Worried about how much a Thanksgiving meal could cost your family? Well, Virginians don't need to tally up the prices.
A new price survey finds that residents in the Commonwealth can feed their families a Thanksgiving meal for about $5 per person.
According to the survey done by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of a traditional meal for 10 adults is $52.30, which translates into $5.23 per person.
The findings are based on a menu of turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, rolls, green beans, peas, celery, cranberries, milk and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
The prices were provided by volunteer shoppers using no promotional sales or coupons at grocery stores.
Even though it might sound like a bargain, this year's average represents a $1.74 increase over the 2017 average price of $50.56 for a 10-person meal.
Here are the average prices for each food item that was surveyed this year in Virginia:
- 16-pound turkey: $20.64 (a little more than $1.29 per pound)
- Four-pound bone-in ham: $7.56
- Gallon of milk: $2.99
- Peas: $.90
- Green beans: $.90
- One-pound bag of sweet potatoes: $.98
- Five-pound bag of russet potatoes: $3.17
- Celery: $1.48
- Pie shells: $1.50
- Whipping cream: $1.97
- Canned pumpkin pie filling: $2.98
- Cranberries: $2.07
- Stuffing mix: $2.50
- Dozen rolls: $2.66
The locality reporting the highest average cost for a meal this year was Spotsylvania County, with $87.28. The lowest average cost was $50.18 in Essex County.
The average cost of a family's Thanksgiving meal in Virginia has increased by $13.20, according to the survey.
Nationally, an informal survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation found the average cost of this year’s meal for 10 to be $48.90, or less than $5 per person. That represents a decrease of less than one percent from last year’s national average of $49.12.