AFBF Thanksgiving survey shows dinner cost declined from 2023

Cooking a Thanksgiving dinner this year for friends and family will cost less than last year but is still more expensive than before COVID-19. The 39th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey shows the cost of this year’s classic holiday feast for ten people is $58.08 or about $5.80 per person. That’s a five percent decrease from 2023, which was 4.5 percent lower than 2022. Two years of declines don’t erase dramatic increases that led to a record high cost of $64.06 in 2022. Despite the encouraging momentum, a Thanksgiving meal is still 19 percent higher than it was in 2019. Turkey, the centerpiece on most tables, helped bring down the overall cost of the dinner. The average price for a 16-pound turkey is $25.67. That’s $1.68 per pound, which is down six percent from 2023. Items like dinner rolls and cubed stuffing both saw an eight percent increase, and cranberries were up 12 percent.