The Price Of McDonald's Original Filet-O-Fish Might Surprise You

If you wanted a plain, simple McDonald's Filet-O-Fish in 2026, you would probably spend between $5 and $6, depending on the location. But there was a time when the same meal from McDonald's cost less than a dollar. If that sounds hard to believe, the other surprise is that the sandwich was never meant to be a menu staple at all. 

The story goes like this. In the early 1960s, the burger business would not carry franchisee Lou Groen's Cincinnati store on Fridays because many local Catholic customers avoided meat then, especially during Lent. So, Groen had to come up with a non-meat option to compete against a nearby restaurant that already had a fish item on the menu. On Good Friday in 1962, Groen's creation — the Filet-O-Fish — vastly outsold McDonald's founder Ray Kroc's rival meatless idea, the Hula Burger, proving its worth to the company. 

Groen's earliest version used halibut, and it cost him about 30 cents per sandwich, while McDonald's wanted the item to sell for 25 cents. His solution was to rework the sandwich using Atlantic cod and a slice of cheese. Three years later in 1965, Filet-O-Fish earned a permanent spot on the McDonald's menu, and the sandwich cost 29 cents. When you compare it to today's prices, it's now about 1,600% to 2,000% more expensive. But when you adjust the original 29 cents using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) CPI Inflation Calculator, it works out to just over $3 in February 2026 dollars, which means the modern sandwich is now 70% to 100% pricier. 

McDonald's may be overcharging customers, but there's more to the reasons why a Filet-O-Fish is still more expensive today despite inflation adjustments. In a 2024 press release, McDonald's said that more than 95% of its U.S. restaurants are run by franchisees who set their own menu prices, so part of the increase comes down to local operating costs. Additionally, a McDonald's pricing fact sheet reveals that restaurant crew wages have risen about 40% between 2019 and 2024, while food and paper costs are up about 35%.

Unlike some other McDonald's menu items, the Filet-O-Fish doesn't drive traffic consistently all year round, as a quarter of its annual sales typically take place during Lent. On the other hand, the adjusted cost of a Happy Meal from the '70s sits at the lower end of the meal's 2026 price range. This suggests that some of the more iconic menu items are kept closer to a value-friendly range to drive steady sales, while others, like the Filet-O-Fish, get priced higher to offset fluctuating operating costs.

If you're set on paying as little as you can for a Filet-O-Fish, the best way to save big money at McDonald's is to use the restaurant's mobile app. The app gives customers access to exclusive deals, and its rewards program gives you redeemable points, so each full-purchase buy could mean future bonuses. That, along with checking nearby locations and avoiding delivery markups, when possible, gives you the best shot at paying less.