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Thanksgiving is a time to gather with loved ones, to show gratitude for life’s abundance — and, of course, to eat.
And when it comes to Thanksgiving food, it seems Americans are getting relief on their grocery bills this year following a few years of escalating costs.
A “classic” Thanksgiving feast for a party of 10 will cost $58.08 in 2024, on average — down 5% from 2023 and down 9% from 2022, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a trade group for farmers and ranchers.
Its analysis includes turkey, cubed stuffing, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, frozen peas, fresh cranberries, celery, carrots, pumpkin pie mix and crusts, whipping cream and whole milk.
Prices for this food basket were at a record high in 2022, at $64.05, the Farm Bureau said.
Households that add ham, russet potatoes and frozen green beans into the mix would pay $77.34 in 2024, on average — an 8% decrease from 2023, the Farm Bureau said.
The annual decline in prices will be welcome news to many households: 44% of people hosting Thanksgiving this year are concerned about the cost of the event, according to a recent Deloitte survey.
The decrease is largely due to various supply-and-demand dynamics driving down prices for key staples — turkey, most importantly — and an overarching decline in U.S. food inflation, according to economists.
Turkey price movements had “definitely the biggest impact” on the overall cost of a Thanksgiving meal this year, Nelson said. That’s because a 16-pound bird accounts for 44% of the overall Thanksgiving grocery bill, he said.
The national average cost for a 16-pound turkey is down 6% from 2023, according to the Farm Bureau. Overall turkey prices have decreased about 4% in the past year, according to the consumer price index.
Turkey has been a “curious item this year,” Nelson said.
On one hand, turkey supply is down “significantly,” he said. Farmers raised about 205 million turkeys in 2024, down 6% from 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s the lowest figure since 1985, Nelson said.
