I'm not sure if that has ever been a thing in the US but here in Germany you can drop off 35mm film at most drug stores for less than 5€. They even give you a 9×13cm printout.

This has been a thing for a long time, I remember going with my mom to the drugstore after a holiday to develop a bunch of them. I bet they've thought of axing this for cost saving in the past but are now more than happy that they didn't do so with the resurgence of film photography over the past years.