McDonald’s is practically ubiquitous in the United States. Sometimes it feels like you can’t drive more than a mile or two without seeing the Golden Arches. (In some places, that is literally true!) It is widely suggested that the average American lives just over three miles from the nearest McDonald’s. But, despite this claim, McDonald’s isn’t actually everywhere in the U.S. There are, shall we say, a few McDeserts in the U.S. where the Golden Arches are nowhere to be found.
State with Fewest McDonald’s
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There are McDonald’s restaurants in all 50 U.S. states, but North Dakota has the fewest locations. There are only 22 McDonald’s in The Peace Garden State. On the opposite end of the spectrum, California has the most McDonald’s locations with well over 1,100. (While it may seem like McDonald’s has the most U.S. locations of any fast food chain, that is actually not the case. Here is the list of the fast-food brands with the most locations in the U.S.)
State Capital with No McDonald’s
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There is only one state capital without a McDonald’s. It also happens to be the smallest state capital in the United States: Montpelier, Vermont. If Vermont legislators have a hankering for a Big Mac and fries, they won’t find it in their state’s capital city. However, they can drive ten minutes to the nearby town of Barre for their fix. So, while there is no McDonald’s within the Montpelier city limits, it’s not exactly a McDesert. There are places in the U.S. that are much, much further away from the closest McDonald’s.
The Last Frontier
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Alaska is the largest state in the nation by a wide margin. It is one-fifth the size of the entire conterminous U.S. In a state this vast, with so much barren and uninhabited land, there would clearly be a point in Alaska that would be further from a McDonald’s than any other place in the U.S. For our purposes, however, we limited our search to the 48 contiguous states.
What U.S. town in the Lower 48 is further from Mickey D’s than any other? 24/7 Wall St. consulted multiple authoritative news sources to answer this question.
The Previous McFarthest Spot
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Food blogger Stephen Von Worley coined the term the “McFarthest Spot” to describe the town that is a greater distance from a McDonald’s restaurant than any other U.S. locality.
When Von Worley performed his initial study back in 2009, he found two small towns in South Dakota that were each 107 miles from the closest McDonald’s. These small hamlets were declared the McFarthest Spots.
The Current McFarthest Spot
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Things have changed in the last 15 years, though. Thanks to the closure of the McDonald’s in Toponah, Nevada, this small Nevada town now holds the honor of the new McFarthest Spot.
Tonopah is home to just over 2,000 people and is the county seat of Nye County. Tonopah is nicknamed, “Queen of the Silver Camps,” as it was purportedly the site of the second-biggest silver strike in Nevada history.
As the legend goes, in 1900 a prospector named Jim Butler lost his mule. When he found the animal, he noticed an outcropping that appeared to contain silver. In another version of the story, when Butler found his mule, he picked up a rock to throw at the animal in frustration. However, before he hurled the stone, he noticed it was unusually heavy because it was laced with silver.
While Tonopah is famous for its silver mines, there are no Golden Arches anywhere near this town. Tonopah is 135 miles (120 miles as the crow flies) from the nearest McDonald’s, which is the furthest distance from a McDonald’s of any town in the conterminous United States.
Tonopah is located in the Nevada desert, so our McDesert moniker works on multiple levels. (Sorry, but we’re kind of proud of ourselves for coming up with that one!) We’re not sure exactly how far a super-dedicated Dasher is willing to go for a McDonald’s delivery since there is no standard delivery radius for DoorDash. However, we’re pretty positive that no one is Dashing a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese to Tonopah, Nevada.
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