LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A study published on Wednesday shows that Arkansas is number two in the nation for fast food spending as a share of household income.
The study by the consumer finance site WalletHub ranked Arkansas after finding that relatively little fast-food spending would account for 44% of a household’s median monthly income. Mississippi was the only state to rank higher, with a score of 48%.
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The authors determined rankings by finding the prices of hamburgers, pizza and chicken sandwiches in each state and comparing them to the median income. For simplicity, they stated they assumed a household would purchase one hamburger, one pizza and one chicken sandwich per month. Mississippi ranked higher than Arkansas, for example, because it has the lowest median household income of the 50 states and fast-food prices comparable to Arkansas.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports Arkansas’ median household income at $60,773 in 2024, the most recent figures available. For comparison, New Jersey, which ranked 50th in the study with the lowest income percentage of 27%, had a median income of $103,556 for the same period…