{"surveyDate":"2026-08-20","runTimestamp":"2026-08-20T08:04:01.767Z","methodologyVersion":"3.1","instrument":{"model":"gpt-5.5-2026-04-23","promptHash":"bc127e91522babfb","reasoningEffort":"xhigh"},"metros":[{"metro":"New York, NY","status":"verified","price":4.05,"reportedPrice":4.05,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/new-york/new-york","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 29 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Philadelphia, PA","status":"verified","price":2.98,"reportedPrice":2.98,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/pennsylvania/philadelphia","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 28 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Atlanta, GA","status":"verified","price":2.65,"reportedPrice":2.65,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/georgia/atlanta","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 18 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Miami, FL","status":"verified","price":2.83,"reportedPrice":2.83,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/florida/miami","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 35 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Dallas, TX","status":"verified","price":2.1,"reportedPrice":2.1,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/texas/dallas","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 34 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Chicago, IL","status":"verified","price":2.87,"reportedPrice":2.87,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/illinois/chicago","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 49 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Kansas City, MO","status":"verified","price":2.29,"reportedPrice":2.29,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/missouri/kansas-city","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 19 tracked locations on the Kansas City, MO page; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Columbus, OH","status":"verified","price":2.48,"reportedPrice":2.48,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/ohio/columbus","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 26 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Los Angeles, CA","status":"verified","price":3.56,"reportedPrice":3.56,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/california/los-angeles","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 40 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Seattle, WA","status":"verified","price":4.28,"reportedPrice":4.28,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/washington/seattle","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 15 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; upper end but within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Denver, CO","status":"verified","price":2.6,"reportedPrice":2.6,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/colorado/denver","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 18 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."},{"metro":"Phoenix, AZ","status":"verified","price":3.04,"reportedPrice":3.04,"sourceUrl":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds/arizona/phoenix","sourceType":"pinned_aggregator","priceType":"standard_menu","pageUpdated":"Updated August 2026","asOf":"2026-08-20","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned app-sourced city average for McChicken across 38 tracked locations; sandwich only, no meal/combo or coupon; within plausibility band."}],"spec":{"reading":null,"status":"carried","appliedGrams":139.46,"rawExcerpt":null},"wage":{"usdPerHour":32.4,"month":"2026-07","fetchedAt":"2026-08-20T08:00:59.801Z","source":"FRED AHETPI (api)"},"nationalEstimates":[{"estimate":2.86,"source_url":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds-menu/mcchicken","as_of":"2026-08-11","description":"MenuPriceTracker national average McChicken price, app-sourced across 13,575 U.S. locations / 5,037 neighborhoods; range $1.00-$5.79; not substituted for any metro observation."}],"regimeEvents":[{"date":"2026-08-08","event":"TheStreet reported McDonald's management comments that U.S. McValue execution was inconsistent: some stores did not price Under-$3 items under $3, digital offers and buy-one-add-one-for-$1 were pulled back, and management characterized the trade-off as problematic; flagged as value-menu regime context only.","source_url":"https://www.thestreet.com/retail/mcdonalds-says-pricing-mistakes-and-pulled-offers-alienated-its-most-loyal-customers"},{"date":"2026-08-12","event":"Anecdotal Reddit report stated multiple locations had $1.50 McChicken offers plus a free medium-fry-with-$1-purchase app deal; treated as local/app-promo signal and not used for standard in-store observations.","source_url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/McDonalds/comments/1vlzixs/not_bad_for_150/"},{"date":"2026-08-19","event":"Additional Reddit thread reported $1.50 McChicken availability and a free medium-fries-with-$1-purchase deal, including a North Carolina anecdote; flagged as anecdotal promotional/value-menu wave, not a confirmed national sandwich price change.","source_url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/McDonalds/comments/1vs8dyq/mcchicken_down_to_150_is_the_world_healing/"}],"qualityNotes":"All 12 observations used the pinned MenuPriceTracker metro pages, each labeled app-sourced and updated August 2026, with fetch date 2026-08-20; no delivery platforms or disallowed content farms were used. Values are city averages across tracked locations rather than a single register/kiosk ticket, so within-metro store dispersion remains the main limitation. Hardest metros are New York and Seattle because prices sit near the upper plausibility band, and Kansas City is limited to the pinned Missouri city page rather than the broader bi-state metro.","outcome":{"status":"published","mciMinutes":5.3,"panelPriceUsd":2.85},"usage":{"inputTokens":112696,"outputTokens":12438}}