A site that tracks the price of a Big Mac in every US McDonald's

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

A crowdsourced project maps Big Mac prices at McDonald’s locations across the U.S., revealing surprisingly large regional and even block-to-block price differences driven by franchise autonomy, local costs, and captive markets like highway rest stops. Commenters compare this granular view to the Economist’s Big Mac Index, question how meaningful a single “national” price is, and note how app-based coupons and delivery markups enable aggressive price discrimination. The thread also touches on fast food’s broader affordability problem, privacy tradeoffs in restaurant apps, and how corporate and franchise incentives shape what consumers ultimately pay.

Big Mac price variation & geography

  • Commenters are surprised by how much prices vary, even within the same metro or along a single freeway.
  • Hawaii and parts of the Northeast are expensive as expected, but there is a notable high-price cluster in Arizona and parts of the Southwest.
  • In the SF Bay Area, east bay counties are noticeably cheaper than the Peninsula/South Bay; similar intra-metro gradients appear elsewhere.
  • Rural western US has sparse coverage; one discussion links to work showing the farthest point from any McDonald’s in the lower 48 is ~115 miles.

Franchising, local costs, and pricing power

  • Most locations are franchises; franchisees generally set prices within constraints, leading to local variation.
  • Factors cited: rent, labor costs/minimum wage, taxes, shipping, utilities, insurance, and traffic volume.
  • Some argue prices are primarily driven by what the market will bear rather than cost, especially at high-traffic or captive-audience sites.

Arizona, toll-road and gas-station outliers

  • High Arizona prices are attributed by some to one dominant franchisee and to shipping; others note competition should limit this but may not if consumers are less price-sensitive.
  • The single most expensive Big Mac is at a Mass Pike service plaza in Lee, MA; its “across the highway” counterpart is over $1 cheaper despite being very close geographically.
  • Toll-road, airport, and tourist locations are repeatedly cited as extreme-price outliers due to low competition and special contracts with the state.

Data source, scraping, and limitations

  • The site owner explains they scraped prices from the McDonald’s app using Appium; McDonald’s later blocked the scraper.
  • Data is somewhat stale (often ~10 months old), so several users note discrepancies with current prices.
  • Coverage is not truly “every” store; some locations are missing.

Comparisons: Big Mac Index & international context

  • Multiple references to The Economist’s Big Mac Index; some criticize it for collapsing highly variable local prices into one national figure.
  • Discussion touches on currency undervaluation vs. local purchasing power (e.g., Indonesia), and Japan’s cheaper, often higher-perceived-quality meals relative to US fast food.
  • Users note the US now ranks high on the global Big Mac price list.

Apps, coupons, delivery, and price discrimination

  • McDonald’s app is said to enable aggressive price discrimination: regular prices are high, but app coupons can substantially lower costs for savvy users.
  • Some argue most customers don’t use the app; others report heavy app use in certain locations.
  • Several posts complain that selecting delivery in the app silently raises menu prices in addition to explicit delivery fees and surcharges.
  • There is a side debate about whether delivery is “amazingly cheap” or much costlier than a decade ago, and about how much of delivery-app commissions are hidden in base prices.
  • Privacy concerns arise around always-on location tracking and data sharing via the app; others downplay the incremental privacy cost beyond credit-card data.

Competition and consumer behavior

  • Some expect basic economic competition (e.g., Five Guys, In-N-Out, local places) to impose downward pressure; others note brand loyalty, habit, and imperfect information weaken that effect.
  • There is debate over whether McDonald’s still qualifies as “cheap” given current pricing versus quality and service.

Wages, costs, and correlation with prices

  • A few links and anecdotes examine whether higher local wages directly correlate with higher Big Mac prices; evidence presented is mixed or weak.
  • Some suggest higher wages might be offset by efficiency measures (self-order kiosks, fewer staff).

Politics, boycotts, and PR

  • A linked news article notes McDonald’s facing boycotts over geopolitical positions.
  • One side claims boycotts are effective and have hit sales; another claims they don’t materially work or conflate stock fluctuations with demand changes.

Broader reflections

  • Several users remark that US fast food has become expensive enough that sit-down restaurants or home cooking can be competitive.
  • Others note McDonald’s remains attractive due to ubiquity, 24-hour availability in some places, and predictable (if low) quality.