One WA city has the fifth-worst McDonald’s ice cream machine reliability in the U.S.
Jul 20, 2026, 4:00 PM
A sign sits in front of a McDonald's restaurant on May 13, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)
(Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)
Many people across the state celebrated National Ice Cream Day on Sunday by visiting their local McDonald’s for an ice cream. For those in Puyallup, this is never a reliable option.
According to Action Network, an insights & analytics company for sports betting and prediction markets, Puyallup has the fifth-worst odds of any U.S. city for McDonald’s to have a working ice cream machine. According to the survey, Puyallup has a 37.6% chance of an ice cream machine not working across its multiple McDonald’s locations.
In comparison, the worst performing city in the U.S. for ice cream reliability at McDonald’s is Cleveland, Tennessee (46.9% fail rate).
Puyallup has five McDonald’s within the city, located at 17301 Meridian E., 304 2nd St. N.E., 4603 S. Meridian, 731 Shaw Rd., and 804 S. Hill Park Dr.
“In honor of National Ice Cream Day, we analyzed nearly six years of reported machine status across 492 cities and all 50 states to find out how McLucky each location is,” the study read. “This makes [Puyallup] the least reliable location in Washington.”
Another WA city boasts second-best ice cream machine rate in the country
In contrast, Yakima is the safest bet for a working ice cream machine within Washington, with a reported downtime rate of just 2.8% — the second-most reliable city in America.
“Nationally, the machine is down about 10.4% of the time,” the study claimed.
For Seattle, it sits right at the national average rate at 10.6%. Tacoma is closer to Puyallup’s number at 25.5%.
“Washington ranks 30th of 51 states overall, with the machine down 20.0% of the time statewide,” the study read.
To view an interactive map tracking every city’s McDonald’s ice cream machine reliability across all 50 states, click here.
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