How California’s Fast-Food Wage Hike Shaped Pricing Strategies in 2024

In April, we examined how California’s new Fast-Food Worker Minimum Wage impacted pricing strategies for limited-service chains across the state compared to the rest of the country. As one of the largest foodservice markets in the U.S., California’s wage policies set a critical benchmark for operators nationwide. Now, as the year comes to a close, we’re revisiting this topic to analyze how these pricing trends evolved over the months. Did California chains successfully navigate these cost adjustments, or has the ripple effect extended further than expected? Dive into our year-end update for the latest insights. Fill out the form to access the full data file and explore the complete picture.

What the data reveals:

• California has faced the highest inflation of any state since the legislation was announced in September 2023, with a significant spike in April 2024 when it took effect.
• In April 2024, 34.6% of menu items at limited-service restaurants in California saw price increases — about 5 times the rate of other states.
• Since April, inflation has slowed nationwide at limited-service restaurants, but California still has a nearly 6% inflation gap (13.1% in CA vs. 7.2% in other states).
• The inflation gap is much smaller at full-service restaurants, which are not impacted by the legislation.