The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people has declined for the third straight year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The “classic” meal — a 16-pound turkey and sides like stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberries and pumpkin pie ingredients — costs an average of $55.18 nationwide, new data from AFBF finds.
The estimates come from the farm advocacy group’s annual price survey, conducted in the first week of November and based on volunteer shoppers in all 50 states checking grocery store prices for the same Thanksgiving staples each year.
The biggest cost is the turkey at an average of $21.50. Other items include 30-ounce pumpkin pie mix at an average cost of $4.16, three pounds of sweet potatoes at $4, one gallon of whole milk at $3.73 and 14 ounces of stuffing mix at $3.71, according to the data.
Prices also vary by region, with the classic meal averaging a high of $61.75 in the West and a low of $50.01 in the South.
The cost of the classic dinner is down 5% from 2024 and well below the record high of $64.05 reached in 2022. But it’s still higher than its 2020 level, when the same meal averaged $46.90. However, with inflation factored in, 2025’s price is roughly in line with what the 2020 dinner would cost today.
Here’s a look at the average price for the last 10 years, according to AFBF’s annual survey. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.
- 2015: $50.11
- 2016: $49.87
- 2017: $49.12
- 2018: $48.90
- 2019: $48.91
- 2020: $46.90
- 2021: $53.31
- 2022: $64.05
- 2023: $61.17
- 2024: $58.08
Retailers may help keep turkey prices down
At an average price of $21.50, turkey makes up nearly half the cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner, according to AFBF data. But even though wholesale turkey prices are up about 75% from last year due to avian flu and higher production costs, shoppers aren’t necessarily seeing that increase at the register, according to researchers at Purdue University.
That’s because grocers often mark down whole frozen turkeys in November, treating the bird as a “loss leader” to draw customers into stores for other, higher-margin items, reports industry trade publication Grocery Dive.
And those discounts can be steep. Purdue’s analysis shows retailers are selling birds well below typical seasonal prices. Walmart, for example, is offering whole turkeys for $0.98 per pound, less than half of Purdue’s estimated average retail price for November.
Prices for sides are more mixed. Wheat-based items like dinner rolls and stuffing are cheaper, on average, in 2025, while fresh vegetables and sweet potatoes rose sharply due to weather issues and regional supply disruptions, according to AFBF.
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