{"surveyDate":"2026-09-17","runTimestamp":"2026-09-17T08:03:37.662Z","methodologyVersion":"3.1","instrument":{"model":"gpt-5.5-2026-04-23","promptHash":"a7dcb61a1af8161a","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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price within plausibility band but above nominal Under-$3 value-menu threshold."},{"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":"2026-09","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Exact footer date not retrieved; page text shows September 2026 verification."},{"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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-09","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price within plausibility band but above nominal Under-$3 value-menu threshold."},{"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":"2026-09","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Exact footer date not retrieved; page text shows September 2026 verification and price is 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price 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":"2026-09-10","asOf":"2026-09-17","carriedFromDate":null,"citationCheck":{"fetched":true,"priceFound":true,"httpStatus":200,"error":null},"notes":"Pinned metro page city-wide average, app-sourced a la carte McChicken; no coupon, bundle, combo, or delivery source. Price within plausibility band and slightly above nominal Under-$3 value-menu threshold."}],"spec":{"reading":null,"status":"carried","appliedGrams":139.46,"rawExcerpt":null},"wage":{"usdPerHour":32.53,"month":"2026-08","fetchedAt":"2026-09-17T08:00:51.143Z","source":"FRED AHETPI (api)"},"nationalEstimates":[{"estimate":2.86,"source_url":"https://menupricetracker.com/mcdonalds-menu/mcchicken","as_of":"2026-09-09","description":"MenuPriceTracker national average McChicken price; page reports 5,037 neighborhoods tracked, $1.00 low, $5.79 high, and September 9, 2026 update."}],"regimeEvents":[{"date":"2026-09-10","event":"Official McDonald's McValue page continued to list McChicken under the Under $3 Menu for lunch/dinner and a McChicken Meal Deal under meal deals; prices and participation vary and McDelivery is excluded. Status/context only; no confirmed national withdrawal.","source_url":"https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/deals.html"},{"date":"2026-09-09","event":"FastFoodIndex reported a same-store McDonald's price-change wave covering 1,139 restaurants, including named McChicken moves from $2.00 to $2.49. Third-party price-change signal only, not a corporate announcement.","source_url":"https://www.fastfoodindex.com/price-changes/mcdonalds/"},{"date":"2026-09-07","event":"High-engagement r/McDonalds anecdotal thread reported local McChicken price increases after a low-price period, with mixed comments citing local prices such as $1.50, $2.49, and about $3.00. Anecdotal signal only; no confirmed national reformulation or portion-size change.","source_url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/McDonalds/comments/1w9czw6/good_bye_mcchicken_45_price_increase/"}],"qualityNotes":"All 12 observations use the pinned MenuPriceTracker metro pages and their app-sourced a la carte McChicken city averages; no delivery platforms or banned content farms were used for price observations. Most pinned pages showed exact September 10, 2026 footer updates, Kansas City showed September 9, 2026, and Philadelphia/Seattle exposed only September 2026 verification in retrievable text due intermittent fetch timeouts. Hardest metros were Philadelphia and Seattle, where the pinned pages were accessible via indexed/crawled page text but exact footer dates could not be confirmed.","outcome":{"status":"published","mciMinutes":5.3,"panelPriceUsd":2.85},"usage":{"inputTokens":126432,"outputTokens":11383}}