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Breakfast Sandwiches and a Side of Sticker Shock: How Fast-Food Breakfast Prices Have Changed Over the Years

FinanceBuzz compared the current prices of popular breakfast items at major fast-food chains to what they cost five years ago to find where inflation has had the biggest and smallest impact.

By Josh Koebert

Edited by Melinda Sineriz, ABFP™

Updated Dec. 17, 2024

Whether you’re hungry during a morning commute or looking to treat yourself on a weekend morning, fast-food breakfast menus have become a staple as a quick and convenient morning pick-me-up. While fast-food menus are typically only available for a limited time each day, some breakfast items are among the most beloved in all of fast food.

While fast-food breakfasts might be popular with consumers, one thing that isn’t popular with anyone is rising prices, a trend we’ve seen time and time again among fast food menus. To see if that same trend applied to breakfast menus, our FinanceBuzz team compared the current prices of 40 popular breakfast items at 10 major chains to what those items cost five years ago.

Key findings

On average, fast food breakfast items have increased by 53% since 2019.
Biggest price hikes: Breakfast items at Taco Bell, Hardee’s, and Carl’s Jr. have increased the most (72%) of any major chain in the last five years.
Coffee Culture: Starbucks has the lowest rate of inflation for its breakfast prices at 32%. That number is still higher than the national rate of inflation (23%). Its coffee rival, Dunkin, has increased prices on breakfast items 63% in the same timeframe.

Chains with the highest increases in breakfast prices 2019-2024

Recent studies have revealed price increases at the drive-thru have outpaced inflation for main menu and kid's meal items, and, unfortunately for early birds, we found that the same holds true when it comes to breakfast.

To determine how prices have increased, we reviewed breakfast menus from 10 national fast-food chains and compared the costs of four of the most popular items at each chain today vs. 5 years ago (2019). Across those menu items, we found that prices increased by an average of 53%, more than double the national rate of inflation (23%) in that same time frame.

Costs have risen the most at Taco Bell and Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr., as both chains have upped prices on their morning menus by 72% in the last five years. Additionally, Jack in the Box (64% increase) and Dunkin’ (63%) both increased prices at a rate 10 points higher than average.

On the other end of things, Starbucks increased breakfast menu prices at the lowest rate of any chain, increasing them by just 32% in the last half-decade. Subway came close to matching the coffee-slinging chain, as prices for its breakfast menu only increased by 37% on average. One other chain — Burger King (41%) — also raised prices by less than 50% between 2019 and 2024.

A “hash reality”

Fast-food breakfast menus can be pretty different from one chain to another, as even comparable items like breakfast sandwiches can take very different forms when considering things like the kind of bread used, how eggs are cooked, the type of meat included in the sandwich, and more. One thing that is fairly consistent across many fast-food breakfast menus, however, is the availability of hashbrowns.

While the popular breakfast side can be prepared a few different ways, at its core the dish consists of shredded and fried potatoes, making it a prime candidate for comparison across chains. Given how ubiquitous hash browns are and how popular they are as a fast-food breakfast side, we wanted to compare how prices for that specific menu item have changed at chains that offer them.

On that front, Jack in the Box has seen the biggest jump in price, raising the price for hash browns by an astronomical 149% since 2019. A pair of other chains have also doubled the price of their hash browns in the last five years — McDonald’s (110%) and Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. (107%).

On average, the cost for hash browns has increased by 71% since 2019, more than triple the national rate of inflation in that time. Sonic (70%), Chick-fil-A (67%), Burger King (41%), and Dunkin’ (23%) have all raised costs for the side dish at a below-average rate, with Dunkin’s price chain being especially notable for matching the national inflation rate in the last five years.

Bottom line

Maximize your rewards when eating out. Get the best bang for your buck by using a credit card for dining out to help rack up rewards and offset food prices.
Set a budget. Cut back on unnecessary purchases and plan ahead with your fast-food expenses in order to keep more money in your pocket.
Look into a food delivery side hustle. Read up on our Deliver with DoorDash guide to see how you can create your own hours and earn some extra cash on the side.

Methodology

FinanceBuzz collected the 2024 prices of four different breakfast items from each restaurant. Those prices were then compared to what the same items cost in 2019. Only items available to customers in both of those years were included for each restaurant.

2024 prices were collected directly from each restaurant’s mobile apps or websites, while 2019 menu prices were pulled from Fast Food Menu Prices via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

The 2019-2024 inflation rate is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator. Current menu prices and inflation rate data were collected in September 2024.