These Cities Have the Cheapest Food Delivery Prices in the U.S.

Suddenly, Texas sounds like a really appealing place to live...

Courtesy of Uber Eats
Courtesy of Uber Eats

Living in New York City means my Uber Eats account gets more action than my stove. It also means that I spend a lot more money on those takeout Cava bowls than, say, someone in Lubbock, Texas.

How do I know that, other than common sense? Credit building site Self ordered the exact same meal from McDonald's in the 100 largest cities in the US on three different delivery apps—DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub—to determine the least and most expensive places in the country to order in, Food & Wine reports. 

As part of the study, Self ordered a Quarter Pounder regular meal with a regular 10-piece McNugget meal, regular Coke, and side of regular fries every day to find the results. Seattle, Washington came in as the most expensive city (with an average price of $55.35 for the meal), while the exact same order cost $28.65 in Lubbock, Texas. Mind = blown. 

You might think that's bad, but just wait. Virginia Beach, Virginia saw the highest delivery markup with a $13.75 meal (based on in-store pricing) that cost $39.12 for delivery. The only city that fell under a 20% markup rate was Lincoln, Nebraska, which reports just a 19% difference.

While San Francisco had the most expensive order, Chula Vista, California; New York City; and Washington, DC trailed shortly behind. As for the cheapest cities for food delivery, Lubbock came in first with Alburquerque, New Mexico; Toledo, Ohio; Laredo, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin followed in the top five. 

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Megan Schaltegger is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist.