While no amount of planning will fully prepare your loved ones for all that comes after your passing, there are some ways you can help ease the pain and difficulty of that challenging time. Among them, having a conversation with your family about your funeral and the associated costs is important for many reasons, which we’ve outlined below. But first, let’s start with the basics.
How much does a funeral cost?
The average cost of a funeral with casket and burial in 2023 was $8,300, according to a report by the National Funeral Directors Association — but it’s easy for that price to increase with other costs often associated with funerals like an obituary, cemetery fees, flowers, etc. This also fluctuates based on your location; you can get a breakdown of average cost of a funeral by state (as of 2021) in this article from The Zebra.
Remember: Every funeral is personal and unique. While some expenses are unavoidable, others can be customized to meet your budget, your wishes and your needs. Let’s take a closer look at what contributes to the cost of a funeral.
Cost breakdown of funeral services
Burial vs. cremation
In NFDA’s 2023 report that cited $8,300 as the average cost of a funeral with a burial, it also cited the average cost of a funeral with cremation as $6,280. While the cost of each option varies depending on multiple factors — including personal preference, state and service fees, to name a few — cremation typically costs less than burials.
When choosing a burial, many cemeteries require a burial vault or concrete grave box to ensure the ground won’t collapse around the casket. When calculating funeral costs, you may need to include this expense as well, which was an average of $1,695 in 2023, according to NFDA.
NFDA’s report included the following expenses in their calculations:
- Non-declinable basic services fee
- Removal/transfer of remains to funeral home
- Embalming
- Other preparation of the body
- Use of facilities/staff for viewing
- Use of facilities/staff for funeral ceremony
- Service vehicle
- Basic memorial printed package
- Cremation-specific expenses
- Cremation fee
- Alternative cremation container
- Urn
- Burial-specific expenses
- Hearse
- Metal burial casket
- Vault
Funeral home
Most funeral homes charge non-declinable service fees (averaging around $2,500) to cover obtaining copies of the death certificate, securing any necessary permits, sheltering the remains and coordinating arrangements.
Embalming
Embalming averages around $845, but it isn’t always required. Depending on the length of time between death and burial or cremation, this service may be eliminated. Talk with your funeral service provider about your options.
Casket
A casket is often the biggest funeral expense. They can vary widely in style, design, material and price. An average casket starts around $2,000 but some sell for as much as $10,000.
This is one of the areas preplanning your funeral can be most beneficial. Some funeral providers have partnerships with casket companies that allow you to pre-pay for a casket at the current price, sheltering you from inflation and giving you and your family the peace of mind that comes with knowing the single biggest funeral expense is already taken care of.
Flowers and wreaths
The cost of floral arrangements and wreathes displayed around the casket varies widely depending on florist, flowers used and size. Choosing to forego floral arrangement in lieu of accepting flowers from guests is a common and easy way for families to minimize funeral expenses, but florists and funeral homes may offer discounts.
Cemetery plot
Many people don’t realize that cemetery costs are often separate from funeral home expenses. Burial plots can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and those in metropolitan areas can expect to pay more. In addition to the plot itself, there are fees associated with opening the ground, placing the casket and covering the plot.
Headstone or grave marker
Headstones — which stand upright atop the grave — range around $2,000-$5,000, depending on size, design and the material used. Grave markers typically lie flat on the ground and cost less on average. While most funeral homes and cemeteries offer headstones or grave markers, buying them from third-party retailers is a potential way to save money.
How you can prepare
Imagine you’re in the throes of grief, learning how to adjust to life without your loved one, and you’re faced with this unexpected expense on top of it all. It’s overwhelming, but it’s not unavoidable.
There are many reasons people preplan their funerals but helping to alleviate stress and the financial burden remains at the top of the list. Often, families aren’t comfortable or prepared to pay for an entire funeral at the time of need. If you’re worried about how to pay for a funeral, many funeral homes offer flexible payment options for preplanned arrangements. This makes funeral planning more accessible for you to ensure your final wishes are met without incurring significant financial strain on you or your family at the time of your passing.
The Funeral Rule and choosing the right funeral home
When choosing a funeral home, take time to understand your options and know every funeral home is different. Of course, shopping around for a funeral home isn’t as fun as shopping for a new car or even a new appliance, but it’s a big purchase decision that deserves the same diligence. Contact multiple funeral homes in your area to collect information about pricing, services and personalization options.
The Funeral Rule, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, makes it possible for you to choose only those goods and services you want or need and pay only for those you select, whether you are making arrangements when a death occurs or in advance. This rule was put in place to allow you to compare prices from different funeral homes and make arrangements that are right for you.
The Funeral Rule gives you the right to:
- Buy only the funeral arrangements you want. You do not have to accept a package that may include items you do not want.
- Get price information over the phone if you ask for it, without providing your name, address or phone number first.
- Get a written, itemized price list when you visit a funeral home. The funeral home must give you a General Price List (GPL) that is yours to keep, listing all the items and services they offer and the cost of each one.
- See a written casket price list before you see the actual caskets.
- See a written outer burial container price list.
- Receive a written statement after you decide what you want and before you pay. It should show exactly what you are buying and the cost of each item.
- Get an explanation in the written statement from the funeral home that describes any legal cemetery or crematory requirement that requires you to buy any funeral goods or services.
- Use an “alternative container” instead of a casket for cremation. No state or local law requires the use of a casket for cremation. A funeral home that offers cremations must tell you that alternative containers are available.
- Provide the funeral home with a casket or urn you buy elsewhere. The funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought elsewhere or charge you a fee to do it.
- Make funeral arrangements without embalming. No state law requires embalming for every death. Talk to your funeral provider about other options available.
Planning your funeral
Once you’ve chosen a funeral home, you’ll work with a preneed professional to put plans in place. You can use our funeral planning checklist to help you prepare for your meeting.
Sharing your plans
Once your funeral plans are in place, make sure your loved ones know the key details, including contact information for the funeral home where you made arrangements. While it may be uncomfortable, having a conversation about your funeral plans is one simple way you can make things easier for everyone in the future. Your conversation may even inspire others to make their own plans.
Planning your funeral is just one component of a complete estate plan. Learn more about what an estate plan is and why everyone — including you — needs one.
