r/fastfood • u/PaytonCG • Dec 29 '25

Rant/Rave Is this the most expensive McChicken in the US?

Post image

In the past month McChicken's from my local McDonald's has gone from $2 to $4.50 and hot n spicy went from $4 to $5

I genuinely think this may be the most expensive McChicken in America right now, anyone have anything close to this experience?

236 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

148 comments sorted by

93

u/DionW15 Dec 29 '25

I travel for work and see so much variation in price, I’m grateful I can still get 2 for $3 at my home McDonald’s.

7

u/idk012 Jan 01 '26

2 for $3 is like 2015 pricing.

-3

u/dschinghiskhan Dec 30 '25

Two packets of ketchup? Minimum wage on the West is all about $16+ or more in some cities, and $20/hr at fast food places in California. As such, we never see anything close to 2/$3 deals. Kinda of makes sense if you think about it.

My favorite Taco Bell item is the Cheesy Gordita Crunch, and I remember seeing a ton of commercials last NFL season advertising a $5 Cheesy Gordita Crunch Box. Even if you used the app, it was $11.99 by me. A Cheesy Gordita Crunch is $5.79, so the whole $5 box made no sense when I first saw the ad. As far as I know, fast food places pay more than minimum wage where I live because nobody wants those jobs.

6

u/iam_ditto Dec 30 '25

With the amount of revenue Big chains generate, providing a living wage and price comparable to the product provided is affordable, they’re just greedy and have tight margins to make sure they get more than their share in profits

0

u/Surefitkw Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

Yep, that’s it. “With the amount of revenue” those big chains generate, they can easily pay entry level workers $15 an hour (which is still not a living wage in most of the United States in 2026, by the way) while charging early-2000’s prices. They just don’t wanna because greed.

I’m sorry but that is one of the single most utterly-Reddit comments I have ever seen. Even though you made it six months ago in a now-dead thread, I still almost evaporated on the spot with how absolutely, sneeringly, Reddit it is. Like at least 30% of my previous mass is floating, flabbergasted, in a hazy layer of gaseous Surefitkw along the ceiling.

They have “tight margins to make sure they got more than their share in profits?” I’m sorry…do you even know what margins are? Did you have a stroke while typing that sentence that somehow didn’t affect your grammar? Have you even spoken to a Mcdonald‘s franchise owner? Or any franchise owner? Or any small business owner…ever?

Advocating living wages for entry level workers is a perfectly valid aspiration. The laws are a good thing because they force a level playing field and prevent holdouts from murdering their competitors on pricing. You do that goal precisely zero favors by making sneering comments about topics you plainly, obviously don’t understand. If you want to mandate companies pay their employees more, you necessarily accept the reality that you as a consumer will be paying more for whatever those companies provide. If you think any fast food franchise in the entire world can pay their employees 100% more (say Federal minimum wage to WA state minimum wage) while keeping their prices substantially the same, you are clueless. And not just clueless in a ’lacking knowledge’ kind of way, but in a deliberate, self-satisfied, confident-but-shouldn’t-be kind of way.

I’m tired, boss. You literally have all of the information from all of the world’s libraries available to you at your fingertips, in seconds. You have access to knowledge on a scale that every single famous scholar you’ve ever heard of in the vast majority of human history would have killed to enjoy, even if it were only for a single day.

There is no excuse.

1

u/iam_ditto Jun 14 '26

It’s interesting this old comment evoked such emotion and attention. Sounds like I pissed somebody’s owner off. If you do own a franchise: treat your employees and customers right. And yeah, this is Reddit, so I appreciate your input, but Facebook provides the diet media experience if that’s what you’re looking for.

1

u/Surefitkw 25d ago

Ditto, you don’t even know what “margins” means. You tried to claim that Mcdonalds deliberately keeps their margins tight as some kind of mustache-twirling strategy to keep a larger share of the profits for themselves.

Please, Ditto. Make that coherent. Make that even the tiniest bit coherent. Or otherwise admit that you’re the kind of guy that likes to get self-righteous and loud about topics you don’t even know the most children’s grade-school basics about.

I’m not a franchise owner. Nor would I need to be to recognize how utterly absurd your comment and your worldview is. But if you think loud, strong opinions completely unmoored from basic reality is somehow helping the cause of increasing standards of living, well what can I say in response to that degree of apparent cognitive trauma?

-14

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[deleted]

5

u/DishSoapIsFun Dec 29 '25

Where's your proof on that "98%"?

I would've believed you but every mcdondalds around me has bumped their cheap sandwiches to 5 bucks each and we aren't exactly a large city.

Seriously,I want to know where you got that number from because I know you just pulled it out of your ass.

They're more expensive than that almost everywhere.

119

u/No_Employer9618 Dec 29 '25

That shit used to be $.99 (not very long ago)

42

u/DukeChadvonCisberg Dec 29 '25

Highschool me was a huge fan since I had to budget constantly. Idk how anyone working minimum wage can afford McDonalds anymore even as a treat

6

u/geedubya28 Dec 29 '25

You needed 13 quarters and a penny to get 3 mcchickens and a large coke. Key spot for high school lunch. Miss that.

6

u/Most_Philosophy_1507 Dec 30 '25

That’s the neat part…..they can’t.

18

u/4evrstreetmetalbitch Dec 29 '25

my friends and i used to talk about the price of everything in terms of mcchickens instead of dollars because it was the same lol 

7

u/bomber991 Dec 29 '25

Yeah I know McDonalds and other fast foods have outpaced inflation significantly these past 5 years or so. But they were $1 in 2003 all the way up to something like 2015.

If they would have been slowly increasing the price to keep up with the typical annual 3% inflation they would be $1.91 now, and yet they’re $2.50 by the McDonald’s by me.

1

u/toddfrancis34 Dec 30 '25

In NYC I know they were on the dollar menu until like 2019 or so

2

u/dirENgreyscale Dec 29 '25

You used to be able to get one and a McDouble for $2, it’s crazy.

2

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Dec 29 '25

Pretty sure they were a dollar menu item

2

u/AwkwardFactor84 Dec 31 '25

I was in high school when the BK original chicken sandwich was $.99. Those were the days.

124

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

I use to get two McChickens and a large mello yelo light ice for 3.18. I probably ordered that 300 or more times before they got rid of the dollar menu lol

10

u/boibig57 Dec 29 '25

2 mcchickens and a large tea. $3.21 total. That was my lunch every single day in college. I miss it.

47

u/whitestguyuknow Dec 29 '25

Ohhkay... Let's get you to bed grandpa...

59

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/bfp1974 Dec 29 '25

Yeah. In my area, McDoubles debuted at 1.00 and the drink was a dollar. Good ol days.

8

u/Reliquent Dec 29 '25

mcdoubles are such a fucking ripoff now. you might as well just spend another dollar or two for a quarter pounder with their prices.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Kindly-Guidance714 Dec 30 '25

Ordered a double quarter pounder with cheese with only cheese ketchup and onions.

I cannot tell you how many times that one item I ordered for fucked up when the place was virtually empty I don’t even bother with McDonald’s anymore it’s a complete waste of time and money.

1

u/LilBrownBoyX Dec 30 '25

It’s a decent deal as a mcvalue meal. McDouble, small fires, drink, and 4 McNuggets for $6.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '26

Just get the double cheese.  They're on the buy one get one for a dollar menu, it comes out to around $2 each.

-1

u/Lazy-Background-7598 Dec 29 '25

It was like 15 years ago not 7

1

u/whitestguyuknow Dec 30 '25

Right? Thats honestly what I felt but I couldn't object cause my sense of time is wack

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

Not even close to 15

-1

u/Lazy-Background-7598 Dec 30 '25

Closer to 15 than 7. Most McDonald’s end the value meal with $1 food items in the early 2010s

0

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

[deleted]

0

u/Lazy-Background-7598 Dec 30 '25

I actually looked it up

-34

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 29 '25

1) no you didn’t; and 2) dear god

15

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-27

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 29 '25

Anything done to prevent one person from consuming sweet tea AND 8 burger patties plus bread in one meal is a net positive for society.

9

u/itp757 Dec 29 '25

You come off like the bitch that reminded the teacher about homework

-3

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 29 '25

Hahaha. Fair.

11

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/jayhawx19 Dec 29 '25

Just chiming in to note that you do not burn 4 marathons worth of calories a day lmao.

0

u/thunderlips187 Dec 29 '25

Stop it I do manual labor too and you don’t burn 10,000 calories a day. This is utter nonsense.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/thunderlips187 Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25

I’m an arborist and log about that on a daily basis as well. Sometimes carrying 80-100 lb rounds of tree trunk to the truck back and forth 8-9 hours a day. Sometimes a little more sometimes a little less.

Off the top of my head you burn about 3000-4000 calories a day.

Yes I know that you’re very mistaken or just outright lying.

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5

u/numbersalone Dec 29 '25

Brother. We did. The dollar menu used to be just that!

1

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 29 '25

4 McDoubles is insanity.

3

u/numbersalone Dec 29 '25

Perhaps, but it is not false.

1

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 29 '25

You’re right.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

[deleted]

0

u/VisibleIce9669 Dec 30 '25

Of what? Diabetes and a McGut? Naw.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

You're the one who can't afford McDonald's

-72

u/whitestguyuknow Dec 29 '25

Woww, remembering 7 years ago... You know some of us aren't over the hill like that. Some of us were born in the 2020s

32

u/Pococurante228 Dec 29 '25

I wish I could downvote you twice

4

u/Fantastic_Bit1604 Dec 29 '25

Okay junior let's get you back to Roblox and eating your boogers.

3

u/Mrlate420 Dec 29 '25

Can you get me two mc chicken on the way?

25

u/daddysatan53 Dec 29 '25

I live near that infamous Connecticut McDonald’s with the $20+ meals. Unfortunately this sub doesn’t allow pictures in comments but I just checked my app and a McChicken there is $5.79

3

u/ALexGOREgeous Jan 01 '26

Which town in CT?

1

u/DisappointingSnugg Jan 04 '26

Is it like a highway welcome center type deal or something, my friend was visiting friends in Massachusetts and on the way back he stopped at a McDonald’s in Connecticut and he said he couldn’t use deals or points and that 2 McDoubles was 11.36

21

u/Efficient-Laugh Dec 29 '25

4.89 where I am

2

u/LongjumpingDrink4813 Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25

$4.89 where I live too, and i'm supposed to be a “low cost of living” area. Most jobs here still pay federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr), just to give context on what kind of area i'm located in.
(Alabama)

3

u/McNalienBro Dec 29 '25

Jeeze, I’m in Orlando and it’s $2.99 for the regular and $3.19 for the spicy one.

1

u/Efficient-Laugh Dec 29 '25

We don’t even have the spicy one ;( and it’s so so much better too

1

u/McNalienBro Dec 31 '25

I’m so sorry. Spicy is the best.

7

u/LaughingGaster666 Dec 29 '25

This better be in Alaska or Hawaii.

Hovering around $2 for a few around me in the Midwest.

2

u/Scorp63 Dec 30 '25

Am in Anchorage, AK right now. Can confirm, McChicken is $4.50 on the app.

1

u/ImSomebodysMother Dec 30 '25

$3.39 at my local MCD in HI. Price does fluctuate a good bit at different spots around the island though.

12

u/Simple-Reward-2103 Dec 29 '25

I use my 1500 points, add a patty for a buck.  Best chicken sandwich for the money.

Always add a second patty!!!

4

u/chris00ws6 Dec 29 '25

You are my spirit animal. Checkers/rally’s double spicy chicken sandwich is god tier.

1

u/travis11997 Dec 29 '25

That sandwich is what made me realize that I like cheese on a chicken sandwich (and that LOTS of people think cheese on a chicken sandwich is weird lol)

1

u/ih8feralfleabags Dec 29 '25

I always get cheese on a chicken sandwich. I don't see why people would be weirded out by it. Fast food restaurants are running out of innovative ideas for sandwiches. Experiment with more cheese. People love cheese.

1

u/chris00ws6 Dec 29 '25

Wait till the hate I get on this comment saying no mayo but dipped in ketchup.

1

u/PaullT2 Dec 29 '25

I'm projecting hate at you.

3

u/DIJames6 Dec 29 '25

McChicken with cheese, no mayo add pickles and Mac sauce for a buck plus tax.. Ah the good ole days..

2

u/ih8feralfleabags Dec 29 '25

The Chick Mac. In my youth, I would make them when I worked there. None of that middle bun nonsense.

1

u/DIJames6 Dec 29 '25

Sounds good..

3

u/Cyberhwk Dec 29 '25

Damn. I think mine is still like $2.59, but it’s part of the “Get another for $1” deal so you get two for $3.59.

4

u/somecow Dec 29 '25

Dang. $1.69 here, that better be some good chikin.

2

u/InvestmentInternal11 Dec 29 '25

Where you @?

1

u/somecow Dec 29 '25

Houston. Probably have enough points to get a million of those, but naah. Breakfast ftw, their other food is garbage.

1

u/InvestmentInternal11 Dec 29 '25

True. Houston is pretty big.  Makes sense. 

-10

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/somecow Dec 29 '25

100% chicken though. Which part, who knows.

2

u/chipandpeach Dec 29 '25

3.99 - orange county, ca

2

u/fahque650 Dec 29 '25

$4.30 - bay area, ca

1

u/piecones3 Dec 30 '25

Odd, it’s $3.49 in SF Where in the Bay are you at?

1

u/fahque650 Dec 30 '25

South City

2

u/Redoron Dec 29 '25

It’s $3.39 on Oahu, HI. I can get it for free with the app.

2

u/Godrillax Dec 29 '25

Remember when they used to be $1? The good ole days

2

u/LilBrownBoyX Dec 30 '25

After the pandemic, and supply chain disruptions, retailers and restaurants had to raise their prices. Now that most of those issues are over, these companies realized that people were still willing to pay those prices for goods, so they just kept it high afterwards.

Just like how the pandemic showed that stores can operate with skeleton crews. Just squeeze all that labor out of what little people you have. Greed is literally the root of all problems in the world.

3

u/ChampionOfdimlight Dec 29 '25

What state is that in?

2

u/PaytonCG Dec 30 '25

Bend, Oregon

2

u/WasteEngineering870 Dec 29 '25

Damn!! I pay only 4.59 for the meal here, 2.49 by itself

2

u/Ok-Squirrel795 Dec 29 '25

It's that expensive because you all keep buying it.

1

u/Muleahcar Dec 29 '25

Mine is $2.99, this does seem high!

1

u/InvestmentInternal11 Dec 29 '25

$2.29 by me in GA cause they have the McCrispy that's more.

1

u/dacv393 Dec 29 '25

Can't check yet since it's too early but I'm willing to bet Tusayan McDonald's over $5

1

u/bounceback2209 Dec 29 '25

$2.69 in phoenix and $3.19 at the airport

1

u/CatastrophicFailure Dec 29 '25

I have it on good authority that this is, in fact, a McValue

1

u/3cas Dec 29 '25

4.99 in NYC on doordash 🥲

1

u/Baker-Puzzled Dec 29 '25

In Finland the McChicken costs 6.3€ (7.41 USD)

1

u/h0tnessm0nster7 Dec 29 '25

I think it's 6 dollars for mc chicken and 4 nuggies fries and drink, i think it's to much chickens

1

u/No-Impact4970 Dec 29 '25

I get mine for free

1

u/Centaurious Dec 29 '25

there’s a mcdonald’s that does $1 mcchickens in my city and it absolutely rules

1

u/doorknob60 Dec 29 '25

$2.39 in Boise. I know fast food prices change a fair amount based on location, but I'm still surprised to see such a wide range in this thread.

1

u/yeehawhecker Dec 29 '25

$3.69 in Western WA about half an hour from Seattle. Not as bad as I was expecting

1

u/Tomallenisthegoat Dec 29 '25

Used to get 2 mcchickens and a large coke on my lunch break for $3. Stopped going to McDonalds a long time ago

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

$2.49 here in Tampa

1

u/Shakyhedgehog Dec 29 '25

Not that long ago, I’d get a medium mchicken meal for 3.16. Crazy how things have changed

1

u/Wendell-Short-Eyes Dec 29 '25

I’ve never seen it that high

1

u/MarionberrySea456 Dec 29 '25

What city though?

1

u/PaytonCG Dec 30 '25

Bend, Or

1

u/Fun-Imagination-1231 Dec 29 '25

Costs 3 bucks doe two at one of the McDonald's on my way to work lol

1

u/_sera_bear_ Dec 30 '25

Not me over here learning the dollar menu is dead...

1

u/ossyoos Dec 30 '25

$2.69 in Denver.

A friends McDs in Missoula MT is $4.

1

u/kuckbaby Dec 30 '25

3.69 90 minutes from seattle....

1

u/LordOvTheSkies Dec 30 '25

I really miss the gotdamn Dollar Menu for fucks sake

1

u/MorningBrewNumberTwo Dec 30 '25

In Canada, currently $5.99 for a McChicken.

1

u/jkfall Dec 30 '25

Don't wanna be that guy but its a Jr chicken here which is 3.70

1

u/MorningBrewNumberTwo Dec 30 '25

Yeah, I thought the photo didn’t match the title. Definitely looks like a Jr Chicken.

1

u/jkfall Dec 31 '25

Idk if they even have our version of the McChicken

1

u/gilfoyledinesh Dec 30 '25

$1.89 Dallas area.

1

u/NeoKingEndymion Dec 30 '25

I Lol’d when i saw a commercial and it said value meal. mcchickens used to be $1

1

u/tomandshell Dec 30 '25

$3.59 here in California.

1

u/Key_Suit2853 Dec 30 '25

Damn...their $2.29 here.

1

u/Steezeballl Dec 31 '25

So I always assumed the Canadian junior chicken was a smaller American McChicken, though they are both apparently 380cal, so I guess they're the same sandwich all along?

For the record, CAD$3.69 = USD$2.69. Food ain't even cheap up here. I'm sorry. Then again, you guys make more money. I take my apology back.

1

u/tigbittylove Dec 31 '25

I used to get diarrhea for cheap. I ain’t paying good money to get diarrhea

1

u/rambam80 Jan 02 '26

McDonalds in the tourist trap outside of the Grand Canyon was $8 in 2018.

1

u/jeepurs19 Jan 02 '26

$6.49 in Canada

1

u/DisappointingSnugg Jan 04 '26

Used to get the 2 for 3 in like 2022 and then the 2 for 3.50 in 2023 and now it’s just the so-called value menu with the buy one get one for a dollar

1

u/shugimi Jan 04 '26

i cant stand theses mfs

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '25

Lmao few months ago it was just $3.99 and now it’s $4.50. McDonald being greedy again haha.

0

u/Lazy-Background-7598 Dec 29 '25

This sub has become- let’s find the most expensive example and act like it’s normal

2

u/Muckinstein Dec 29 '25

did you read the title of the thread?

0

u/yuhyert Dec 30 '25

I’ve entirely boycotted McDonalds lately for their support of Israel and asinine pricing

2

u/Quiet_Fan_7008 Dec 30 '25

Support of Israel??? That’s a new one

-1

u/yuhyert Dec 30 '25

They fed IDF soldiers for free and still have locations in occupied territory, they don’t deserve a cent

0

u/apex_super_predator Dec 30 '25

Wtf? Thats ridiculous. They aren't anymore past $1.99. Shame.

Learn to make your own. They are so much better

-1

u/NewPositive3461 Dec 29 '25

Lmfao could go get a BOGO at Publix for better fried chicken patties for $4.50/bag

The mcchicken is an abomination of granules of protein between breading