Price Increases at McDonalds from 2002 to 2013

The drive-thru photos below are from 2002 and 2013. They are literally a snap shot of the food prices at McDonalds, and illustrate the price increases in that time period. Please scroll down past the images to read my summary of the changes and an analysis.

Above: Entire Drive Thru Menu from 2002.

Above: Detail from the 2002 McDonald's Drive Thru Menu.

Above: Entire McDonalds Drive Thru Menu from 2013.

Above: Detail from the 2013 McDonald's Drive Thru Menu.

This project emerged from a day when I found myself shelling out $4.19 for a Big Mac. That seemed like a higher price than I'm used to. I know, prices go up. Shocker.

Here's what I found:

The menu boards in California now include calorie counts. The menu is higher quality, with high quality photos for many more items. The menu is now largely black lettering against a white background. Most of the hamburgers at McDonalds are presented in their "meal" setting, with the option to just buy the sandwich, instead of the other way around.

Big Macs went up $1.80, or 75%.

Cheeseburgers went up 30¢

The Quarter Pounder went up $1.70

The Chicken McNuggets went up 1.60, but you get 10 nuggets now, instead of 9. Chicken McNuggets must be a profit center, because the new menu includes a option for a box of 40 nuggets!

The Filet of Fish went up $2.10, an increase of more than 100%!

The French Fries went up 40¢-90¢.

These price increases are larger than I expected. I checked the Consumer Price index for this time frame, and according to their "ALL PRICES" index, I could expect an increase of 28% in prices from between 2002 and 2013 (CPI calculator at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In menu item did not ever calculate a figure that low.

Presumably the annual inflation figure for the Food Away from Home category is higher. Maybe even twice that high over the last 11 years.

Also, Salad Shakers I remember, but when did McDonalds have bagels?

More Drive Thru Menu Price Comparisons:
Introduction | McDonalds | Taco Bell | Carl's Jr. | In 'n Out | Burger King | El Pollo Loco | Wendys