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Turkey By the Numbers

Photo by Jim Lundstrom.

45 million: Number of turkeys cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving. That’s one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year.

88: Percent of American households that eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

5.98 billion: Pounds of U.S. turkey meat production in 2012.

5.14 billion: Pounds of U.S. consumption of turkey in 2012.

16.4: Pounds of U.S. turkey per capita consumption in 2012.

$28.74: Average retail cost for turkey and all the trimmings for 10 in 1986 (the first year the American Farm Bureau began keeping track).

$49.04: Average retail cost for turkey and all the trimmings for 10 in 2013. Adjusted for inflation, the American Farm Bureau says we’re paying less on average for the same items today. (The Wisconsin Farm Bureau puts the cost for Wisconsinites at $48.40, or 1.3 percent less than the national average.)

Sources: United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, American Farm Bureau