California hiked its minimum wage from $16 to $20 — an increase of 25%. But fast food prices went up only 1-3%. Paying workers decent wage is possible and moral.

22 comments

1. pretty sure thats just a step by step price increase. in 6 months it will increase again.

2. It take month maybe year in order for the effect to settle

3. This happened, what, 2 weeks ago?

4. Fast food price increases are only a beginning as they will cause ripple effects throughout and increase prices in other areas.

5. Also, high foot traffic high volume restaurants will suffer a lot less than low foot traffic low volume restaurants, as their margins are much lower. We will be interesting to see if some close their doors.

6. One picture of one price board from one store is not indicative of what overall fast food prices are doing. But hey, why look at real facts and data when we can use anecdotes that make us feel good?

   The sad thing is the real facts would support the argument that we can keep prices reasonable while also paying good wages, but instead we make simple minded arguments that don’t actually convince anyone.

7. I’ve noticed that mediocre white guys cream themselves when the people above them get raises and rage hard and stay mad when the people below them do.

8. Check back in six months

9. The day of change is far different than 6 months – 1 year out.

10. And decrease the labor and start using 2 people to do the work of 5

11. This JUST happened, and the fact that In & Out raised their prices from the get go is not a good sign of things to come.

12. America gives people choices. For example, if someone is a far right winger living in California and gets furious over the higher wages for service jobs, they can simply move to Idaho.

    Hundreds of thousands have already moved into the woods to avoid paying the higher wages to their service workers. I bet a double-double at Ruby Ridge burger or whatever tastes just as good and elk meat is probably healthier anyway.

13. This will not end well.

14. Yes, we’ve collectively known that trickle down economics doesn’t work in practice for 40 years.

    It’s a great theory, but it ignores all the other factors at play in the prices of things.

15. In n out compared to other fast food joints has always had the best prices and best quality. Even after inflation started rising

16. Haha this is an in and out. They are widely known for paying over 20 already…. This is just a normal reaction to inflation price increase

17. A 3% day-over-day price hike supports the theory that prices will rise considerably vs not.

    I was expecting no price hikes immediately given the bad PR and then 1-2% monthly price hikes as they understood new operating costs and massaged margins.

18. Prices are already stupid. i took my daughter for a fast food meal at it was $18 to feed one kid. she got a small too.

    i saw a $16 burrito the other day.

    i have severely cut down the amount we go out to restaurants due to the cost and value.

19. In n out already pays more than 20 well before this bill came through (at least in los angeles)

20. In and Out was already paying $20 hr.

    And their burgers are cheap and pretty good

21. Most fast food places the labor makes up around 30% of their running cost. Almost every restaurant in California was already playing close to $18 to $19. You would be hard pressed to find someone actually getting paid at the minimum wage. Even at the national level very few people get paid at the minimum wages

    Now if the wages went up from $18 to say $20 that’s approximately 10% increase in labor cost. Labor is approximately 30% of the total cost. 10% increase of 30% will result in increasing the overall cost of the product by around 3%. That is the approximate increase you are seeing

22. most In n outs already paid more than $20/hr so what this means next to nothing