The cheapest coffee in the US—only $1.99 for an iced coffee at Burger King, saving you hundreds a year—a financial change that could fund your vacation

On: August 21, 2025 5:41 AM
The cheapest coffee in the US—only $1.99 for an iced coffee at Burger King, saving you hundreds a year—a financial change that could fund your vacation

If you are a coffee lover and reside in the United States, the information in this article is of interest to you. It is almost a religion for many the moment we have the first coffee in the morning. The frenetic pace of life also means that we often have to order it to take away in different establishments, which is an expense for our pockets. That is why the news portal AS has done a market study in search of the cheapest coffee, based on the price comparison and calculating what the annual savings would be depending on the coffee we choose to buy.

Different companies such as Dunkin’, Chick-fil-As, Starbucks, Delish, Panera or Burger King, among others, have been analyzed. They have focused the study on a small cup of iced coffee, in which Dunkin leads the ranking of the most expensive establishment, with a price of $5.31, followed by Panera with $5.19, and so on until reaching the cheapest company: Burger King, with $1.99! According to AS, if you replace a Dunkin coffee with one from Burger King, the amount of money you could save is none other than $1,212 a year! If you want to know the rest of the comparisons and saving figures, keep reading!

Coffee lovers

Many of us are unable or unwilling to give up our morning or afternoon coffee after lunch. But have you ever stopped to think about how much money this guilty pleasure costs us? With the summer heat, many of us replace our coffee, whether black or with milk, with iced coffee, which is often even more expensive, providing us with another reason to consider the associated costs. This is why the news portal AS has conducted market research in search of the cheapest iced coffee, as well as making comparisons and calculating how much we could save in a year. Want to know more? Keep reading!

Looking for the cheapest coffee

Several companies have been analyzed in this study, which includes the search for the cheapest iced coffee. In the following table, a clear bar chart shows each company based on the price of their coffee, from highest to lowest price. The companies analyzed are Dunkin, Panera, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Sonic, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. The price range goes from the most expensive, $5.31, to the cheapest, $1.99. Which company corresponds to each price?

 

Grafico de la web AS

Forget McDonald’s and Dunkin’: analysis shows you can save up to $1,200 per year switching to the cheapest coffee in the fast food industry

Save by buying coffee

Undoubtedly, the winning iced coffee is from Burger King, with a very affordable price of $1.99! Will it be an advertising ploy that ends up leading to a full breakfast purchase? Only the company’s executives and marketing heads will know. The second aspect that the AS study analyzed is the amount of money we can save depending on the coffee we choose to buy. When comparing the price of iced coffee from Dunkin to that of Burger King, the difference is notable. But if you extrapolate it to having coffee every workday, we’re talking about an annual difference of $790! Let’s see what the differences are between the other companies analyzed:

  • Dunkin’ to Burger King – Save $3.32 a cup, or about $1,212 a year.
  • Panera to Wendy’s – Save $2.70 a cup, or around $985 annually.
  • Chick-fil-A to McDonald’s – Save $2.20 per drink, or $803 a year.
  • Starbucks to Taco Bell – Save $1.21 each time, adding up to about $441 yearly.
  • Sonic to Burger King – Save $1.60 daily, roughly $584 a year.

Of course, the choice does not only depend on the price; other factors such as availability, proximity to establishments, and preferences also play a role, so the accumulation of all these factors is what will be decisive.

Do you know what the true effect of coffee is in the mornings?