CINCINNATI — It’s getting a little more expensive to host Thanksgiving dinner, and experts said they don’t expect the prices to go down anytime soon. 

What You Need To Know

  • Grocery prices have been up nearly 17% in the past two years, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • Turkey prices are down this year for Thanksgiving 

  • Prices for canned food items have gone up this year 

IRI, a data analytics and market research company, predicts that Thanksgiving meals will cost consumers a little more than 13% more than last year. Economic experts said canned food like pumpkin and green beans have gone up nearly 20% since last year. 

The price of ham has gone up as well. But turkey is one of the items that’s actually cheaper this year. A new report from Wells Fargo shows the average price has gone down nearly 16% compared to last year.

“Turkey is a good buy,” said Erwin Erhardt, University of Cincinnati professor of economics. “And also it's what grocery stores use to get people in to buy their Thanksgiving goods. So even if they drop the price a little bit more, it'll encourage people to come in and get the turkey and pick up some of the other goods that go with their dinner.”