Fast Food Spending Hits Oklahoma Households Hard This Year

If you notice your wallet's feeling a little lighter, you might check to see just how much you and your family are spending on eating out. According to a recent study released by WalletHub, Oklahoma is one of the top 10 states paying the most for their fast food - something that was once supposed to be a cheap, affordable way to eat out.

The study calculated just how much people were spending on fast food by analyzing the prices of fast-food burgers, pizza and fried chicken sandwiches in each of the 50 states. We then added these costs together and compared them to the median household income, which was $63,603 in 2023 for Oklahoma.

If fast food was as affordable as it used to be, then maybe it wouldn't be such a cause for concern. But the truth is that sometimes, it's just as expensive to eat at a drive through as it is to eat at a sit-down restaurant. But there are a few other factors that should be encouraging us to steer away from fast food dining.

Oklahomans Spend the 9th Highest Percentage of Income on Fast Food – WalletHub Study.

It doesn't help that Oklahoma is flooded with fast food restaurants, something that earned us another #10 spot on the "Fast Food States of America" list with escoffier.edu. In fact, these are the approximate numbers of the most popular fast food restaurants in Oklahoma:

• 405 Hunts Brothers Pizza locations
• 297 Subway locations
• 195 McDonald's restaurants
• 136 Braums stores

According to the study by Wallethub, Oklahomans are spending around $22.40 as the average cost of a fast food meal, which is about 0.42% of the median household income. But fast food isn't just hurting our wallets. 

Oklahomans' overall health isn't great compared to the rest of the nation.

According to oklahoma.gov, Oklahoma currently ranks 47th in the country for the state of our health, something that we've routinely struggled with.

"The decline can be attributed primarily to an 11% increase in the obesity rate, and a 14% increase in the physical inactivity rate¹. Our poor health outcomes are hurting our families, finances, and future," the website states.

Although many of the leading causes of death in Oklahoma are preventable, the bad health habits we've had over the years actually encourage us to eventually develope COPD, heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

If you're going to eat out, here's tips to eat fast food for less.

Experts say that most people are forking over their hard-earned money with extras like delivery, toppings, sides and specialties. If you're wanting to eat out but still manage to save money, they encourage consumers to avoid asking for the extras and instead:

• Shop with coupons
• Join rewards clubs
• Eat out less often

We're about to hit the season that, frankly, makes it uncomfortable to eat a hefty processed meal. Maybe try some classic homemade Oklahoma foods instead.