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 by the American Farm Bureau Federation, 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 5% decrease from 2023, which was 4.5% 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% 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 6% from 2023.
Items like dinner rolls and cubed stuffing both saw an 8% increase, and cranberries were up 12%.
