Surprising: Here Is How Much Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Utah Families

Holiday season is expensive for several reasons but one of the main money drains can be on food when it comes to Thanksgiving.  

However, Utah comes is somewhere in the middle when it comes to how expensive the holiday dinner can be. Luckily for everyone, turkeys are down in price from last year at about 12% according to Nasdaq.  

Nasdaq compiled data from all the states in the U.S. about how expensive Thanksgiving dinner is. The average cost is a little over $65 for Utahns to get a turkey, stuffing, potatoes and other sides and desserts. It still sounds pretty expensive but falls into the middle category of least and most expensive states.  

Hawaii spends roughly $80 per family on a Thanksgiving meal and California spends just over $70 on the holiday dinner.  

The most affordable states range anywhere between $58 to $60. They include Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina and Kansas.  

So, Utahns thought it may not feel great to spend all the money on one dinner to impress the family, it could be worse.  

Side dishes tend to add up and that contributes to the overall price of the dinner. Sure, turkey is expensive but it's those side dishes that sneak up on your wallet.  

Nasdaq used data from 2023 for these side dish prices.  

• 14 OZ of stuffing costs about $3.77 

• Dinner rolls are about $3.84 

• 3LB of sweet potatoes is $3.97 

• Pumpkin pie supplies are roughly $8 combined 

These are just a few of the dinner dishes mentioned. Things not included are mashed potatoes or in Utah’s case, funeral potatoes and other side dishes like green bean casserole.