RALEIGH — According to this year’s Thanksgiving Dinner Farm Bureau survey, the average cost for a family of 10 has risen $10.74 or 20% over the previous year, going from $53.31 in 2021 to $64.05 this year.
While the cost has crept up each year, this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will be the most expensive in the history of the survey. This year’s price jump is almost four dollars more compared to the increase between 2020 and 2021 when the average cost rose $6.41.
This is the 37th year the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has conducted the Thanksgiving Dinner survey.
“General inflation slashing the purchasing power of consumers is a significant factor contributing to the increase in average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner,” AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan said in a press release.
Inflation rates have been rising over the past two years. Inflation hit a high this year in June of 9.1%. Prior to the 2020 election, the inflation rate for October was 1.2%.
The current annual inflation rate for October came in at 7.7%; a small decline from 8.2% in September. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food overall was 10.9% in October. Drilling down, the CPI reported a rate of 12.9% for food at home and 8.6% for food purchases away from home.
Cryan also said other factors raising the cost include “supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine,” and higher turkey costs can also be linked to “a slightly smaller flock this year, increased feed costs and lighter processing weights.”
“Farmers are working hard to meet growing demands for food – both here in the U.S. and globally – while facing rising prices for fuel, fertilizer and other inputs,” Cryan said.
The majority of the menu items have double-digit increases this year. The only decrease was a 14% drop in the cost of fresh cranberries.
- 16-pound turkey: $28.96 or $1.81 per pound (up 21%)
- 14-ounce bag of cubed stuffing mix: $3.88 (up 69%)
- 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.68 (up 26%)
- Half pint of whipping cream: $2.24 (up 26%)
- 1 pound of frozen peas: $1.90 (up 23%)
- 1 dozen dinner rolls: $3.73 (up 22%)
- Misc. ingredients to prepare the meal: $4.13 (up 20%)
- 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.28 (up 18%)
- 1 gallon of whole milk: $3.84 (up 16%)
- 3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $3.96 (up 11%)
- 1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): 88 cents (up 8%)
- 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.57 (down 14%)
The classic dinner menu items on the survey have not changed since it was first conducted in 1986. Three alternate items were added in 2018 and include ham, Russet potatoes and frozen green beans.
Per AFBF, this year’s national average cost was calculated using 224 surveys completed with pricing data from all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
The menu item costs are based on prices checked by AFBF’s “volunteer shoppers” who looked for the best prices without special promotional coupons or purchase deals.
The prices obtained in the survey are from between Oct. 18-31 with AFBF noting the prices were taken before most grocery stores began selling whole frozen turkeys at “sharply lower prices.”
