How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost? For the classic meal for 10 people, the most recent national number is $55.18, or about $5.52 a person. That’s the 2025 survey from the American Farm Bureau, and it’s lower than most of us would guess.
Then there’s my number. The first year I hosted, I spent $164 on a dinner for eight and couldn’t tell you where half of it went. So this post covers both: what the official basket costs, what it leaves out, and how I build a per-person Thanksgiving budget now so the receipt doesn’t surprise me in December.
The 2026 survey isn’t out yet. The Farm Bureau usually publishes it the week before Thanksgiving (last year it landed on November 19), so every survey number below is labeled 2025. I’ll add the new figure here when it drops.
How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost in 2025 numbers?
Every November, volunteer shoppers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico price the same list of groceries during the first week of the month. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey put the 2025 total at $55.18 for 10 people. That’s down 5% from 2024.
The basket itself looks like this:
- A 16-pound frozen turkey: $21.50 (about $1.34 a pound, down 16%)
- Sweet potatoes, 3 pounds: $4.00 (up 37%)
- Pumpkin pie mix: $4.16, plus two pie crusts at $3.37
- Cubed stuffing: $3.71
- Whole milk, one gallon: $3.73
- Dinner rolls, a dozen: $3.56
- Fresh cranberries: $2.28, frozen peas: $2.03, a veggie tray: $1.36, whipping cream: $1.87
- Misc. pantry items (coffee, onions, eggs, sugar, flour, butter): $3.61
The record high was 2022, at $64.05. So you’re not imagining that the last few years felt expensive. They were, and 2025 eased off a little.
The survey also prices an expanded menu that adds a ham, Russet potatoes and frozen green beans. That one came to $77.09, or about $7.71 a person. If your family does ham and turkey, that’s the more honest starting point.
What the official number leaves out
I love this survey. I also think it’s the most misread food number of the year, because almost no host spends $55 on Thanksgiving.
The basket assumes you already own a roasting pan, salt, spices and oil. It doesn’t include a single drink. No wine, no cider, no coffee creamer. No appetizers for the two hours before the turkey is ready, no second pie, no butter for the rolls beyond the pantry line, no foil pans for leftovers.
My $164 year was mostly that stuff. The turkey was $24. The other $140 was a cheese board, two bottles of wine, a bag of fancy rolls because the regular ones looked sad, and a last-minute run for aluminum pans and ice.
I went to the store for a turkey and came home with a cheese board, two bottles of wine and a bag of ice I forgot to put in the freezer.
I treat the survey as the floor, the cost of the meal itself, and budget the extras as their own line.
Thanksgiving dinner cost per person, and why that’s the number to plan with
Per-person math is easier to work with when your guest list keeps changing, and mine changes every year until about November 20.
Using the 2025 survey, the meal alone runs $5.52 a person for the classic menu and $7.71 with ham and extra sides. Food prices haven’t stood still since then. The USDA’s Economic Research Service, in its September 2026 Food Price Outlook, forecasts food-at-home prices up 2.4% this year, with poultry up 1.0%, fresh vegetables up 5.7% and sugar and sweets up 6.6%.
If I apply that 2.4% to last year’s basket (my estimate, not an official figure), the classic meal for 10 lands around $56.50 this year, roughly $5.65 a person. Pie and sweet potatoes are where I’d expect the bigger jumps.
Where you live matters too. In 2025 the classic meal for 10 cost:
- $50.01 in the South
- $54.38 in the Midwest
- $60.82 in the Northeast
- $61.75 in the West
That’s an $11.74 gap for the exact same food. If you’re in California or Massachusetts, start from about $6.20 a person, not $5.52.
The turkey: how much to buy and what it should cost
The turkey was 39% of the 2025 basket, its lowest share since 2000. Good news for hosts, since it’s the one item you can’t skip.
For sizing, I plan about a pound and a half of whole turkey per guest. That sounds like a lot, but a whole bird is mostly bone, and I want leftovers. Eight people means a 12-pound turkey. At last year’s $1.34 a pound, that’s about $16.
Store-brand frozen turkeys in early November are where the deals live. A lot of grocery stores run “spend $X, get a free turkey” promos too. I got one free in 2023 because I was buying my regular groceries anyway, and it felt like winning a small lottery.
Fresh, organic or heritage birds can run three to five times the per-pound price. If that matters to you, great. Give it its own number in the budget instead of letting it quietly blow up the total.
How I build a Thanksgiving budget in 20 minutes
This is the exact process I use the first weekend of November. It works whether you’re hosting 4 or 14.
- Count heads honestly. Write down who’s confirmed and add one. Someone always brings a plus-one.
- Price the meal per person. Use about $5.65 a person for a classic menu or $7.90 with ham, adjusted up if you’re in the Northeast or West.
- Add the extras line. Drinks, appetizers, disposables, the second dessert. I budget $5 to $7 a person for this, and it’s usually the line that runs over.
- Subtract what guests bring. If your sister always brings pie, take the pie out of your budget. Ask now, not on Wednesday.
- Shop in two trips. Shelf-stable stuff and the frozen turkey the second week of November, fresh produce and dairy three days before.
- Pay from one place. I put the whole amount in a Thanksgiving envelope (or a separate savings bucket) so it doesn’t bleed into the regular monthly grocery bill.
Step 6 is the one that changed things for me. Once the money had its own home, I stopped doing the mental math of “is this Thanksgiving or is this just groceries?” while standing in the cereal aisle.
Cozy tip: Thanksgiving is the first stop on a very expensive six weeks. If you set aside even $15 a week starting now, you’ll have $120 by Thanksgiving week and a head start on December. My free budget printable has a holiday line you can fill in tonight.
Where to save on Thanksgiving dinner without anyone noticing
None of these make the table feel cheap. I’ve tested every one on my own family, and the only complaint I’ve ever gotten was about my gravy.
- Make it a potluck on purpose. I cover the turkey, stuffing and one side. Everyone else picks a dish from a list. My cost dropped from $164 to about $70 the year I started doing this.
- Skip the veggie tray. Its price jumped 61% in the 2025 survey. A bag of carrots and celery you cut yourself costs less and nobody can tell.
- Buy the store-brand basics. Stuffing mix, canned pumpkin, cranberries and pie crusts are the same quality for less.
- Do drinks one way. One big batch of cider or one kind of wine, not a full bar.
- Use what’s already in the pantry. I check flour, sugar, butter and spices before I write the list. I once bought a third jar of cinnamon.
If you want more grocery-side ideas, my post on saving money on groceries covers the habits that work all year, not just in November.
Thanksgiving is the start of your holiday budget
This took me embarrassingly long to figure out. I used to budget Thanksgiving and Christmas as if they were in different years, and then wonder why January felt so tight.
Now I look at November and December as one season. Thanksgiving gets its line, and then I move straight into setting a Christmas number. If you’re starting early enough, a Christmas sinking fund makes the whole stretch feel calmer, and the rest of my seasonal spending posts walk through the other events that sneak up on you.
Food is one of the biggest flexible categories for most households, too. If you’re curious how your spending compares, I keep a running list of budgeting statistics with the sources linked.
How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost for 8? A line-by-line budget
For a group of 8, this is my answer to how much does Thanksgiving dinner cost, line by line. This is a worked example, not data: it uses the 2025 survey prices, the USDA’s 2.4% food-at-home and 1.0% poultry forecasts, and my own assumptions for the extras.
| Line | Assumption | Cost for 8 | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 12 lb at about $1.35/lb (+1% poultry) | $16.24 | $2.03 |
| Classic sides and pie | Rest of the 2025 basket, scaled to 8, +2.4% | $27.60 | $3.45 |
| Ham and extra sides | Optional; expanded menu add-on, scaled to 8 | $17.95 | $2.24 |
| Drinks | One batch of cider plus two bottles of wine | $28.00 | $3.50 |
| Appetizers | One cheese-and-cracker board | $15.00 | $1.88 |
| Disposables | Foil pans, to-go containers, ice | $9.00 | $1.13 |
| Total | Everything above | $113.79 | $14.22 |
Notice that the official meal (turkey plus classic sides) is about $44 of the $114. The rest is ham and the extras. If a guest brings the ham and another covers drinks, this same dinner drops to about $68.
Common mistakes when budgeting for Thanksgiving dinner
- Budgeting only for the survey basket. The $55 number is the meal. Drinks and appetizers can double it, so give them their own line.
- Buying the turkey in the last week. Frozen birds need days to thaw, and the cheap ones are gone by then. Buy it by mid-November.
- Not asking guests what they’re bringing. You end up with three pies and no rolls, and you paid for one of those pies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost per person?
The American Farm Bureau’s 2025 survey puts the classic meal at about $5.52 per person for a group of 10, or $7.71 with ham and extra sides. Once you add drinks, appetizers and disposables, my worked example for 8 guests comes to about $14 a person.
How much does a turkey cost for Thanksgiving?
In the 2025 survey, a 16-pound frozen turkey averaged $21.50, or about $1.34 a pound, down 16% from 2024. Fresh, organic and heritage birds cost a lot more per pound, and many stores give away a free turkey with a minimum grocery purchase.
When does the 2026 Thanksgiving dinner cost survey come out?
The Farm Bureau usually releases it the week before Thanksgiving. The 2025 survey came out on November 19 and was based on prices collected the first week of November.
How much turkey do I need per person?
I plan about 1.5 pounds of whole turkey per guest, which covers the meal plus some leftovers. For 8 people, that’s a 12-pound bird. If you don’t want leftovers, closer to 1 pound per person works.
Is it cheaper to host Thanksgiving or go out?
For most groups, yes. The meal itself runs $5 to $8 a person at home, and even with drinks and extras my example stays around $14, which is less than a typical sit-down restaurant entree. Going out can still make sense for a small group if it saves you a full day of cooking.
Start with your head count and $15 a person this weekend. Write the number down, put it somewhere separate, and adjust once guests tell you what they’re bringing. That one line on a piece of paper is what kept my last three Thanksgivings under $80.
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