They’re the Montagues and Capulets of the fast-food world.
If you’re into pizza, you’ll already have picked a team: Pizza Hut (established 1958) or Domino’s (1960). These are the big families in an industry that’s worth $46 billion per year in the U.S. alone. And despite efforts to objectively decide which pizza is better, you are what you eat. Your favorite pizza is literally in your blood.
But, in hard times, a few buck’s difference can turn your head, especially if you’re hoping to afford some sides. So, NetCredit decided to see if we can sway you from one brand to another — by comparing the price of a slice around the world.
What We Did
NetCredit sourced the price of a large cheese (Margherita) pizza with a classic base from Domino’s and Pizza Hut in the biggest city of every U.S. state and the capital of every country. While we were doing so, we also took note of a few sundries, such as the most expensive and most unique pizza joint item in each location. Scroll on to see our data mapped and charted.
Key Findings
- Finland has the world’s most expensive Pizza Hut cheese pizza at $31.65.
- Domino’s most expensive is in Singapore ($23.57).
- The most expensive pizza of any kind from these brands is the Super Supreme at Finland’s Pizza Hut ($36.60).
- Hawaii has the most expensive pizza in the U.S., at $18.99 for a Margherita from either Pizza Hut or Domino’s.
Singapore, U.K. Have Priciest Domino’s; Finland, Singapore Worst for Pizza Hut
Domino’s overtook Pizza Hut as the world’s most lucrative pizza kitchen in 2018. The Domino’s pepperoni piece that keeps repeating on you represents the tiniest sliver of a $17.8 billion global revenue for the firm. Pizza Hut is a slice or two behind on $13 billion per year globally. But how does this reflect on pizza prices around the world?
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Domino’s is notoriously expensive in the U.K. ($22.34), where you can get the equivalent cheese pizza at the Hut ($19.99) with nearly enough change to buy a big bottle of soda. This is the world’s second most expensive Domino’s and involves a 900% markup on ingredients, according to one calculation. However, the firm insists that high U.K. taxes and regular deals and discounts mean this supposed profit margin is just pie in the sky.
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Finland’s Pizza Hut boasts the world’s most expensive cheese pizza and the only one that’s north of 30 bucks ($31.65). With a world top 20 average income and no Domino’s to rival it, Pizza Hut can afford premium pricing for a basic pie — although locals recommend finding somewhere independent. Fellow Scandinavians in Sweden have to shell out for the world’s third priciest Pizza Hut Margherita, albeit for ten bucks less than their Finnish neighbors ($21.49). This is over eight bucks more than Swedes pay for the equivalent at Domino’s.
Hawaii Home to America’s Priciest Pizza
There are over 75,000 pizza restaurants in the U.S., including more than 6,000 Pizza Huts and 6,500 Domino’s. But the price in some locations is as much as 50% more than in other states. Below, we’ve mapped the prices of a large cheese pizza in Domino’s and Pizza Hut in every state.
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The Hawaiian pizza is considered, at best, decadent, at worst, an abomination for its peculiar pineapple and ham combo. In fact, the ham and pineapple pizza is not Hawaiian at all but sort of Greek-Canadian. The real abomination with pizza in Hawaii is the cost of a Margherita at Pizza Hut or Domino’s (both 18.99) in the state. This is the most expensive cheese pizza for either brand in the whole U.S. Ingredients are more expensive on the islands. However, Pizza Hut is run by a different company than most of the mainland stores and sets its prices independently.
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Alaska is also highly expensive for both brands. But here, a cheese pizza is nearly two bucks more at Pizza Hut ($17.69) than Domino’s ($15.99). There are only four cheese pizzas in the U.S. that cost over $17. One of them is at Pizza Hut in Illinois, making it the country’s third priciest Hut. Pizza Hut also has a shorter ‘low price’ tail overall, with 10 states offering a Margherita at 12.99 or less — compared to Domino’s, where $12.99 is the standard in 14 states, and you’ll find it even cheaper in Kentucky, Idaho and Nebraska.
Finland’s $37 Pizza Hut Pizza is World’s Most Expensive
Experts have demonstrated that while Pizza Hut has stronger star players, Domino’s is more consistently tasty all-round. That’s certainly borne out by the two top-priced pizzas in the world: Pizza Hut is responsible for both the Super Supreme (Finland, $36.60) and Kazu’s Luxury Beef and Pork (Japan, $35.62), while Domino’s most expensive international pizzas are more evenly priced.
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Wait, Kazu’s Luxury Beef and Pork? The most expensive Japanese pizza is a traditional but classy affair, combining two already full-on pies: the chargrilled beef and Iberian pork barbeque. It gets its name from Japanese Pizza Hut’s current promotional frontman, a comedian called Kazlaser. Japan’s Pizza Hut caters to very specific tastes. Shrimp, squid, corn, parsley and spicy cod roe sauce on a mayo base, anyone? They even offer a rice crust as an alternative to wheat dough. Which brings us to…
The World’s Weirdest Pizza Hut and Domino’s Toppings
Cheese can be pretty vanilla. Sometimes — when you don’t have to share — it shakes things up a bit to go for the most random item on the menu. Seafood on pizza will always get the next table talking, and Luxembourg keeps it classy with a topping of scampi and, of course, garlic sauce; cheesy crust is optional. Taiwanese Domino’s goes the full lobster preparing it hot-pot style with beef strips.
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But Weird Domino’s leads with the Tacorama, Norway’s answer to the question, “what would a Scandi American Mexican Italian dish look like?” Built with beef, jalapeños, grilled peppers, nachos and taco spice with hoops of simmering white sauce radiating from the center, this is the Benetton ad of pizza. And it gets better: the custom options are open, so you’re free to add Döner kebab, pineapple or Bearnaise if you have krone to spare after splashing 30 bucks on a weird pie.
The Cheapest Pizza Isn’t Always the Right Pizza
When times are hard, is the price jump worth it to chow on your first-choice brand of pizza? We’ve gathered our full national and international pizza data in this interactive to help you find the right price.
With costs rising, pizza is unlikely to get cheaper any time soon. What we will see is a race to innovate: new ways to order and dine and cement your loyalty, and undoubtedly some new and futuristic toppings to keep our love affair with pizza fresh.
METHODOLOGY & SOURCES
For each U.S. state, we used the most populous city and searched on dominos.com and pizzahut.com to find a store. Using the online ordering systems, we found the price of a large cheese pizza with a classic base. When the most populous city wasn’t available, we used the next one. We applied a similar method for each country, using the capital to find a store.
We also recorded the price of the most expensive pizza in every country, allowing us to pinpoint the five most expensive pizzas worldwide from each chain. We also picked out any pizzas that were unique or unusual and noted them down before isolating the five most unique from each chain. Every country’s pizza price was recorded in its local currency and converted using xe.com.
Spain’s prices have been reduced by 50%, as online promotions automatically cut their prices in half.
The data was collected in September 2022.
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