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California ranks among the most expensive U.S. states for – well, pretty much everything. So it probably won’t come as a surprise that the Golden State is among the costliest in the nation when it comes to ordering fast food takeout.
A new study conducted by BravoDeal, an online coupons site, looked at the prices of specific menu items at four fast food chains: McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell.
It found the most expensive takeout is in Hawaii, where a Domino’s medium cheese pizza costs an average of $18.99, a McDonald’s Big Mac is $5.31, a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich is $4.06, and a Taco Bell combo meal is $7.70.
California ranked fourth behind New York and New Jersey. The study found that in California, customers pay an average of $14.99 for a Domino’s medium cheese pizza, and a McDonald’s Big Mac costs $5.11.
The average cost of each food item was scored out of ten and averaged to produce the rankings.
Most expensive states to buy a takeaway:Â
Rank State  Dominos Medium Cheese Pizza (Average Price $) McDonalds Big Mac (Average Price $) Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich (Average Price $) Taco Bell Combo Meal (Average Price $) Final Score  1 Hawaii 18.99 5.31 4.06 7.7 10 2 New York 14.49 5.23 4 7.58 7.96 3 New Jersey 13.99 5.19 3.96 7.53 7.56 4 California 14.99 5.11 3.9 7.41 7.48 5 Maryland 13.99 5.03 3.84 7.3 6.71 6 Alaska 15.99 4.87 3.72 7.06 6.56 7 Connecticut 14.49 4.95 3.78 7.18 6.46 8 Massachusetts 14.99 4.87 3.72 7.06 6.20 9 Washington 16.99 4.67 3.57 6.77 5.85 10 New Hampshire 13.99 4.83 3.69 7.01 5.64 Courtesy: BravoDeal
On the opposite end of the spectrum, BravoDeal found three southern U.S. states, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama, have the cheapest takeout fast food.
Cheapest states to buy a takeaway:Â
Rank State  Dominos Medium Cheese Pizza (Average Price $) McDonalds Big Mac (Average Price $) Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich (Average Price $) Taco Bell Combo Meal (Average Price $) Final Score  1 Mississippi 13.49 3.91 2.99 5.67 0.54 2 Arkansas 12.99 3.95 3.02 5.73 0.57 3 Alabama 12.99 3.99 3.05 5.79 0.79 4 Nebraska 11.99 4.07 3.11 5.91 0.86 5 Kentucky 12.79 4.03 3.08 5.85 0.93 6 South Dakota 12.99 3.99 3.05 5.96 1.00 7 Iowa 12.99 4.07 3.11 5.91 1.22 Oklahoma 12.99 4.07 3.11 5.91 1.22 8 Ohio 13.99 4.03 3.08 5.85 1.36 9 North Dakota 12.99 4.11 3.14 5.96 1.42 10 Missouri 14.99 3.99 3.05 5.79 1.50 Courtesy: BravoDeal
Prices at many California fast-food restaurants have increased since the state boosted the minimum wage for quick-service restaurant workers from $16 to $20 an hour on April 1.
According to data from market research firm Datassential, fast food and fast-casual restaurants in the Golden State have raised menu prices by 10% overall.
Another analysis found Chick-fil-A raised prices by 10.6% between Feb. 15 and April 15, Starbucks raised them by 7.8%, Shake Shack by 7.7%, Chipotle by 6.9% and Taco Bell by 4.1%.