2016 Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Thanksgiving is an extremely popular travel time, as people hit the road to see friends and family. All this traveling leads to some pretty staggering Thanksgiving stats.

So, just the Thanksgiving travel facts are as follows.

How many travel?

• 48,700,000 Americans travel for Thanksgiving

Why do they travel?

• 40% travel to have dinner with family 4% travel to have dinner with friends

How far do they go?

• 50 miles or more on average

Where do they go?

The 5 most popular cities to travel to for the holiday are:

• • New York City
  • Orlando
  • Chicago
  • Los Angeles
  • San Francisco

How do they get there?

• 43,500,000 travel by car
• 3,300,000 travel by plane
• 1,200,000 travel by bus, train or ship

When do they leave?

• 27% of drivers leave on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving – the busiest travel day
• 64% plan to travel during off-peak hours to avoid heavy traffic

Where do they stay?

• 44% of travelers stay at the home of family or friends
• 42% stay at a hotel or vacation rental

How do they book their tickets and accommodations?

• 57% of travelers use a mobile device in the booking process

How much do they spend on travel?

• $384 is the average domestic airfare
• $162 is the average hotel rate

What about the food?

• 235,000,000 turkeys are raised in the U.S. each year
• 46,000,000 turkeys served for Thanksgiving dinner
• 736,000,000 pounds of turkey served for Thanksgiving dinner
• 16% of people eat at a restaurant on Thanksgiving

How much is spent on the feast?

• $49.04 is the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people
• $21.65 is the average cost of a 16-lb. turkey
• $75 or more is the average for a ready-to-eat meal from a grocery store