Burger King or McDonald's: Which Brand Is More Popular In Your State?

A survey shows McDonald's and Burger King's popularity around the country.

McDonald's or Burger King, it's a little like the story of who came first the chicken or the egg. The battle between these two burger chains is well over a half-century old, but most people credit McDonald's  (MCD) - Get Free Report with being the first fast-food burger chain. This isn’t entirely true, and it isn’t entirely false. 

Either way both fast-food burger chains are extremely well established and have a fan base that keeps each business fueled. Trying to determine who is the best out of different rankings can really vary between the two big burger chains and how tight the competition is. McDonald’s has over 13,000 locations in the United States and Restaurant Brands'  (QSR) - Get Free Report Burger King has less than 8,000.

Burger Chain Battle

McDonald’s has more locations, but we all know that quantity doesn’t always equate to quality. Dollars can certainly tell a different story. McDonald’s had over $20 billion in revenue in 2021 and Burger King had just below $2 billion. So, the question is are more customers putting their money toward the Whopper Chain or the Big Mac Chain.

Looking at a grand scale it appears on rough numbers that McDonald’s has won the battle, but what if we take a closer look. Using quantifiable figures that would never lie, like those from a Google Review. All reviews have an average ranking system on Google reviews providing businesses with up to five stars. Google Star rankings use an algorithm to determine how many stars a company should receive from one to five, five being the highest and best ranking available.

The results are surprising when considering that there are more McDonald’s chains restaurants than Burger King and that the number of sales is about 10 to 1 between the two as well. Burger King has a better Google star ranking in 23 states, than McDonald’s. McDonald’s only has a higher Google star ranking than Burger King in 19 states. Each burger chain is tied for eight of those states. Not surprisingly the national average rating it only 3.5 stars over all for both burger chains. McDonald’s has higher rankings in more coastal states, and Burger King has higher rankings in more midwestern states.

Statistically Speaking Both are Equal

When looking at the stats from just Google reviews, one thing is for sure no matter which burger chain you dine at, you're going to have an 'ok' experience. Which is kind of what is expected from all fast-food chains. They are quick and inexpensive, but they generally aren't known for the highest level of customer service and or best tasting food. They make decent food, fast and cheap. 

Google reviews really just show how many people had either outrageously bad or good experiences. It is rare that a customer who has an outstanding experience at a fast-food restaurant will think, yeah, I'll go post a Google Review of five stars. However, the alternative is pretty likely. Those customers who have an outrageously bad experience are much more likely to complete a Google review of the restaurant. 

Those states with the highest average rankings are only 3.8 and the lowest is 3.2. So, on average no matter where you get your fast-food burger cravings satisfied, you are sure to expect a pretty ok experience. As it is true will all statistics, there are outliers. The outliers for each must really go above and beyond what is expected from a fast-food chain. One McDonald's in Hawaii has a ranking of 3.8, and the highest Burger King rating of 4.4 is located in Texas. 

While all of these figures are available by researching each fast-food restaurant chain, Bright Local compiled and composed the results of all the nations Google reviews for both Burger King and McDonald's. These results show by state who took the cheese and what the Google reviews show.