Illinois Thanksgiving: Here’s How Much It’ll Cost You On Average

I still remember how proud my mom looked many years ago when my grandfather, after enjoying a large, multiple-item Thanksgiving Day dinner, said to her "That was a fine meal. You order something like that when you're out, it would probably cost you ten dollars a plate!" That made my mom's whole day.

As I mentioned, that was many years ago. You say something like that now, and you're likely to get a gravy boat dumped over your head.

This Thanksgiving, you could choose to go out to eat, you could take advantage of the many local eateries that offer a complete carryout Thanksgiving dinner, or you could go full-on traditional and make the entire feast from scratch at home.

If full-on traditional is the way you're going this year, let's take a look at what it will cost here in Illinois.

Looking Back To Last Year, The Average Price For A Thanksgiving Day Feast Actually Went Down From The Year Before

That's according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 38th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey from 2023 that found a classic Thanksgiving feast averaged out at $61.17. That was a 4.5% decline from what we paid in 2022. Should we expect a similar price reduction this year?

Well, to be perfectly clear...yes and no.

Food experts say that the average price for the turkey part of your Thanksgiving dinner is expected to be lower this year because of a two-percent rise in production of turkeys across the country.

But what about the rest of the Thanksgiving feast?

Regardless Of The Overall Cost Of Your Thanksgiving Dinner Here In Illinois, You Can Feel Better Knowing It's Costing People In Some Other States A Lot More Than You

According to a study by GoBankingRates.com, these are the most expensive states this year for a Thanksgiving dinner, along with their average cost in 2024 (based upon making dinner for 10 people):

• Hawaii: $80.02
• Alaska: $73.84
• Maryland: $70.66
• Nebraska: $70.29
• California: $70.19

The least expensive states this year are:

• Georgia: $58.20
• Kansas: $58.21
• Missouri: $59.11
• Alabama: $59.13
• South Carolina: $60.36

And, in the middle we have:

• Virginia: $70.13
• New York: $69.92
• Wisconsin: $69.88
• Oregon: $69.87
• South Dakota: $70.14

Here In Illinois, The Pricing Really Depends On Where You Live In The State

The GoBankingRates.com study says that here in Illinois, the average cost this year for a Thanksgiving dinner for ten puts us at the low end of the middle in pricing at $62.84.

However, if you live in and around the Chicagoland area, you're going to be paying substantially more.

Patch.com:

The ingredients for a Thanksgiving spread for six will cost an average of $115.35 in the Chicagoland area, according to a study by the personal finance company MoneyGeek, which calculated the cost of Thanksgiving dinner in different cities.

The average cost of a whole fresh turkey in the Chicago area is about $10.43, according to MoneyGeek, which said turkeys purchased the week of Thanksgiving cost about 20 percent more.