How Much Did the Big Mac Jump in Five Years? Here’s What McDonald’s Numbers Mean for Illinoisans
McDonald’s says the average Big Mac cost $5.29 in 2024, up from $4.39 in 2019.
Those are national average figures from the company’s open letter, so what you pay in Illinois may differ.
Here’s how they square with restaurant prices in the Chicago area.
McDonald’s Open Letter on Prices
McDonald’s USA president Joe Erlinger posted an open letter to U.S. fans on May 29, 2024.
Erlinger set out to answer claims that the price of a Big Mac had risen 100%.
The average Big Mac price in the U.S. was $4.39 in 2019 and $5.29 in 2024.
That’s a national average.
It isn’t an Illinois price.
Franchisees, who own and operate more than 95% of U.S. McDonald’s restaurants, set menu prices to cover higher supply chain costs and wages.
An $18 Big Mac meal was sold at one of more than 13,700 U.S. restaurants.
The Associated Press (AP) reported the meal was sold in Connecticut.
Erlinger expects prices at your local McDonald’s to be a topic of conversation in the coming months.
If you order in Illinois, your restaurant’s price can differ from the $5.29 average, since franchisees set the prices.
Big Mac and Meal Increases
The Big Mac’s average price rose $0.90 between 2019 and 2024, from $4.39 to $5.29.
That’s a 21% increase.
NBC Chicago, republishing a CNBC story, reported that McDonald’s said the average Big Mac meal cost $9.29 in May 2024, up 27% from $7.29 in 2019.
That’s a $2.00 gap.
The sandwich alone rose 21%, less than the meal’s 27%.
AP reported that medium fries went from $2.29 in 2019 to $3.29, a 44% increase.
McDonald’s said the average menu item rose 40% over five years, reflecting a 40% average increase in the cost of labor, paper and food.
Overall consumer prices had risen 21% since December 2019.
At the $0.90 gap, a Big Mac every week costs you $46.80 more over a year.
With a meal each week, the $2.00 gap comes to $104 a year.
The Math Behind the 21%
The Big Mac’s $0.90 gap is 20.5% of the $4.39 2019 average, which rounds to the 21% the letter reports.
Divide by the old price, since dividing $0.90 by $5.29 gives 17%, which understates the jump.
Apply it to the meal and $2.00 divided by $7.29 is 27.4%, which rounds to 27%.
A 100% increase would have taken the $4.39 average to $8.78.
To run the same check on any menu item, subtract the old price from the new price, then divide by the old price.
BLS Index for Chicago Restaurants
The Big Mac numbers are national, so a local check comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
BLS tracks food away from home for the Chicago area, a category of restaurant, cafeteria and vending purchases.
The area spans nine Illinois counties, including Cook, DuPage and Will, plus parts of Indiana and Wisconsin.
If you live elsewhere in Illinois, the index doesn’t speak for your county.
In the 12 months to May 2019, food away from home rose 3.6% and all items rose 1.2%.
The index for food away from home was 269.857 in May 2019 and 345.657 in May 2024.
That’s an increase of about 28%.
That’s the bigger jump.
The two numbers measure different things, since BLS covers restaurant food broadly and McDonald’s covers one sandwich nationwide.
If you spent $100 eating out in May 2019, the same bill averaged about $128 in May 2024.
The index for all items in the area rose about 21% over the same five years, from 241.758 to 292.123.
It lands close to the Big Mac’s 21%.
Psst! How much do you know about McDonald’s history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Golden Arches IQ
Answer nine questions on McDonald’s history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which talk show was filmed on the site of McDonald’s Chicago headquarters until 2011?
Restaurant Price Growth Since 2022
Two years before McDonald's letter, Chicago-area food away from home had risen 8.9% in 12 months, against 8.0% for all items.
That put the index at 320.682, about 19% above May 2019.
By May 2024, when the letter went out, food away from home was up 2.1% over 12 months and all items were up 3.1%.
The May 2024 index of 345.657 was about 8% above May 2022.
That slowdown didn't last.
Food away from home rose 4.2% in the 12 months to May 2025, against 3.3% for all items.
It rose 5.1% in the 12 months to May 2026, against 3.7% for all items.
The August 2026 release has the index at 378.979, up 4.3% from a year earlier.
All items in the area rose 2.4% over the same 12 months.
Many Chicago-area diners have probably noticed those increases at the register.
If you eat out around Chicago, the August 2026 index is about 40% above May 2019, a longer stretch than the letter's 2019-to-2024 comparison.
All items in the area rose about 29% over that stretch.
Meal Bundles and the App
As of May 2024, more than 90% of U.S. McDonald's franchisees were offering meal bundles for $4 or less, the letter says.
Value programs were launched nationally and locally.
The NBC Chicago report says a $5 value meal would run for roughly a month starting June 25, 2024.
The meal would include a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink.
At $5, that meal would cost you less than the $5.29 average for a Big Mac alone.
The average Big Mac meal cost $9.29, but this bundle would come with a McChicken or McDouble instead.
The letter closes by telling fans to download and use the McDonald's app.
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