Prince George
County, VA

Average cost of Thanksgiving meal in Virginia increases nearly 23% this year


Thanksgiving dinner in Virginia on average will cost nearly 23% more this year than last year’s turkey day meal.

A traditional meal to feed 10 adults will cost $64.24, up $11.94 from last year’s average of $52.30, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau’s annual grocery store price survey.

The meal includes a 16-pound turkey and a 4-pound bone-in ham, plus dressing, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, rolls, green beans, peas, celery, cranberries, milk and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

It comes out to about $6.42 per person, up from the $5.23 per person a year ago.

A big reason for the change is the way the survey was conducted this year compared with prior years, said Wilmer Stoneman, Virginia Farm Bureau’s vice president of agriculture, development and innovation.

“This year we reached out to all parts of the state. We got a stronger and more reflective number,” Stoneman said.

For instance, Williamsburg was the locality that had the highest average cost for a meal this year at $90.68. Hanover County had the lowest average cost at $40.26.

“When you throw in a high number like Williamsburg that certainly would drag [the average price] up some,” he said. “We have a better number and a more reflective number in Virginia. I think we have done a better job in getting numbers statewide.”

For the survey, volunteers went into stores across Virginia to check prices. Price checkers did not use any promotional sales or coupons, which many grocery stores offer at this time of year.

Another reason for the jump is the average retail price for some items on the list, such as turkey, ham, peas and green beans, increased more year-over-year.

 

Statewide, the average price of a 16-pound turkey was $1.65 per pound this year, up from $1.29 per pound last year.

The cost of a 4-pound bone-in ham was $8.57, up from $7.56 last year. Ham was included in the meal costs last year for the first time.

Pork prices have increased because the worldwide supply of pork is down, Stoneman said. “So that’s going to drive the price up.”

The organization’s survey also found that the average price of a can of peas cost $1.42, up from 90 cents a year ago; and a can of green beans cost $1.48 (90 cents a year ago).

 

Here are the average prices for the other items on the Thanksgiving meal list (with the price a year ago in parenthesis):

  • a gallon of milk: $3.11 ($2.99 in 2018);
  • 1-pound bag of sweet potatoes: $1.07 (98 cents);
  • 5-pound bag of russet potatoes, $3.62 ($3.17);
  • 1 bunch celery: $1.80 (1.48);
  • carrots: $1.06 (not on last year’s list);
  • 9-inch pie shell (2 per package): $2.58 (1.50);
  • Half pint of whipping cream: $1.72 ($1.97);
  • can of pumpkin pie filling: $3.17 ($2.98);
  • fresh cranberries: $2.61 ($2.07);
  • cube stuffing mix: $2.68 ($2.50); and
  • dozen rolls: $3 ($2.66).

But if your Thanksgiving meal doesn’t include ham, russet potatoes and green beans — all of which were added to the survey in 2018 — it will cost Virginians an average of $50.57 this year.

Virginians are paying more for Thanksgiving dinner than the national average of $48.91, which is up 1 cent from a year ago, according to an informal survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

A meal that also includes ham, russet potatoes and green beans will cost an average nationally of $62.32, up from $61.72 in 2018.

The national average cost of a turkey fell from $21.71 in 2018 to $20.80 this year.