Ordering a burger sounds like the easy, budget-friendly answer to dinner, until geography gets involved. Revenue Management Solutions’ August 2026 restaurant price data puts Hawaii’s average burger price at $8.70, compared with $6.33 in West Virginia. Washington, Alaska, and several other Western states also land near the expensive end. The same craving can come with a noticeably different price tag depending on where you pull up a chair.
The eight states below have the highest average burger prices in that dataset, with chicken sandwich and pizza prices included for a fuller picture. That distinction matters: This is not a ranking of every restaurant meal, every dining occasion or what households spend each month. It compares three familiar menu categories, ordered by burger price. Think everyday restaurant staples, not a nationwide showdown between tasting menus.
What the Numbers Actually Measure
Revenue Management Solutions publishes a monthly state-by-state price map covering burgers, chicken sandwiches and pizza. Its August 2026 snapshot lists overall averages of $7.06, $6.16 and $16.68, respectively. The company says its broader Competitor Price Intelligence service provides monthly menu-price updates from more than 235,000 locations across restaurant segments. These figures describe menu categories, not a complete dinner bill with drinks, sides and other purchases.
A separate study helps explain why a different restaurant ranking can produce a different winner. The Washington Hospitality Association’s 2025 Cost of Dining report compared menu prices at 20 major chains across the contiguous United States and placed Washington first, at 13.6% above the national average. Alaska and Hawaii were excluded, and the research covered popular entrées rather than just burgers. Different geography and different menu samples mean the two studies should not be treated as interchangeable.
The Eight Priciest Burger States
- Hawaii: $8.70. Hawaii takes the highest-priced burger spot in the August snapshot, and its other tracked categories offer little relief. Its average chicken sandwich costs $8.31, tied with Alaska for the highest figure, while its $24.12 pizza average also leads the country. Compared with the dataset’s overall averages, Hawaii is expensive across all three categories, not simply one unusually costly sandwich. For this particular menu comparison, the Aloha State finishes first without needing a tiebreaker.
- Alaska: $8.00. Alaska is the only other state where the average burger reaches at least $8. Its chicken sandwich average matches Hawaii’s $8.31, making that category more expensive than its burger average. Pizza comes in at $19.40, below Hawaii and California but still above the overall $16.68 figure. The numbers put Alaska near the top across the tracked staples, although its exact position changes with the order.
- Washington: $7.92. Washington’s average burger sits just below Alaska’s, while its $6.63 chicken sandwich and $19.33 pizza also exceed the overall averages. Its strong showing is consistent with the separate chain-menu study, though the two datasets measure different things. In that 2025 research, Seattle’s sampled prices were more than 17% above the average for the 20 large cities examined. The statewide and city findings both show a premium, but neither means every Washington restaurant charges the same amount.
- Nevada: $7.75, tied. Nevada shares the next burger-price position with Oregon, but the match ends there. Its average chicken sandwich costs $6.58, while pizza averages $16.70, only two cents above the overall pizza figure. That makes Nevada a useful reminder that a high burger ranking does not automatically translate into an equally high pizza ranking. The menu item matters almost as much as the state name in this comparison.
- Oregon: $7.75, tied. Oregon matches Nevada’s burger average but posts higher prices for both other categories. Its chicken sandwich averages $6.61, and its pizza average reaches $18.55. Oregon also ranked third in the Washington Hospitality Association’s broader 2025 chain-menu comparison, with sampled prices 9.1% above the national average. Two separate snapshots place it on the expensive side, even though they should not be combined into one ranking.
- Arizona: $7.71. Arizona edges California by two cents in the burger comparison, a small difference that should not be inflated into a sweeping affordability claim. Its average chicken sandwich costs $6.44, and pizza comes in at $17.33. All three figures exceed the corresponding overall averages in the August snapshot. Arizona therefore earns its place here through the reported prices, not through assumptions about particular cities or dining neighborhoods.
- California: $7.69. California falls below Arizona for burgers but rises sharply when pizza enters the conversation. Its $20.12 pizza average ranks second only to Hawaii’s, while its chicken sandwich average is $6.55. The separate 2025 chain-menu study also placed California second among the lower 48 states, at 13.3% above the national average. Its position illustrates how a state can look moderately expensive in one category and considerably pricier in another.
- New Jersey: $7.57. New Jersey takes the final spot, narrowly ahead of Connecticut and Massachusetts, both at $7.56 per burger. Its chicken sandwich averages $6.65, higher than the figures for California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Pizza tells a different story: At $16.60, its average sits slightly below the overall $16.68 figure. New Jersey makes the burger list, but the data does not support calling every tracked item unusually expensive.
Related: Small-Town Restaurant Becomes Community Gathering Place as Local Dining Scene Evolves
Behind the Menu Sticker Shock
The Washington association’s findings surprised even its leadership. “But to be more expensive than some of those other ones I mentioned like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and California, I think was a surprise to us,” association president Anthony Anton told The Spokesman-Review. Anton attributed Washington’s prices partly to business taxes and regulatory costs. Those are the restaurant trade group’s explanations, however, not causes established by the burger-price table itself.
James McCafferty, director of Western Washington University’s Center for Economic & Business Research, highlighted the competing priorities in an interview with KUOW. “We want to make sure that people have some form of a minimum wage that allows them some form of quality of life, right?” he said. That adds an important perspective to a conversation that otherwise risks becoming all about the receipt. The verified takeaway is narrower: Location changes the price of familiar restaurant staples, and changing your order can change which state looks most expensive.
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