Here’s one thing to be grateful for this holiday season: A typical Thanksgiving dinner is more affordable this year than last, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The average cost of a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people — including turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream — will cost $55.18, or $5.52 per person, the group found.
That number varies by region. The Thanksgiving grocery haul was cheapest in the South, at $50.01, and most expensive in the West, at $61.75.
This is the third year in a row the price has declined after reaching a historic high of $64.05 in 2022.
The farm group, which has tracked Thanksgiving meal prices for 40 years, compiled data from grocery stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. It did not take into account promotional coupons or deals found online or in-store.
The star of Thanksgiving — the turkey, of course — helped bring down the overall cost of dinner this year. The average price of a 16-pound frozen bird decreased by 16 percent from last year to $21.50, or $1.34 per pound. The report said that its volunteers tracked prices during the first week of November but noted that grocery stores have been featuring Thanksgiving deals to draw in customers and are likely to lower prices further ahead of the holiday.
“Farmers are still working to rebuild turkey flocks that were devastated by avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen,” Faith Parum, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement. “The combination will help ensure turkey will remain an affordable option for families celebrating Thanksgiving.”
Low wheat prices helped bring down the cost of items requiring flour, such as dinner rolls, stuffing mix and frozen pie crusts. But the cost of vegetables shot up, the farm group found. A a one-pound veggie tray of carrots and celery increased more than 60 percent, while sweet potatoes increased by 37 percent. The AFB attributed those increases to hurricane damage in North Carolina, the country’s largest producer of sweet potatoes, and possible supply-chain disruptions, such as from weather or labor shortages.
The Thanksgiving holiday comes right after more than 41 million people were left without food stamps this month because of the government shutdown. Many Americans are reporting higher grocery prices, while also feeling the financial pinch from increases in electricity bills and housing costs.
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