About 88% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, according to long‑standing estimates from the National Turkey Federation and other food surveys.

The classic Thanksgiving stat

For many years, the National Turkey Federation has reported that roughly 88% of U.S. households include turkey in their Thanksgiving meal. That figure has held fairly steady over the past couple of decades, even as more people experiment with alternative main dishes like ham, roast beef, or plant‑based options.

With a U.S. population of about 340 million, that 88% translates to roughly 300 million Americans eating turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

How many turkeys are actually eaten?

The USDA and industry data show that Americans consume about 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving alone each year. That’s about 21% of all turkeys sold in the U.S. annually, making Thanksgiving by far the biggest turkey day of the year.

The average Thanksgiving turkey weighs around 16 pounds, so the country eats roughly 700–750 million pounds of turkey on that one day.

Recent trends and variations

More recent polling (2023–2025) still shows turkey as the dominant main dish, but with some nuance:

  • Around 87–90% of Thanksgiving celebrants say they usually serve turkey, though not every single year.
  • About 94% of Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving in a given year, but not all of them eat turkey every time.
  • A small but growing number of people skip turkey entirely, opting for ham, roast beef, vegetarian/vegan roasts, or even a “Friendsgiving” with a different centerpiece.

Why turkey is still the star

Turkey remains the Thanksgiving centerpiece for several reasons:

  • Tradition and symbolism : Since the 19th century, turkey has been promoted as the “official” Thanksgiving bird in cookbooks, school lessons, and advertising.
  • Availability and marketing : Grocery stores heavily promote whole turkeys in November, and the National Turkey Federation runs big campaigns to keep turkey front and center.
  • Family and cultural expectations : For many families, a Thanksgiving meal without turkey just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving, even if they don’t eat it at other times of year.

So while tastes are slowly diversifying, turkey is still the go‑to dish for the vast majority of American Thanksgiving tables.