Where McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Break the Most (And the Least)

The Action Network tracked McDonald’s soft-serve machine status for nearly six years across 492 cities and all 50 states to answer the question every drive-thru raises: will the machine actually be working?

Short answer: nationally, it’s down about 10.4% of the time. But where you live dramatically impacts your chances.

Fun Findings

Cleveland, Tennessee is the broken-machine capital of America, with implied odds of a downed machine of 46.9%, nearly a coin flip.
Ashland, Kentucky is soft-serve heaven at just 2.1%.
Mississippi is the worst state overall (34.0%); Minnesota is the best (11.5%).
We built a searchable tool so readers can look up their own city.

5 Cities Most Likely To Have a Broken Machine

Rank	City	Implied Probability It’s Down
1	Cleveland, TN	46.90%
2	Albany, GA	42.40%
3	Gulfport, MS	39.70%
4	Kalamazoo, MI	38.60%
5	Puyallup, WA	37.60%

5 Cities Least Likely To Have a Broken Machine

Rank	City	Implied Probability It’s Down
1	Ashland, KY	2.10%
2	Yakima, WA	2.80%
3	Germantown, MD	2.80%
4	Costa Mesa, CA	3.00%
5	Fairfield, CA	3.20%

You can explore the full interactive piece, including a searchable tool for all cities and a map of all 50 states, here.

Methodology:

We analyzed daily snapshots of publicly reported McDonald’s soft-serve machine status (Oct 2020–July 2026, 7.86 million location checks) into implied probability for each city and state.

About:

The Action Network is a leading sports analytics and media platform delivering data-driven insights, betting analysis, and fan-focused reporting. We turn data into odds on everything fans care about, from the final score to whether the ice cream machine will actually be working.