How many McDonald's restaurants are there in the U.S.?

Oct 2

Written By Jonathan Milner

Data Scavenger Hunt

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above:

There are roughly 14,000 McDonald’s US locations. What state has the least McDonald’s restaurants?
What appears to be the approximate spot on the American map that is the farthest distance from any McDonald’s restaurant?
Describe which parts of the country are home to most McDonald’s restaurants.
What year does the data above come from?
Electoral college votes are calculated by adding the number of senators per state (2 each) plus the number of House Representatives per state (depends on population). Big states like California have the most electoral college votes (55) and small states like Wyoming are tied with others for having the least electoral college votes (3). How many states have more electoral college votes than McDonald’s?
Big Brain Questions
Answer these questions by yourself using your brain and any links below:
There are two different kinds of power and ways for countries to achieve their foreign policy goals. Soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power—the ability to coerce—grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture (movies, music, and food), political ideals, and policies. As of 2022, McDonald’s ran 40,275 restaurants worldwide. The U.S. military is deployed in most countries around the world, with between 160,000 to 170,000 of its active-duty personnel stationed outside the United States. Relative to the U.S. military, how valuable is McDonald’s to American power?
As of 2010, the farthest place in American between McDonald’s restaurants was in North Dakota: between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald's. What is the consequence of the ubiquity (there are so many and they are everywhere) of McDonald's?
McDonald's is a potent symbol of globalization. Can you think of any better known or more global symbol than McDonald's?
Is there anything more American than McDonald's?
The Big Mac Index Theory, also known as the Big Mac Theory or Big Mac Index, is an informal pricing index to measure the purchasing power of foreign currencies by looking at the price of a Big Mac in each country. The Big Mac Index also provides a test on how exchange rates affect the cost of goods in various countries. According to the visual below* currently, what’s the most expensive Big Mac in the world?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Look at a Google Maps of your community and type in McDonald's. How far could you drive around before you ran into the nearest McDonald's? Without speeding or breaking any laws, see how many McDonald's you can drive to in 30 minutes.