The American Farm Bureau Federation will release its 2026 Thanksgiving dinner cost survey on November 18, eight days before the holiday. The number it publishes is the benchmark many shoppers and news outlets use to judge whether a holiday meal costs more or less than before.
Last year’s total was $55.18 for a table of 10, down 5 percent from 2024. This year’s result will show whether prices kept falling or turned back up.
How the survey works
According to the Farm Bureau’s survey page, a news release and social posts on the results go live on November 18. Shoppers submit prices between November 1 and 5, gathering local retail prices and sending them through a mobile-friendly survey link.
The page says prices can be checked online or in the store. The survey covers ten staples: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie mix, pie crusts and whipping cream. The result is the average retail cost of a traditional meal for 10 people.
The organization behind it dates back more than a century. Wikipedia’s entry says the American Farm Bureau Federation was founded in 1919, when farmers from 30 states gathered in Chicago, and that it is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
What last year’s survey found
The Farm Bureau’s 2025 analysis said a table of classic dishes for 10 people would cost $55.18, down 5 percent from the year before. It was released on November 19, 2025.
The turkey did most of the work. A 16-pound bird averaged $21.50, down 16 percent from 2024, and turkey made up 39 percent of the total.
Other items moved in different directions. Sweet potatoes were up 37 percent, and the veggie tray of carrots and celery was up more than 61 percent. Dinner rolls fell 14.6 percent, stuffing dropped 9 percent and cranberries slipped 2.8 percent. Frozen green peas, whole milk and whipping cream also rose, while pumpkin pie mix and crusts were virtually unchanged.
The bigger menu
The survey also tracks an expanded dinner. It adds ham, Russet potatoes and frozen green beans to the classic table, and last year that version cost $77.09, or $7.71 per person.
The Farm Bureau says its volunteer shoppers come from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Prices differ by region and by store, so a single household’s bill can land well above or below the national average.
Hosts building a menu can compare the survey’s list with Thanksgiving table classics, and a roundup of side dishes that show up on most American tables covers the extras the survey leaves out.
Shoppers planning to travel for the holiday can also look at carry-on suitcases worth packing for Thanksgiving trips. Another piece on foods boomers loved looks back at dishes that once filled the table, and a list of ways to save money fast may help when the total runs high.
Anyone planning a last-minute grocery run should also check which stores will be open. A list of big chains confirmed closed on Thanksgiving 2026 is a useful starting point.
Retailers set their own price
Ahead of the Farm Bureau’s number, stores have been advertising their own holiday bundles. Tasting Table reports that Aldi’s 2026 Thanksgiving deal offers turkey and all the trimmings for 10 people for less than $39, or under $4 per person.
The meal includes a 16-pound turkey, fresh produce such as sweet potatoes and cranberries, and classic sides including stuffing, rolls and pumpkin pie. The shopping window runs from October 14 to November 25, so the Farm Bureau’s results land one week before it ends.
Tasting Table estimated the Aldi bundle is roughly 30 percent below last year’s $55.18 benchmark. A bundle and a survey are not the same thing, though, since a store can choose its items and pick a fixed price while the survey records what shoppers find on shelves.
The holiday itself
The Farm Bureau survey measures a traditional menu, and many households cook something different. The result still works as a yardstick, because it prices a fixed list of staples and shows the changes item by item, as last year’s report did for sweet potatoes, rolls and cranberries.
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year. Wikipedia notes that the holiday is held on the fourth Thursday of November and that Congress fixed that date in law when Roosevelt signed a bill on December 26, 1941.
The same entry lists the usual foods as roasted, stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, squash and pumpkin pie. It estimates that about 40 million turkeys were eaten on Thanksgiving Day 2019.
What to watch on November 18
The release date matters for planning. Hosts who place a store order, buy a frozen bird or pick a meal bundle often decide well before the survey is public, so the Farm Bureau’s number often confirms a price comparison shoppers have already made.
Three numbers will tell most of the story when the survey is published. The first is the total for 10 people, which can be compared directly with $55.18. The second is the price of a 16-pound turkey against last year’s $21.50. The third is the expanded menu total against $77.09. A lower total would extend last year’s decline, while a higher one would reverse it, and the item-by-item changes will show which foods drove the result.
The USDA Economic Research Service keeps a separate set of forecasts. Its food price outlook was last updated on October 23, 2026, and the next update is listed for November 24.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Dorevabelfiore – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
