Comparing the Price of Fast Food in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota

If you've hit your local fast food drive-thru lately you've noticed that your money doesn't seem to be going as far as it once did. Some experts say price increases have reached about 20 percent across the board.

But like with a lot of things, sometimes it's not what you buy, but rather where you buy it that determines how much you'll pay.

Recently, Eat This, Not That published the results of a study from the online coupon website BravoDeal that charted the states where fast food is least and most expensive.

The study looked at the average price of iconic menu items at four major chains: McDonald's Big Mac, Domino's medium cheese pizza, Chick-fil-A's chicken sandwich, and Taco Bell's combo meal. BravoDeal then scored the average cost of each item, averaged them, and created a final ranking.

Two local states landed in the Top Ten of the most affordable fast food places in America.

South Dakota checked in as the sixth cheapest place for fast food in the country with the most affordable average Domino's pizza ($12.99), the third most affordable McDonald's Big Mac ($3.99), the third most affordable Chick-fil-A sandwich ($3.05), and the 12th cheapest Taco Bell combo ($5.96).

Iowa wasn't far behind at eighth overall.

The Hawkeye State matched South Dakota's pizza price, was slightly higher for a Big Mac ($4.07) and a chicken sandwich ($3.11) while being slightly lower for the combo meal ($5.91).

MOST AFFORDABLE STATES FOR FAST FOOD 

1. Mississippi
2. Arkansas
3. Alabama
4. Nebraska
5. Kentucky
6. South Dakota 
7. Oklahoma
8. Iowa
9. Ohio
10. North Dakota
11. Missouri

Minnesota checked in at number 20 overall with $13.99 pizza, $4.43 Big Macs, $3.39 chicken sandwiches, and $6.43 combo meals.

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Hawaii is the costliest state with a Domino's medium cheese pizza for an average price of $18.99, a Big Mac for $5.31, a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich for $4.06, and a Taco Bell combo meal for $7.70.

LEAST AFFORDABLE STATES FOR FAST FOOD

1. Hawaii
2. New York
3. New Jersey
4. California
5. Maryland
6. Alaska
7. Connecticut
8. Massachusetts
9. Washington
10. New Hampshire