Big Apple residents will tighten their belts this Thanksgiving as popular grocery chains stuff it to customers.<\/p>\n
The cost of a Thanksgiving meal with a 20-pound bird and 17 trimmings has soared to $220.05 \u2014 23% more than the $178.81 cost of last year\u2019s feast. <\/p>\n
New Yorkers are noticing.<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving dinner comprised of 18 staple and favorite items will cost New Yorkers 23% more than last year. fahrwasser \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
\u201cI put five items on the [counter] and its like $70. . . . What just happened?\u201d said Susan, 79, who lives across the street from a Morton Williams on Bleeker Street. \u201cI\u2019m too embarrassed to haggle and put things back so I just bite the bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Greenwich Village shopper, Paul, 78, said comparison shopping is futile.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of these places are affordable as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the major stuff costs more. Everywhere you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yams had the most eye-popping increase \u2014 up 188% to $1.99 per pound from $0.69 at the same time last year.<\/p>\n
The not-so sweet surge is due in part to inflation and tariffs, which have driven up the cost of production for farmers, the Carolina Journal reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Turkey, the star of the table, surprisingly did not see a price increase: a 20-pound frozen gobbler still cost $67.80. <\/p>\n But New Yorkers will still pluck more bucks out of their wallet for turkey \u2014 spending on average $2.31 per pound while the average American will spend just $1.79 per pound, according to research from Empower<\/a> and FinanceBuzz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both Whole Foods and Trader Joes are charging $3.49 per pound for store-brand organic frozen turkeys.<\/p>\n Falon Wriede, Tam Nguyen \/ NYPost Design<\/p>\n Live poultry markets in the Bronx, Jackson Live Poultry and Future Poultry \u2014 where \u201cyou come in and they kill it,\u201d one bird butcher boasted \u2014 offer their birds for $3.99 per pound.<\/p>\n Butter is up 58% from last year, nearly $10 for a pound of Land o\u2019 Lakes at Morton Williams, up from 2024\u2019s $5.99.<\/p>\n Pillsbury crescent rolls are also 50% more expensive \u2014 scanning for $5.99 for an 8 oz. package in 2025. And to wash down the biscuits with a swig of apple cider will cost you 33% this year.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need more dough to bake an apple pie, with Granny Smith Apples 50% more expensive and a 5-pound bag of Hecker\u2019s flour costing 40% more, at $6.99 a sack.<\/p>\n A half-gallon of whole milk, often used in mashed potatoes and baking, now costs $5.99 \u2014 50% more than it did last year.<\/p>\n Sweet potatoes saw a 188% price increase since last year due in part to tariffs and inflation, according to reports. Brent Hofacker \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Name-brand desserts also spiked, with Ghirardelli Brownie Mix costing 34% more in 2025, and a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream costing $4.99, up 25% from last year.<\/p>\n Prepared catered meals from popular grocers are also going up in price. D\u2019AG and Gristedes charge $269.99 for their \u201cComplete Thanksgiving Dinner\u201d for 10 people, up from $249.99 a year ago.<\/p>\n In an effort to entice wallet-weary shoppers, ShopRite has lowered the threshold to qualify for a free turkey or ham from $400 in 2024 to $350 in 2025.<\/p>\n Turkey did not see a rise in price, despite the turkey population in the United States being at a 40-year low. New Africa \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n