How Big Is That Turkey On The Table?

Today is the big event! And if you’re not already starting to cook that turkey for your 2024 Thanksgiving feast, you soon will be!But before you get started, let’s address a question that may already be in the back of your mind from when you picked up the bird you’ll be cooking. Is this year’s turkey bigger than the one you cooked last year?There’s a good chance it is. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s initial estimate of the live weight of the turkeys that were raised during 2024 is 32.8 pounds (14.9 kilograms). That’s up 2.5% from their 2023 estimate of 32 pounds.But it’s not as big as 2021’s record live weight of 33.1 pounds (15.0 kilograms). The following interactive chart shows how the size of live turkeys raised on U.S. farms has changed over the 55 years from 1970 through 2024.How Big Are U.S. Farm-Raised Turkeys?Average live weight in pounds from 1970 through 2023, with estimate for 2024 Chart: Political Calculations 2024Source: U.S. Department of AgricultureGet the dataEmbed Download imageCreated with DatawrapperAt more than 32 pounds, farm-raised turkeys are more than double the size of wild “heritage” turkeys in the U.S. on average. Most the increase in the size of farm-raised turkeys has taken place since 1980.More By This Author:S&P 500 Rebounds As Investors Focus On 2025-Q2The Quiet S&P 500A First Look At Expected Quarterly Dividends For The S&P 500 Through 2025