PPD Index™
The Protein Per Dollar Index is a first-party metric by MacroMate that scores fast food chains on how much protein your money actually buys. Higher score = more protein per dollar.
What is the PPD Index?
The Protein Per Dollar Index (PPD Index™) measures the protein value of a fast food chain's menu. It is calculated as the grams of protein delivered per US dollar across the chain's macro-friendly orders, normalized to a 0–10 scale for direct chain-vs-chain comparison.
Most "healthy fast food" rankings rely on calorie counts, total protein per item, or subjective taste tests. The PPD Index is different: it answers one quantitative question — if you spend a dollar at this chain, how many grams of protein are you actually getting back?
This is the metric we use across MacroMate's analysis content (including the underlying ranking analysis) and inside the MacroMate app's value-tier filtering.
The formula
The raw ratio (g protein / $) varies from roughly 1.5 at premium chains to roughly 9 at value-tier chains. The PPD Index normalizes this raw ratio to a 0–10 scale where 10 represents the top observed chain in the current dataset and 0 represents zero protein delivered per dollar.
The normalization constant is recalibrated each version release as new chains and menu prices are added. v1.0 is calibrated against the May 2026 menu-price snapshot across 120+ chains in the MacroMate dataset.
The scoring scale
Every chain receives one PPD Index score on a 0–10 scale. Tier ranges:
Exceptional protein-per-dollar. The cheapest gram of protein in American fast food.
Solid value for high-protein orders, especially when ordered macro-conscious.
Reasonable protein value when you order intentionally.
You're paying for experience, brand, or ingredient quality more than protein.
High-price chains where protein is incidental to the offering.
Why this metric exists
Existing fast-food rankings rely on three weak metrics: total calories (penalizes the wrong thing on a cut), absolute protein per item (rewards expensive premium bowls over efficient value orders), and subjective "healthy / unhealthy" taste-test rankings (no quantitative basis at all).
None of these answer the question most people actually ask when ordering fast food on a macro target: given a fixed budget, how much protein can I get? Protein is the most expensive macronutrient by weight, the hardest to hit on a cut, and the one most likely to be undershot when eating out. The PPD Index is the missing scoreboard.
It is also chain-portable. Two chains can hit the same average protein-per-item but differ 3–4× on protein-per-dollar because of menu-pricing structure. A ranking on protein-per-item misses this. The PPD Index doesn't.
Data sources
PPD Index v1.0 is computed from:
- Macro data: the MacroMate verified-macros dataset, sourced from each chain's official published nutrition information.
- Price data: May 2026 menu-price snapshot averaged across major US markets. Prices vary by location; the Index uses national-average approximations.
- Inclusion criteria: chains with at least three classifiable macro-friendly orders in the MacroMate dataset. New chains added quarterly.
See our press kit for the broader methodology behind MacroMate's macro classifications and the attributable findings (H1–H14) the Index draws from.
Cite the PPD Index
Writing about fast food protein value? You're welcome to cite the PPD Index in articles, posts, comparisons, and reports. Suggested citation format:
The PPD Index methodology and scoring scale are published under CC BY 4.0. Chain-specific PPD scores and underlying ordering builds are MacroMate proprietary content and are available inside the iOS + Android apps.
See the PPD Index applied
Want the metric in action? These head-to-head matchups score two chains against each other on protein per dollar: Chick-fil-A vs McDonald's, In-N-Out vs McDonald's, Subway vs Jimmy John's, Taco Bell vs Chipotle, and Wendy's vs McDonald's. For the full leaderboard, see highest protein fast food under $10.
What's NOT in this page
Deliberately: the chain-by-chain PPD score table, the specific macro-friendly builds that produce each chain's score, and the protein-optimized ordering instructions. Those live inside the MacroMate iOS and Android apps, where users can filter chains by PPD tier and pull up the exact builds.
This page is the public methodology; the app is the operating tool.
Use the PPD Index in your ordering
Free on iOS and Android — filter every chain by PPD tier, pull up the exact macro-friendly builds, hit your protein targets at fast food.