These Are The 8 Most Expensive Fast Food Burgers In America

If you feel like fast food burgers have skyrocketed in price over the last several years, you aren't wrong. According to Datassential, burger prices have increased 16% since 2023. With that in mind, we did some research to determine which popular burger chains have the most expensive burgers in the country.

We could certainly cherry pick some pricey fast food burgers — for example, in New York City, Five Guys' Bacon Cheeseburger costs $13.99 and Shake Shack's The Big Shack Burger sells for $13.49 — but we wanted to compare apples to apples and see how these chains match up. We also didn't want to focus on just one city, so we researched prices in a large market (New York City), a medium market (Cincinnati), and a smaller market (Tulsa/Oklahoma City). Finally, we looked at two menu items: a single cheeseburger with one patty, and a medium cheeseburger combo with fries and a drink. With that said, here are eight of the most popular fast food burger chains stacked up in terms of price, from least expensive cheeseburger combo to most expensive.

Among all the shrinkflation accusations at fast food chains today, plus increasing prices, Burger King continues to keep costs relatively low compared to its competitors. A simple cheeseburger combo from BK averages out to $7.56 across the three markets we researched, while the cheeseburger by itself is just $2.66, which almost seems like we're in a time warp from 2010. Burger King lets you have it your way at affordable prices.

This Southern-based chain is known for its biscuits, but Hardee's also serves up a decent burger. If you just want the cheeseburger, you pay $5.06 on average, while the cheeseburger combo sets you back $9.49 — good enough to be second cheapest on the list.

Sonic might be better known for its wide menu of drinks and shakes than its quality of food, but this fast food chain still has a pretty big food menu. The basic cheeseburger combo runs $10.06 at the three locations we researched. If you just want a single cheeseburger, you can expect to pay $5.99.

McDonald's is the big dog when it comes to fast food chains in the U.S., but the good news for customers is that its pricing is still average overall. A simple cheeseburger at McDonald's costs around $3.22. When it comes to a basic cheeseburger combo, you can expect to pay $10.34. The burgers are fine; it's the fries that make the combo meal worth it.

Everyone knows Wendy's, whether it's from its famous red-headed, freckle-faced logo or its square burger patties. Maybe that familiarity comes with a cost, because Wendy's ranks in the top half of most expensive fast food cheeseburger combos, which costs $11.63 in the three markets we researched. You can order the basic Dave's Single with cheese for $6.19.

Like Sonic, Dairy Queen is more known for its blizzards, milkshakes, and other treats, but this chain also has a pretty large food menu with burgers, chicken strips, chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs. Dairy Queen doesn't offer a combo with its basic single cheeseburger, which costs $5.22 on average, but you can create a makeshift combo by adding fries and a drink — although this more than doubles the price in every market.

Shake Shack now has more than 440 locations in the U.S. with another 240-plus internationally. Originally established in New York City, Shake Shack definitely comes with New York City prices: A single cheeseburger costs, on average, $7.76. Shake Shack doesn't offer combo meals, but adding fries and a drink ups the total to $13.76. Shake Shake is widely considered one of the pricier burger chains, but there's still one out there that's more expensive.

Remember the glory days of $5 combos and dollar menus? Now we're going to throw a number at you: $17.61, the average price of a little cheeseburger combo at Five Guys. The little cheeseburger alone costs $9.02, on average. We have to give Five Guys credit for offering unlimited free toppings, but we'd still say it's overpriced. A lot of people love Five Guys, and they definitely pay the price.