McDonald’s Is Lowering Prices on Key Menu Items—Here’s When The Changes Take Effect

It’s no secret that the cost of living has risen exponentially over the past few years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, prices have risen 1.36% from 2015 to 2025. That means that a dollar today only buys 73% of what it could in 2015. One place where the value of a dollar can really be felt is when buying food—especially at fast food restaurants.

McDonald’s menu prices have been a point of scrutiny in many conversations about the state of the economy. In 2002, Mcdonald’s debuted its Dollar Menu. Customers could select various menu items for, you guessed it, $1 plus tax. But in 2014, prices rose, and they changed the name to the “Dollar Menu & More.” In 2024, a photo of a McDonald’s menu went viral on social media—because a Big Mac meal cost $18. And in January of this year, McDonald’s even got rid of the Dollar Menu concept completely, replacing it with the McValue Menu.

Now McDonald’s is making a move to address high menu prices. It begins this month with the introduction of the Extra Value Meal, and will continue with additional rollouts through the end of 2025. Here’s everything we know so far.

When will McDonald’s menu prices be changed?

Beginning on September 8, McDonald’s will roll out new, lower menu prices for select combo meals (which it’s calling “Extra Value Meals”). According to the Wall Street Journal, McDonald’s will slash prices on eight of the most popular combo meals, including:

• Big Mac meal
• Chicken McNuggets meal
• McCrispy meal
• Quarter Pounder With Cheese meal
• Egg McMuffin meal

To promote the new lower price points, the restaurant will also offer $5 Sausage Egg McMuffin meals and $8 Big Mac meals. Then in November, they’ll offer Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddles for $5 and 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meals for $8.

How long will the McDonald’s menu prices stay at this price point?

The McDonald’s corporation has communicated to its franchises that the lowered menu prices must remain in effect until at least the new year. Part of the reason why there’s such a big disparity between prices at different McDonald’s locations is that each franchisee sets its own rates. But in order to curb this practice and make the selected menu items affordable, McDonald’s has agreed to subsidize any franchise that loses money as a result of the price drop. It’s basically McDonald’s way of making sure that all of its locations agree to offer the same price discounts.

We’ll have to wait and see whether McDonald’s new menu prices sway customers to return, or whether customers will choose somewhere else that’s more affordable. The question of affordability is certainly top of mind for almost everyone right now, and it will be interesting to see if other fast food chains follow McDonald’s lead.

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