The best time to buy turkey, from 14 years of U.S. government shelf prices.
Worth timing
Buy turkey in December if you can.
Over 2006–2019, turkey in December ran a typical 6% below the year’s trend price, and December was below it in 11 of 12 years. October is the dearest month (5% above): an 11-point swing.
November (Thanksgiving sales) and December are the two cheapest months for turkey by a wide margin, and they are almost tied. If you have freezer room, a second bird the week after Thanksgiving costs about what the first one did, and far less than one bought in the fall or summer.
Typical price each month compared with that year’s trend, 2006–2019. The bar is the median year; the thin line spans the middle half of years.
| Month | Typical vs trend | Middle half of years | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | −0.6% | −4% to +1% | 13 |
| February | −0.9% | −1.9% to +1.5% | 13 |
| March | −0.7% | −1.2% to +0.2% | 13 |
| April | −0.9% | −2.8% to +0.6% | 12 |
| May | −0.6% | −1.9% to +2.1% | 13 |
| June | +0.3% | −0.4% to +1.6% | 13 |
| July | +3% | +1.1% to +4% | 13 |
| August | +2.2% | +1.7% to +4% | 13 |
| September | +4% | +2.7% to +5% | 12 |
| October | +5% | +4% to +7% | 12 |
| November | −6% | −7% to −5% | 12 |
| December | −6% | −10% to −4% | 12 |
BLS stopped publishing a national average price for turkey after February 2020 (the last one was $1.64 a pound), so this pattern covers 2006–2019. Seasons like this come from harvests and holidays and change slowly, but treat the size of the swing as history.
Each row is one year; the dot is the month turkey was cheapest relative to that year’s trend. December was the single cheapest month in 4 of 11 years, and the month next to it in 5 more.
| Year | Cheapest month |
|---|---|
| 2018 | January |
| 2017 | May |
| 2016 | December |
| 2015 | November |
| 2012 | December |
| 2011 | November |
| 2010 | December |
| 2009 | November |
| 2008 | October |
| 2007 | December |
| 2006 | November |
What else is cheap in December: what’s cheap in December. Meat: ham (Apr), bacon (Feb), pork chops (Jan), sirloin steak (Feb), steak (Dec), beef roast (Oct), chuck roast (Jan), ground beef (Feb), chicken breast (Jan), whole chicken (Oct), chicken legs (Jan). All 39 foods: the grocery price calendar.
December. Over 2006–2019 the U.S. average price of turkey in December was typically 6% below that year's trend, and below it in 11 of 12 years. October is the dearest month (5% above).
October, typically 5% above the year's trend price.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data (U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted), the shelf prices BLS collects every month for the Consumer Price Index, through October 2026. Seasonal pattern and every number on this page computed by Online List Maker; how.