The year is 1984. You’re shopping at Costco. After picking up a few necessities, you grab the delicious hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 –- quite a bargain. Fast forward to 2025. After picking up a few necessities, you grab the delicious hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 — quite a bargain. No, that’s not a typo. No, our Chowhound editors didn’t miss anything. More than 40 years after introducing this famous hot dog bargain in its food court, Costco has not budged on the price at all. It’s still $1.50, and a must-buy item for your first trip.
That’s a huge win for Costco’s customers. For a large corporate big box store, the chain has been insistent on keeping its fast food offerings incredibly affordable, whether it’s the hot dog combo, the $1.99 pizza slice, the 69 cent sodas, or the $2.49 ice cream sundae. But let’s say Costco wasn’t so focused on keeping its food court offerings affordable. What if the company played to the reasons fast food has gotten so expensive? If Costco’s hot dog combo cost $1.50 in 1984, what should it cost in 2025 after inflation?
The incredible bargain that is Costco’s hot dog combo
Based on inflation calculators you can find all over the internet, Costco’s hot dog combo should cost around $4.63 now. That’s a 208% increase over the original $1.50 price that still stands today. That pizza slice should be more than $6, instead of $1.99. Now to compare this to other fast food favorites adjusted for inflation.
In the 1980s, you could buy a Big Mac Value Pack — a combo of a Big Mac, fries, and soda – for $2.59, or the Big Mac by itself for just $1.60. Today, the famous McDonald’s burger costs $5.29 while the combo meal sets you back $9.29, with costs adjusting higher or lower based on your location. Next, let’s take a look at that $1.99 pizza slice: The average cost of a large pie these days is nearly $18, $10 more than a large cheese Pizza Hut pie would cost you in the 1980s. We get it, inflation sucks, but let’s be honest; Costco is your friend. Compared to other fast food options, this chain is more than happy to draw you in with inexpensive, quality food and keep you there to buy an 85-inch flat screen television. For our money, that hot dog is definitely worth it.
