How Much A Big Mac Cost In 1974 Vs 2025

The times they are a' changin'. In 1974, a Big Mac at a McDonald's location in New York cost $0.85. Today, a Big Mac at a New York McDonald's costs $8.69 — or $12.49 to make it a meal with medium fries and a medium drink. It's worth noting that the same Big Mac might cost less in other states, like Idaho, which is the state with lowest fast food prices in 2025. But, either way, it's a Whopper of a price increase (see what we did there?).

According to a photo of a 1970s McDonald's menu board posted to Reddit, concurrently, a Quarter Pounder cost $0.60, or $0.70 with cheese. Notably, this was nearly the same price for a large fry at $0.46. There was also a menu offering called a "triple ripple ice cream cone" for $0.20, which ... bring that back, please. Per this photo, the Big Mac cost $0.65, a tad less than the $0.85 figure reported by the New York Times for a New York McDonald's location. The Reddit image doesn't list the state location of the McDonald's store at which the menu board was photographed. Still, one dollar in 1974 is equivalent to the purchasing power of $6.83 in 2025, according to DollarTimes. Adjusted for inflation, that $0.65-$0.85 Big Mac would shake out to $4.44-$5.80 today. The actual $8+ price tag charged today seems tough to justify (and pretty bleak alongside).

As one Reddit commenter notes, "Housing and automobile prices [have] also inflated significantly since the 1970s. It's sad how unaffordable things have become," to which another commenter wryly replies, "But a Big Mac is still about the same as it was back then. Whereas houses and cars have gotten WAY better." Indeed, in 1974, U.S. minimum wage was $2.00/hr, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Fast forward to 2025, federal minimum wage remains $7.25. Had wages increased proportionally to the rate of inflation, that $2.00 would be $13.66 in 2025. There's a reason why contemporary foodies don't have any McDonald's money, and it's systemic.

Still, it's true that the burger's basic blueprint hasn't seemed to change in just over 50 years. In 1974, McDonald's began advertising its Big Mac with an ultra-descriptive jingle: "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun." Today, the ingredients remain the same, yet the price tag is a horse of a different color. Many wallet-weary consumers have been lamenting the expensive cost of fast food in recent years – an issue worsened by the rise of A.I. technology in drive-thrus. The industry has seen a 50% price increase over the past 10 years, reports Reader's Digest, and in 2024, just one year ago, the average cost of a Big Mac in the U.S. was $5.69 (via Statista), about $3 less than now.