Turkey Prices & Thanksgiving Costs: Trends and Analysis

Analysis of turkey prices reveals mixed outcomes. While some turkey costs are up, others are down. Overall Thanksgiving meal affordability depends on various factors like bird flu and retailer deals.

Inquired about turkey prices, a USDA speaker referred us to the department’s weekly record on retail turkey costs. The Nov. 21 record reveals mixed outcomes, with fresh turkey prices down and various other turkey costs up considering that in 2014.

Historical Turkey Cost Analysis

Historically, turkey has represented about 40% to 45% of the meal’s total expense, the group’s analysis discovered. This year, the bureau reported that a turkey of that dimension costs approximately $21.50, or 39% of the overall meal price. That’s the most affordable percentage since 2000, when a turkey accounted for 38.7% of the meal. However the bureau found that’s partially since the prices of various other things have actually risen.

If they believe they can make up for income losses with sales on various other products, grocers are occasionally willing to market turkeys at a discount. Shoppers may see turkey costs that are about 16% less than they were in 2015, the bureau reported.

Factors Affecting Turkey Prices

A surge in bird flu instances is decreasing the country’s turkey stock, increasing turkey wholesale rates. The U.S. Department of Farming’s Weekly National Turkey Record from Nov. 14 listings the cost of a whole icy turkey as $1.77 per pound for an 8- to 16-pound bird– up from 97 cents per extra pound during the same week in 2015, as PolitiFact reported. Some researchers and economists expectretailers to pass that increase along to customers.

We discovered no reputable records revealing retail turkey rates striking a 25-year reduced in 2025.

The ranch bureau’s report, which was based on its annual survey of volunteer shoppers, focused on the expense of a 16-pound turkey as a portion of the overall rate of a Thanksgiving dish offering 10 individuals. The dish it valued likewise included cranberries, pleasant potatoes, stuffing and much more.

USDA Report on Frozen Turkey Prices

Costs for the most common kind of turkeys in the USDA study– icy standard entire turkeys– were up nationally over last year. An increase in bird influenza situations is reducing the country’s turkey supply, elevating turkey wholesale costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Weekly National Turkey Report from Nov. 14 listings the price of a whole frozen turkey as $1.77 per extra pound for an 8- to 16-pound bird– up from 97 cents per extra pound throughout the very same week last year, as PolitiFact reported. And the USDA’s most recent report on retail turkey costs located icy birds to set you back slightly extra this year than last year.

Produce rates are up because farmers are encountering higher prices for plant food, fuel, labor and equipment, the bureau discovered. The cost of pleasant potatoes is up 37% from 2024 because Storm Helene harmed North Carolina areas, which create more than half of the nation’s pleasant potatoes.

Inquired about the claim, an agent for Hudson sent PolitiFact a checklist of mediaarticles concerning turkey expenses declining this year compared to in 2015, in addition to a White House news release. Nevertheless, Hudson’s e-mail response didn’t consist of evidence that turkey rates are at a 25-year-low.

Turkey price data gathered by federal firms– such as the United State Division of Agriculture, the United State Bureau of Labor Stats, and Reserve Bank of St. Louis– is limited. We struggled to discover inflation-adjusted data revealing the price of a standard frozen turkey each November dating back to 2000. However, we located no qualified records revealing retail turkey rates striking a 25-year low in 2025.

Conflicting Data on Turkey Prices

Several consumers are paying reduced rates for turkey than they were last year. One factor: Merchants generally protect their turkey supply months ahead of Thanksgiving, meaning they might have avoided the current enter wholesale costs, a USDA representative informed PolitiFact in an e-mail. Shoppers can likewise discover reduced prices on turkey because sellers provide bargains on Thanksgiving packages, as PolitiFact recently reported.

The bureau discovered the rate of a turkey to be reduced in various other years, such as 2019 and 2020. And the USDA’s latest record on retail turkey prices located icy birds to set you back a little a lot more this year than in 2015. We rank Hudson’s case False.

Hudson stated “turkey prices are at their lowest point considering that 2000,” and cited a record by the American Ranch Bureau Federation. The report does not back up his case. It says the cost of a turkey represent concerning 39% of a typical Thanksgiving meal, which is the lowest percentage in 25 years partly because the other items are extra costly.

Recent Trends in Turkey Market

Datasembly, a marketing research business that surveys once a week costs at 150,000 united state shops, located a 2% decline in the market price of a 10-pound turkey as of Nov. 17, the Associated Press reported. The Nov. 21 USDA report on retail activity discovered blended results, with frozen turkeys priced slightly greater than last year and fresh turkeys valued slightly lower.

Rates for the most typical kind of turkeys in the USDA study– frozen standard entire turkeys– were up nationally over in 2014. The cost of an icy conventional whole turkey considering less than 16 extra pounds balanced 96 cents per pound during the week finishing Nov. 21, up a cent from a year earlier. Icy conventional entire turkeys evaluating more than 16 pounds set you back an average of 99 cents per extra pound, up from 96 cents a year earlier. Various other years show reduced costs. In November 2008 and 2009, one extra pound of turkey price less than 90 cents, a 2010 USDA report showed.

A 16-pound turkey expenses less this year but didn’t hit a 25-year reduced for the bureau’s survey, bureau speaker Bailey Corwine claimed. The national typical rate for a turkey of that dimension was reduced in 2019 and 2020, when rates hit $20.80 and $19.39, respectively.