Cost of Thanksgiving dinner drops but is still 19% higher than pre-pandemic holidays

We’re stuffed! Thanksgiving dinners are slightly cheaper than last year, but the holiday feast is still gobbling up hefty funds from American families — with inflation making the spread 19% higher than it was before the pandemic.The average cost of this year’s meal for 10 will be $58.08, or about $5.80 per person — but that’s close to $10 more than it was pre-pandemic, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual Thanksgiving dinner survey.

While the cost of Thanksgiving dinner dropped 5% from 2023 and 9% from the record of $64.06 set in 2022, the highest since the bureau began its yearly assessment in 1986, it’s still 19% more expensive than it was in 2019.That “highlights the impact inflation has had on food prices — and farmers’ costs — since the pandemic,” the bureau said.

Turkey — the main attraction on Thanksgiving — is usually the most expensive part of the meal but it helped keep Americans’ wallets a little fatter this year as the average price of a 16-pound bird is $25.67, or $1.60 per pound, down 6% from 2023.“The American turkey flock is the smallest it’s been since 1985 because of avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen, resulting in lower prices at the grocery store for families planning a holiday meal,” said AFBF economist Bernt Nelson.The traditional Thanksgiving spread is most affordable in the South, where Americans spend about $56.81, according to AFBF’s study, which revealed that those living out West shell out the most — $67.05 — for their feasts.

Northeasterners, meanwhile, spend about $57.36 and Midwesterners $58.90, according to the bureau.“We should all be thankful that we live in a country with such an abundant food supply,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall.

“We are seeing modest improvements in the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for a second year, but America’s families, including farm families, are still being hurt by high inflation.”If turkey isn’t tops on ...