FinanceBuzz released some data on a dozen fast-food restaurants, comparing prices in 2014 with 2024. While popular impressions of Subway’s surging prices aren’t wrong, the sandwich chain saw relatively lower price increases (39 percent) than other major fast-food restaurants. By contrast, America’s largest fast-food chain, McDonald’s, has raised its prices over 100 percent since 2014. Though the cost of its signature Big Mac is up “only” 50 percent, FinanceBuzz reports that the price of the Golden Arches’ iconic fries has increased a whopping 138 percent.

The first few monthly reports in 2024 give little hope of an imminent slowdown to price growth. Those reports contain at least one silver lining: grocery inflation, which peaked at over 13 percent in mid-2022, lately has been down closer to 1 percent annually. Consumers want to see grocery prices falling, but at least they have stopped going up so aggressively. The same can’t be said for fast food, where costs continue to rise at about 5 percent per year.

Unlike spending on luxury goods like vacations, food spending is not very flexible. We may hunt around for deals or switch to cheaper foods, but we won’t cut back much even as prices go up. We all have to eat. If the inflationary trend persists, Americans might soon be nostalgic for the Six Dollar Six-Inch.