With Thanksgiving around the corner, many are starting to make a budget for the holidays. Before heading to the supermarket, be aware that the cost of turkeys may cause sticker shock.
Thanks to the avian flu outbreak, there are 5 million fewer turkeys raised in the U.S. this year compared with 2024, making it a 40 year low, according to Purdue University.
The wholesale price of a turkey this year is up a staggering 75% compared with last year, averaging about $1.71 per pound.
After price markups for consumers, they may not feel thankful, but according to Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, there may be good news.
“Grocery stores know that many, if not most, consumers are going to be in the market to buy a turkey over the next few months,” Hamrick said. “They very often use turkey as akin to a loss leader to get people to come into the grocery store.”
Hamrick doesn’t believe stores will pass the full increased wholesale price to customers and will use promotional markdowns to help with the cost.
“This is such a promotional item, the big chains know that this is a way to get noses and feet in the door. And if they can get you to buy a turkey, they know you’re going to buy something else, and they’ll still end up making money on your purchase,” he said.
While pushing the shopping cart around the store, shoppers will likely notice the uptick in prices compared with last year.
Hamrick noted that while some prices have gone down this year, such as with eggs, the cost of other items, such as coffee, have significantly increased.
“The price of eggs was previously the problem child that, gratefully, has come back down. In terms of people who are ready to start shopping for their Thanksgiving meals, I think it’s not necessarily going to be the same story as in 2024 where the word was that, broadly speaking, prices should be down from the year before,” Hamrick said. “So grocery prices are up broadly a little more than 3% from a year ago.”
Items he mentioned were bread, up 2%, canned vegetables are up 5% and coffee has skyrocketed up 41% this year over last.
“The price of a 15-pound turkey may come in at about $31 this year, but I would say there are going to be lots of grocery store operators that are going to mark those prices down, just to get you in the door with the likelihood that you’re going to buy something else,” he said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
