

See this link to read the full 2012 paper authored by Orley C. For the other countries, they correspond typically to the two largest cities in the country. For the United States, China and Russia, these numbers reflect an average of about 20 cities, researcher Stepan Jurajda explained in an email. Scroll through the slides to see how the United States compares to other countries, both for wages at McDonald's and the cost of a Big Mac in each place. The researchers are in the middle of complete update, but agreed to share with the findings for 10 countries. What we found is that the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2012 published a study comparing the price of Big Macs around the world to what typical McDonald's workers make in those places. But McDonald's, being the giant that it is, often is in the center of the discussion.

And even within the fast-food category, McDonald's certainly is not alone. Many jobs outside the fast-food industry pay close to the minimum wage, which in Ohio is $8.10 per hour. We asked that question following the introduction of a proposal to establish a $15 an hour minimum wage in the city of Cleveland.
