People in these 3 cities are spending the most on fast food

NewsFast food prices have actually outpaced inflation, believe it or not. (Lucas van Oort via Unsplash)Lucas van Oort via UnsplashBy Claudia Dimuro | cdimuro@pennlive.comOnce considered a far cheaper option than traditional dining (not unlike streaming once was to cable), fast food prices have soared in recent years.Especially if you’re in one of these places.WalletHub recently conducted and published a study that found the U.S. cities where folks were spending the most — and, by consequence, the least — on fast food. In order to do this, researchers analyzed the price of fast food staples such as hamburgers, pizza and chicken sandwiches across the country’s largest 100 cities using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau. The numbers were then compared against the average monthly income in each city. The top three cities where people are shelling out the most dough on fast food ended up being Buffalo, New York, in third; Cleveland, Ohio, in second; and Detroit, Michigan, in first.“Detroit has the most costly fast food relative to residents’ earnings, with a small pizza, a burger and a fried chicken sandwich totaling 0.3 percent of the median monthly household income,” the report reads. “That may not be all that much on its own, but since it only represents three meals out of an entire month, it can really add up depending on people’s eating habits.“Detroit is the 15th-most expensive city for chicken sandwiches, but only the 41st-most expensive for burgers and the 36th-most expensive for pizza. However, the city has the lowest median household income in the country, at $39,938 per year. As a result, even without overly high fast food prices, each purchase still eats into residents’ incomes a lot.” The citizens spending the least on fast food were found to be those in Gilbert, Arizona (98th overall); Plano, Texas (99th overall); and Fremont, California (100th). “Fast food has grown more and more expensive in recent years, outpacing inflation,” says WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo. “As a result, it’s worthwhile for consumers to think critically about whether the convenience of fast food really justifies the cost — and about how much room they have in their budgets for this luxury.“The city in which you live can have a big impact on how much fast food costs, too. People in the most expensive cities shell out over three times more than residents of the least expensive cities, relative to the median income.” Southern cities dominate ranking of 2026’s best cities for renters: See if yours made the listFried chicken chain files for bankruptcy: ‘Address legacy debt’These 10 states lead the U.S. in internet outage searches: Did yours make the list?Claudia covers trending and breaking news stories across the United States. She previously worked as a digital reporter for PennLive.com, where she covered a range of topics from metal music to consumer news to...