Breakdown of Funeral Costs

Understanding average funeral expenses 

To determine the approximate cost of a funeral, first ask yourself what a funeral means to you and what you'd want. We think a unique life deserves a unique final farewell, and funeral expenses vary depending on family traditions, personal preferences, cultural and religious needs, and more.

Traditional funeral with burial or cremation

A traditional funeral honors religious or cultural traditions first and foremost. Whether burial or cremation is chosen, a visitation often precedes the service; the loved one is then interred at a cemetery.

The memorial usually occurs at a place of worship or a funeral home and sometimes includes a graveside service at the cemetery. Military veterans may be honored with special customs. In some cultures, an overnight visitation is important, or a witness cremation is appropriate. Those requests may cost more.

Celebration of life 

A celebration of life is an uplifting event that commemorates a loved one’s unique personality and reflects their passions, interests and values. These events are usually highly personalized. You may wish to cater go-to foods, hire a favorite local band to play or decorate with flowers. Although a celebration can be held at a funeral home or place of worship, it can also be held at a park, a favorite restaurant or another venue. 

The average cost of a celebration of life can be similar to the cost of a traditional funeral, though figures vary widely depending on the type and size of the event. Some key expenses may include the venue, catering and a celebrant or officiant to lead the event. Personal touches like mementos, event planning services, musicians or special venues may be additional costs that can counterbalance traditional costs like those for transportation and visitation.

Immediate burial or cremation without a service

People who don't want a service of any kind often choose immediate burial or direct cremation. With immediate burial, the loved one is buried without embalming, a viewing, a funeral or a graveside ceremony. With direct cremation, there is no service, and ashes are returned to a family in a basic container. All the expenses associated with visitation and a memorial are avoided, though the family may change their minds and hold a celebration of life later.

Traditional or water cremation with a memorial

A memorial service can be held before or after a cremation—flame or water—at a funeral home, outdoor space or other meaningful venue. While the service may include fewer religious elements, the associated costs—such as food and beverages, venue and an urn—are similar to those of a traditional funeral.

Water cremation, which is also known as alkaline hydrolysis or flameless cremation, uses water and alkaline chemicals with the addition of heat to break down a loved one's body. It can increase the total cost, as it tends to be more expensive than flame cremation.

Human composting

Human composting, also known as natural organic reduction, accelerates the natural decomposition process to transform a loved one’s body into nutrient-rich, soil-like remains. It involves placing a body in a special vessel that contains biodegradable materials—such as wood chips, mulch and wildflowers—and then adding heat and water to encourage microbes to flourish and gently break down the body. The whole process takes about 45 days. Once the process is complete, you may scatter the soil or bury it in a meaningful place. 

Human composting tends to be, on average, more expensive than cremation. Its pricing is similar to green burial. Though it doesn’t include a service, you may wish to have one before or after the process is complete, which would add costs.

Breakdown of funeral costs 

To help you understand what’s included in the average funeral cost, you can look at products and services by category. Some are provided by a funeral home, some by a cemetery and others by a cremation provider or other third party. The lists below are a sample of potential funeral costs. The products and services you choose will vary based on your family's preferences and needs.

• Recovery of the loved one from home, hospital or hospice and into the funeral home’s care at any time, on any day
• Funeral services and visitation before the service
• Event planning services of the funeral director and staff
• Use of the funeral home’s chapels, family rooms, visitation rooms, outdoor spaces and reception areas
• Casket, urn and/or cremation jewelry
• Embalming, makeup and hair (particularly when visitation is desired)
• Transportation of the loved one and family
• Processing and filing of necessary information and government permits
• Stationery and remembrance items, including programs, prayer cards, guest books, slideshows and videos
• Personalized remembrances, particularly for celebrations of life

In addition, funeral home staff coordinate with third-party providers on the family’s behalf to handle all their wishes in one place, including:

• Coordination of clergy or celebrants
• Selection and delivery of funeral flowers
• Coordination of charity donations
• Performance of live music or selection of recorded music
• Placement of a newspaper obituary
• Catering

Cemeteries are limited to offering property and services on their grounds in most states. Products and services provided by a cemetery include:

• Cemetery property, including in-ground, aboveground and cremation options
• Vault for burial
• Graveside funeral services
• Opening and closing of the gravesite
• Transportation

Either cemeteries or funeral homes provide:

• Grave monument or marker
• Engraving services

By choosing a location with a funeral home and cemetery in one place, you can limit the coordination between these providers to a single point of contact.

Plan a beautiful, personal remembrance

Every funeral can—and should—be personalized with small touches or grand gestures. There are dozens of ways to celebrate life, from favorite flowers and music to special food and custom keepsakes.

Think about these services when considering funeral costs:

• Clergy member or funeral celebrant. A pastor, priest or other religious affiliate will often conduct a funeral service. However, even the very religious may also want to enlist a funeral celebrant specially trained to help a family incorporate personal details into every aspect of a memorial. The services of a clergy member or funeral celebrant typically run a few hundred dollars.
• An alternative location. Many funeral homes have a chapel or other dedicated space to hold a funeral or memorial service. Some have gardens, courtyards, backyards or other natural outdoor areas for funerals and memorials. However, some families prefer a church setting; others prefer a restaurant, country club, banquet hall or other venue. A celebration of life may also be held outside in a friend or family member’s backyard, on the beach or in a park (with a permit, of course). Venue costs can be a little or a lot. Though a friend’s yard is free, a hotel ballroom is not.
• Catering. Food after a funeral is a longstanding tradition for many cultures. Some funeral providers arrange catering services and have dedicated spaces for receptions, including anything from refreshing beverages and snacks to a formal seated dinner. Food during a visitation can be a convenience and a comfort that encourages guests to spend time together. Catering costs depend on the type of food, number of guests and service preference.
• Musicians. Whether a single musician, such as a harp player for the chapel, a bagpiper for the graveside or an entire band for a catered reception, musicians make an impact at a funeral or memorial. Prices start in the hundreds and can range into the thousands.
• Personal touches. Flowers, keepsakes and gestures like releasing butterflies or doves are often part of a service. Those things add to the funeral cost, but incorporating unique touches doesn’t have to cost a thing. For example, asking guests to wear a loved one’s favorite color or a piece of clothing that represents a sports team or a passion for hats can set a tone and is free. So is having friends and family speak from the heart.

Think about these items when considering funeral costs:

• Casket or urn. The cost of a traditional casket varies widely. You can pay a few hundred dollars for a cardboard container for cremation or many thousands for a high-quality metal or handcrafted wood casket with personal touches. Cremation urns come in many shapes and sizes. Urn prices reflect size, material and design.
• Printed materials. Funeral programs and register books are commonplace. Keepsake bookmarks and personalized stationery are other options. Printing contributes to the cost of a funeral.
• An obituary. A newspaper may charge to run an obituary, but an online obituary is free. A funeral home associate can even help you create one if you don’t know what to write.
• Flowers. Flowers are part of the typical funeral cost. The kinds of flowers and the types and sizes of arrangements inform the total price, which can run from several hundred dollars to the thousands.
• Funeral keepsakes. Movies, slideshows, portraits, blankets, mini cremation urns and more make heartfelt keepsakes for family members. Funeral favors, such as personalized golf balls, key rings or boxes of cookies made from a special recipe, are modern-day tributes that guests can take home. These items can add to the cost of a funeral, but they don’t have to. A family may divide a loved one’s collection among relatives and friends, which can be the most meaningful remembrance.
• Jewelry. Cremation jewelry and other remembrance charms are lasting ways to keep a loved one's memory near. They can also be passed down for generations. Depending on your choice, these types of keepsakes can be inexpensive or costly. 

Establish a permanent place of remembrance

Like a funeral, a final resting place is an important tradition and a personal choice. A permanent memorial gives friends and family a place to visit and remember. Cemetery costs are not included in funeral prices. Cemetery costs include purchasing the interment rights for the property, outer burial containers, and opening and closing of the gravesite.

Cemetery plots

The price of cemetery property for burial of a casket or urn varies widely according to where it is located. Property in urban cemeteries is more expensive than in rural cemeteries. Likewise, private cemeteries versus public cemeteries. The location of a property within a cemetery will also influence the cost (a plot with a scenic view or near water will usually be more expensive, for example).

According to the nonprofit Funeral Consumers Alliance, a single burial plot in the United States can cost as little as $500 in a small rural cemetery or as much as $5,000 in a privately owned urban cemetery. Interment rights can be bought or sold on the open market in most states, in compliance with the cemetery's rules and regulations.

Cemetery property for traditional burial

From most expensive to least expensive, and controlling for other factors like location, the most expensive to least expensive cemetery options are:

• Private mausoleum
• Community mausoleum
• Private family estate (generally set off by walls, benches or hedges)
• Semiprivate family estate (shared among families and set off by walls, benches or hedges)
• Double cemetery plot (also called companion plot)
• Single cemetery plot

Read more about cemetery property for traditional burial.

Cemetery property for cremation

From most expensive to least expensive, and controlling for other factors like location, the most expensive to least expensive options for ashes are any of the above options available for traditional burial, plus:

• Private columbarium
• Glass-front niche in a community mausoleum
• Granite-front niche in a community mausoleum
• Cremation garden
• Community columbarium or ossuary
• Cremation scattering at a cemetery
• Commemorative plaque at a cemetery

Another cremation memorialization option, Neptune Memorial Reef^® offers several packages for the placement of ashes. Prices range from around $1,500 to $16,000.

Read more about cremation cemetery property options.

Outer burial containers

Outer burial containers include grave liners and burial vaults. The former is usually far less expensive than the latter. A grave liner can cost on average $700 to $1,000, while a burial vault averages $900 to $7,000, though they can cost much more. Outer burial containers protect the casket from the weight of the soil and cemetery equipment and prevent the ground from settling. Most cemeteries require some sort of burial container.  

Headstones, markers and monuments

Some cemeteries allow only flat markers (often called memorial parks). Others allow upright monuments in addition to flat markers. The cost of a grave marker or monument depends on its material, size and design. A simple marker could be as little as $500, while an upright headstone could cost as much as $5,000 or more.

Read more about headstones, markers and monuments.

Opening and closing costs  

Cemeteries charge a fee for opening a ground-burial or mausoleum site, placing a casket or urn in the site, and closing the site afterward. These services usually add $1,000 to $2,000 to costs, depending on the cemetery.

Read more about opening and closing costs.

Other fees and special situations 

Other factors can increase funeral costs, including government fees, required documents and permits. Military benefits can help offset some of these costs.

Every family’s budget is different, and Dignity Memorial^® providers are committed to helping everyone who comes through our doors find a funeral plan that fits their needs.

Government fees, permits and documents 

In many states and territories, a permit is required to cremate or bury a loved one, and there may be a small fee (usually less than $50) to get that permit. Your funeral provider will know if one is needed and how much it will add to funeral costs. If you choose to hold a funeral or memorial at a venue like a public park or a beach, you may also need to buy a permit.

The government also charges a small fee for each copy of a death certificate (from $6 to $25, depending on your state and county). Your funeral provider will initiate the original death certificate and order as many copies as you think you need—in most cases 10 to 20 copies.

Veterans  

Veterans and their families are entitled to military funeral benefits if they meet certain requirements. These benefits can include free burial in a national cemetery and a grave marker—not only for the veteran but also for a spouse and dependent children. Likewise, some providers have lower-cost programs for public servants, such as police officers and firefighters. Be sure to ask your funeral arranger about these options.

Benefits of making funeral arrangements in advance 

Planning your funeral ahead of time is a loving thing to do. When you make your own final arrangements, you remove the guesswork for family members and spare them difficult decisions while grieving. Plus, funding pre-arrangements allows you to lock in current funeral prices, protecting you and your loved ones against rising funeral costs and removing money from the equation during an emotionally challenging time. 

To streamline the decision-making process, funeral providers may offer preset funeral and cremation packages. Additionally, finance plans are available for funeral expenses when you plan in advance, so you can pay for a service over time in increments that are manageable to you.

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