A medium cheese pizza at Little Caesars costs an average of $10.27 across the country. The same order at Domino's runs $19.33. That gap, 46 percent, is the headline finding of a newly published study from credit union NetCredit, which surveyed prices at ten major pizza chains in 180 U.S. cities using data from GrubHub and DoorDash.
The results land at a moment when American families are watching every dollar at the grocery store, the drive-through, and the delivery app. And the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond one budget chain's bragging rights.
They reveal just how wide the pricing spread has become across the fast-food pizza market, and how much geography shapes what families pay for the simplest possible order.
NetCredit identified the ten most popular U.S. pizza chains using data from restaurant technology platform Toast, then collected medium cheese pizza prices on GrubHub and DoorDash across the top 100 American cities and the three most populous cities in every state, USA TODAY reported.
Little Caesars came in first at $10.27. Papa Murphy's, the take-and-bake chain, followed at $12.38. Mod Pizza was third at $12.45. After that, prices jumped sharply: Hungry Howie's averaged $16.46, Papa John's $16.65, and Marco's Pizza $17.54.
The big national names clustered near the top of the price chart. Pizza Hut averaged $19.00. Domino's came in at $19.33. Godfather's Pizza hit $20.03. And Chuck E. Cheese, yes, the arcade chain, ranked dead last at $20.33 for a medium cheese pizza.
That means the most expensive chain on the list costs nearly double what Little Caesars charges for the same basic product.
The study also broke down prices by state and city, and the geographic picture is stark. Indiana had the cheapest average cheese pizza at $13.95. Alabama came in at $14.04, and Michigan, Little Caesars' home state, at $14.32.
At the other end: Hawaii topped the list at $19.70 per pizza. California followed at $18.85, and Alaska at $18.60.
The city-level data made the contrast even sharper. Houston offered the lowest average pizza price at $14.42. San Diego was the most expensive at $20.76, nearly 44 percent more than Houston. San Jose clocked in at $20.02, and Los Angeles at $19.84. Three of the nation's priciest pizza cities sit in a single state.
None of that will surprise anyone who has tried to feed a family in coastal California versus the heartland. But seeing the numbers side by side puts a fine point on how much the cost of living, and the cost of doing business, varies across the country.
The pricing gap matters because the major pizza brands are already under pressure. Papa John's has closed dozens of stores across 17 states as the industry faces mounting headwinds from inflation, labor costs, and shifting consumer habits.
Domino's and Pizza Hut, the two giants that NetCredit pegged at $19.33 and $19.00 respectively, sit in an awkward middle ground. They charge nearly as much as the most expensive chains on the list but lack the novelty of a sit-down experience or the budget appeal of Little Caesars.
Pizza Hut in particular has been navigating a turbulent stretch. The chain has shrunk its footprint alongside Wendy's and Red Robin as hundreds of locations have gone dark nationwide.
At the same time, Pizza Hut has tried a different tactic to win back customers: a nostalgia-driven retro makeover at roughly 80 locations, banking on the red-roof brand recognition that once made it a family staple. Whether throwback décor can offset a $19.00 cheese pizza remains to be seen.
The NetCredit findings are useful, but they come with caveats worth noting. The study pulled prices from GrubHub and DoorDash, delivery platforms that often list menu prices higher than what customers pay at the counter or through a chain's own app. Whether delivery markups, service fees, or tips were factored in is not clear from the published methodology.
It is also unclear whether prices were captured at a single point in time or averaged over a window. Pizza chains run aggressive promotions, Domino's in particular is known for rotating discount deals, and a snapshot taken on the wrong week could skew results. The study's own disclaimer noted that "deals and coupons were accurate at the time of publication but may change."
Still, the broad pattern is hard to argue with. Little Caesars has built its brand on being the cheapest option in the room. A $10.27 average confirms that the strategy is holding.
The deeper story here is not really about pizza. It is about what happens when prices rise faster than paychecks. American consumers have been pushing back against chain restaurants over rising prices and declining quality, and the pizza market is no exception.
When a plain cheese pizza from Chuck E. Cheese costs $20.33, something has gone sideways. That is not a specialty pie with artisan toppings. It is the most basic item on the menu at a place best known for ball pits and ticket games.
Families notice. They compare. And increasingly, they make choices that punish chains that have let prices drift upward without delivering more value.
The fast-food landscape has become a proving ground for a simple consumer principle: when the product is roughly the same, price wins. That dynamic has reshaped customer satisfaction rankings across the industry, and it is clearly shaping the pizza market too.
It is worth pausing on the geographic breakdown. The three cheapest states, Indiana, Alabama, and Michigan, share a few traits. Lower costs of living. Lower commercial rents. Labor markets that, while tight, have not been warped by the same regulatory burdens that drive up operating costs in California or Hawaii.
Houston, the cheapest city on the list at $14.42, is the largest city in a state with no income tax, relatively affordable commercial real estate, and a business climate that keeps overhead manageable. San Diego, the most expensive at $20.76, sits in a state that has layered minimum-wage hikes, regulatory mandates, and some of the highest commercial rents in the nation onto every storefront.
The pizza price is, in a small way, a proxy for the cost of doing business. And the states that keep that cost low deliver cheaper food to their residents. It is not complicated.
Little Caesars is not winning any gourmet awards. Its model is simple: keep the menu tight, keep the overhead low, and keep the price where a working family can afford to feed four kids on a Friday night without thinking twice.
That formula has kept the chain competitive while bigger, flashier rivals close locations and chase nostalgia campaigns. NetCredit's study puts a number on what millions of American families already knew.
In an economy where a plain cheese pizza can cost twenty dollars, the chain that keeps it at ten has figured out something the rest of the industry, and a fair number of policymakers, still haven't.