Thanksgiving dinner will cost American families about 10 percent more this year, with the turkey itself leading the increases. A traditional holiday meal basket now costs about $75.08, up from $68.38 last year, according to an analysis of federal grocery price data by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, and the centrepiece bird is about 25 percent dearer than it was a year ago.
The analysis, based on the US Department of Agriculture’s Grocery Store Feature Reports for the first three full weeks of October, found a turkey hen weighing less than 16 pounds averaged $1.29 per pound in 2026, up from $1.04 per pound in 2025. For a 15-pound bird, that works out to about $19.35 this year, compared with $15.53 last year.
Turkey Leads the Increases
Fresh produce accounted for much of the rest of the rise. Green beans jumped nearly 70 percent, from about $1.92 to $3.26 per pound, according to the Alabama analysis, though canned green beans averaged less than $1.00 a can at several Alabama grocery stores, offering a cheaper swap. The USDA’s own weekly turkey report for the week ending November 6 found the feature price for a frozen conventional whole turkey 26 cents a pound higher than a year ago, with stores giving whole birds more advertising space as the holiday approaches.
Turkey production in 2026 has stayed roughly in line with recent years, according to Alabama Extension economist Dennis Brothers, and cold-storage inventories are only slightly below 2025 levels, so the higher prices are not the result of a shortage. Wholesale frozen hens have also stayed expensive, averaging about 175 cents a pound in late 2026, roughly the same as late 2025, according to USDA data.
The National Picture
A separate forecast from the consulting firm PwC, released in mid-October, puts the average family Thanksgiving at about $90 this year, up from $88 in 2025, with turkey forecast to cost nearly 8 percent more and cranberries nearly 15 percent more. Butter is projected to be down 10 percent and cream down 6 percent, which the firm said would help offset some of the increases. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual survey, which prices the classic dinner for 10, has not yet been published for 2026; last year’s survey put that meal at $55.18.
For shoppers, the advice from the Alabama economists is to compare prices, watch for loss-leader turkey deals, and consider canned or frozen vegetables where fresh prices have spiked. Thanksgiving travel is also shaping up to be busy, so the families paying more for dinner may also be paying more to get there. The meal is still affordable for most, but this year the turkey will cost noticeably more than the one on last year’s table.
