The Cost Of An In-N-Out Double-Double Today Would Buy You About 10 Burgers In 1963

The first In-N-Out Burger — a tiny drive-through burger stand in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park — opened in October of 1948. The original menu boasted 25 cent cheeseburgers and cold drinks for just a dime. It wasn't until 15 years later that the now-famous Double-Double was added to the menu at a price that would shock modern burger lovers. According to In-N-Out, in 1963, a burger with double meat and double cheese cost a mere 60 cents.

That's not just a bargain by today's standards. In 2026, the cost of a Double-Double ranges from around $6 to $6.50, depending on which drive-through you pull into. That means the price of a Double-Double today would have gotten you ten — or almost eleven! — in 1963.

Other menu items also boasted prices that contemporary diners would be thrilled to see again. Fountain drinks appeared on the In-N-Out menu in 1958, when you could get a 12-ounce Pepsi for 10 cents. Today a small soda is even smaller at 11 ounces, but costs between $2 and $2.50. Similarly, french fries were priced at 20 cents in the 1960s, but cost between $2 and $3 dollars today.

If you're looking for a hot beverage with your burger (milkshakes didn't hit the menu until 1975), you're in luck. You could get cocoa for 15 cents in the '60s, and in 2018 hot chocolate came back on the menu after being absent for 50 years, though without the 1960s price tag. It costs around $2.25 today, but is free for kids on rainy and snowy days.

No one is immune to inflation, and in fact, that difference in price from 60 cents to just over $6 of the In-N-Out burgers between the 1960s and today is roughly in line with inflation, according to a U.S. Consumer Price Index calculator. And, of course, it isn't the only burger joint to raise prices over the decades.

A cheeseburger at McDonald's in 2026 costs between $2.99 and $3.50. In 1955, a cheeseburger was 15 cents and the price of a single burger of today could have gotten you 20 in the past. In other words, for $3 in 1955 you could have purchased the entire McDonalds menu, plus more. At Burger King, today's Whopper costs upwards of $8, depending on your location, while in 1957 when it was introduced it was 37 cents. How does 21 Whoppers sound? Burger King was notably more expensive than its competitors in the past, a trend that continues today.

White Castle debuted with 5 cent hamburgers in 1921, raising the price to 12 cents in 1950. Today's original sliders — cheese-free, as founder Billy Ingram first sold — cost a little more than $1 each. While it's hard to imagine eating just one of these bite-sized burgers, $1 today would get you 20 sliders at 1921's 5 cents each prices, or eight for 1950's price. We've got to say, 20 sliders does sound much more manageable than 20 double cheeseburgers.