This year’s turkey dinner won’t cost you any more than last year’s.  The average cost of a classic Thanksgiving Dinner for 10 people is $49.04 according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s survey.  That’s a 44-cent or 0.9% price decrease from last year.

The bird soaks up the lion’s share of the budget at 44% of the meal’s cost. The 16-pound turkey came in at $21.76 this year or $1.36 per pound.  The biggest year-over-year change on a percentage basis were the sweet potatos whose cost increased 6.7%.  Green peas contributed the biggest percentage drop at -7.2%.

The average cost of a turkey dinner has hovered around $49 since 2011.  The relative price stability of the turkey index mirrors the government’s Consumer Price Index for food eaten at home which increased only 1% compared to last year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Click on the image for a high resolution version. Data source: AFBF

Source: AFBF

Based on data from Carnevale et. al. study, “What’s It Worth?”

Making the optimal career choice is a very personal and complex process of identifying your passions and your strengths, but tempering this with the economic realities of income expectations.  Anthony Carnevale and colleagues at Georgetown University have published an extensive study of the economic value of college majors.

Key takeaways

• Your college major has a greater influence over your income than where you go to school.
• Majors with the highest earnings are concentrated in the engineering disciplines, computer science and pharmacy science.
• Majors with the least earnings include the arts, social services, and education.

The Georgetown study, What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors, is excellent food for thought if you or someone you know is actively contemplating college majors (download full report here).