New Yorkers are gearing up for a Thanksgiving that is hitting their wallets harder than they expected. A full holiday spread with a twenty pound turkey and seventeen sides now averages $220.05 which is a sharp jump from last year’s $178.81. Many shoppers say it feels like every trip to the store ends in disbelief.
Susan who is seventy nine and lives across from a Morton Williams on Bleecker Street said the sticker shock hits fast. “I put five items on the counter and its like $70. . . . What just happened?” she said. She admits she hates the idea of putting things back so she simply pays and moves on. Another shopper Paul who is seventy eight said hunting for deals does not really help anymore. “None of these places are affordable as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “All the major stuff costs more. Everywhere you go.”
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One of the biggest surprises this year is the price of yams. They jumped an eye watering 188 percent rising from $0.69 per pound to $1.99. The Carolina Journal reported that inflation and tariffs have pushed up production costs for farmers which is contributing to the surge.
Turkey usually the star of Thanksgiving dinner is one of the few items that did not rise in price. A twenty pound frozen bird still costs $67.80. Even so New Yorkers are paying more than most people in the country. On average they shell out $2.31 per pound while the national average is $1.79 according to research from Empower and FinanceBuzz. At Whole Foods and Trader Joes store brand organic frozen turkeys are going for $3.49 per pound. Live poultry markets in the Bronx such as Jackson Live Poultry and Future Poultry offer their birds for $3.99 per pound. As one butcher put it “you come in and they kill it.”
The price hikes do not stop there. Butter is up fifty eight percent with a pound of Land o Lakes selling for nearly ten dollars at Morton Williams compared to $5.99 last year. Pillsbury crescent rolls have climbed fifty percent now scanning at $5.99 for an eight ounce package.
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Apple cider is up a third and nearly everything needed to bake a pie has jumped as well. Granny Smith apples cost fifty percent more and a five pound bag of Hecker’s flour is now $6.99 which is forty percent higher than last year. Even a half gallon of whole milk used in everything from mashed potatoes to desserts is up fifty percent reaching $5.99.
Desserts are feeling the inflationary pinch too. Ghirardelli Brownie Mix costs thirty four percent more this year and a pint of Haagen Dazs is up twenty five percent at $4.99. Prepared meals have not escaped the trend either. Stores like D’AG and Gristedes are charging $269.99 for a catered Thanksgiving dinner for ten people compared to $249.99 a year ago.
There is at least one small break. ShopRite lowered the spending requirement to earn a free turkey or ham from $400 to $350 this year hoping to ease the pressure on cost conscious customers. Still meats poultry fish and eggs rose 5.2 percent from September 2024 to this September according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This article was originally published in the New York Post and has been updated.