arizona | 17% | 295 |
| Hawaii | 17% | 67 |
| Nebraska | 20% | 79 |
| North Dakota | 20% | 30 |
| California | 21% | 1188 |
| Idaho | 21% | 64 |
| Montana | 21% | 46 |
| South Carolina | 21% | 231 |
| Utah | 21% | 118 |
| Washington | 21% | 258 |
| Alabama | 22% | 238 |
| Connecticut | 22% | 134 |
| Florida | 22% | 899 |
| Louisiana | 22% | 227 |
| New Jersey | 22% | 250 |
| New York | 22% | 566 |
| North Carolina | 22% | 475 |
| Rhode Island | 22% | 31 |
| Texas | 22% | 1271 |
| Virginia | 22% | 384 |
| Wyoming | 22% | 28 |
| Illinois | 23% | 624 |
| Iowa | 23% | 143 |
| Maryland | 23% | 267 |
| Michigan | 23% | 511 |
| Nevada | 23% | 129 |
| Oklahoma | 23% | 205 |
| Oregon | 23% | 152 |
| Washington DC | 23% | 24 |
| Wisconsin | 23% | 288 |
| Arkansas | 24% | 168 |
| Colorado | 24% | 210 |
| Delaware | 24% | 39 |
| Georgia | 24% | 446 |
| Indiana | 24% | 350 |
| Kansas | 24% | 141 |
| Kentucky | 24% | 258 |
| Maine | 24% | 58 |
| Massachusetts | 24% | 229 |
| Missouri | 24% | 320 |
| New Hampshire | 24% | 55 |
| Ohio | 24% | 609 |
| Pennsylvania | 24% | 465 |
| Vermont | 24% | 24 |
| West Virginia | 24% | 94 |
| Minnesota | 25% | 216 |
| Mississippi | 25% | 136 |
| Tennessee | 25% | 340 |
| Alaska | 29% | 25 |
Metodologia, chi siamo e contatti
Drive Thru Index reads every McDonald's restaurant's menu from the chain's own ordering app every day, for pickup and for delivery. The markup is the average difference between the delivery and pickup price of each item priced for both, at the same restaurant on October 19, 2026, in US dollars. Delivery fees and service charges added at checkout are not included. By state figures need at least 15 restaurants.
About Drive Thru Index: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com) publishes the menu price of every item at every restaurant of the biggest fast food brands, collected each day from the chains' own ordering apps. As pricing becomes more data-driven, it exists so that customers can see what each restaurant really charges and how it compares with others nearby. It covers the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Mexico and the Netherlands. Brands are only compared with themselves, and prices are never converted between currencies. Its figures are free to quote with attribution: "Source: Drive Thru Index".
The images with this release are free to use with the credit "Image: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com)".
Media contact: anthony@drivethruindex.com
Fonti di contesto
Non fanno parte del comunicato: articoli che sostengono la sua unica frase di contesto, per rispondere alle domande dei giornalisti.
- How restaurant loyalty programs can drive more traffic and improve experiences Restaurant Dive, 2024-08-15
Restaurant loyalty apps pull in customers' ordering history and preferences, to personalise offers and recommendations (the intro's apps and loyalty programmes). - Wendy's backtracks on dynamic pricing Restaurant Dive, 2024-02-28
Wendy's told investors it would test dynamic and AI-enabled pricing on digital menu boards from 2025, then said after a backlash that it would not raise prices at the busiest times (the intro's experiments with data-driven pricing). - Inside McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac CNBC, 2026-09-29
Reports a Reuters investigation into an AI tool that recommends menu prices to McDonald's restaurants; McDonald's says franchisees remain free to set their own prices. Not quoted in the release text; the page could not be fetched to check its wording, only its search listing. - McDonald's Q2 2026 earnings release (SEC Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1) McDonald's Q2 2026 earnings release (SEC Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1), 2026-08-04
McDonald's own figures for its loyalty programme, quoted in the McDonald's releases.