This year, the AFBF found that serving a turkey-centric feast for 10 people will cost about $55.18, a 5% decrease from last year’s $58.08

Brett Davis
The Center Square Washington

For the third consecutive year, Washingtonians will pay less for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner than they did the previous year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual cost survey

The AFBF’s survey found that by region, the West would pay the highest amount for Thanksgiving dinner, at  $61.75. The Northeast had the second-highest rate at $60.82, followed by the Midwest at $54.38 and the South at $50.01.

This year, the AFBF found that serving a turkey-centric feast for 10 people will cost about $55.18, a 5% decrease from last year’s $58.08. In 2023, the same meal cost $61.17.

“It’s encouraging to see some relief in the price of turkeys, as it is typically the most expensive part of the meal,” said AFBF economist Faith Parum, Ph.D., in a news release. “Farmers are still working to rebuild turkey flocks that were devastated by avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen. The combination will help ensure turkey will remain an affordable option for families celebrating Thanksgiving.”

The AFBF found the average price of a 16-pound frozen turkey, the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner, is about $21.50, or $1.34 per pound, down more than 16% from last year.

While the news release notes that wholesale prices for the Thanksgiving fowl are up from last year, it explains that “grocery stores are featuring Thanksgiving deals and attempting to draw consumer demand back to turkey, leading to lower retail prices for a holiday bird.”

Other individual food prices include the following:

• 14-ounces of cubed stuffing mix: $3.71 (down 9%).
• 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.37 (down .8%).
• Half pint of whipping cream: $1.87 (up 3.2%).
• 1 pound of frozen peas: $2.03 (up 17.2%).
• 1 dozen dinner rolls: $3.56 (down 14.6%).
• Misc. ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.61 (down 4.7%).
• 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.16 (up .1%).
• 1 gallon of whole milk: $3.73 (up 16.3%).
• 3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $4.00 (up 37%).
• 1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): $1.36 (up 61.3%).
• 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.28 (down 2.8%).

An analysis by Wells Fargo turned up similar results, finding that a typical Thanksgiving dinner this year would cost about 2% to 3% less than the previous year.

The bank noted that while grocery prices rose around 2.7% in the last year, it found that Thanksgiving staples are not driving up grocery inflation.

“At the heart of the uptick in the CPI’s food-at-home increase is protein, specifically beef and eggs, which are not on the Thanksgiving menu,” the report explained.

Informational website FinanceBuzz, however, found that turkeys were 11% more expensive this year than last year.

The company examined turkey prices from grocery stores nationwide to determine the average cost of a bird in each state. The average price of a 15-pound gobbler in America this year is $34.65, FinanceBuzz found. That’s an average of $2.31 per pound, as compared to last year’s $2.08 per pound.

Washingtonians can expect to pay a little bit more than that – $35.35 – for a bird, according to FinanceBuzz. Last year, residents of the Evergreen State paid an average of $30.85 for a turkey.

FinanceBuzz’s reported turkey prices are generally higher than those from the AFBF primarily due to differences in data collection methodology and the specific types of turkeys priced. As previously noted, AFBF incorporates retailer deals and loss leaders in its calculations, which are often excluded by FinanceBuzz. 

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.