2019 NFDA General Price List Study Shows Funeral Costs Not Rising As Fast As Rate of Inflation
Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) released the results of its latest Member General Price List Study, which shows that the median cost of a funeral has increased 6.4% over the past five years to $7,640 and the median cost of a funeral with cremation has increased 7.3% over the past five years to $5,150. The report further notes the overall rate of inflation has increased 8.4% over the same time period. The Member General Price List Study is available to NFDA members at no cost.
Since the 1960s, NFDA has calculated the median cost of a funeral with burial by totaling the costs of the following items: basic services fee, removal/transfer of remains to funeral home, embalming and other preparation of the body (casketing, cosmetology, dressing and grooming), a metal casket, use of facilities and staff for viewing and a funeral ceremony, use of a hearse, use of a service car/van, and a basic memorial printed package (e.g., memorial cards, register book, etc.). The cost does not take into account cemetery, monument or marker costs or miscellaneous cash-advance charges, such as for flowers or an obituary.
National Median Cost of an Adult Funeral with Viewing and Burial: 2019 vs. 2014
|
Item
|
2019
|
2014
|
% Change
|
| Nondeclinable basic services fee | $2,195 | $2,000 | 9.8% |
| Removal/transfer of remains to funeral home | $350 | $310 | 12.9% |
| Embalming | $750 | $695 | 7.9% |
| Other preparation of the body | $255 | $250 | 2.0% |
| Use of facilities/staff for viewing | $425 | $420 | 1.2% |
| Use of facilities/staff for funeral ceremony | $500 | $495 | 1.0% |
| Hearse | $340 | $318 | 6.9% |
| Service car/van | $150 | $143 | 4.9% |
| Printed materials (basic memorial package) | $175 | $155 | 12.9% |
| Metal burial casket | $2,500 | $2,395 | 4.4% |
|
Median Cost of a Funeral With Viewing and Burial
|
$7,640
|
$7,181
|
6.4%
|
|
Vault
|
$1,495
|
$1,327
|
12.7%
|
|
Total with vault
|
$9,135
|
$8,508
|
7.4%
|
NFDA calculates the median cost of a cost of a funeral with cremation by totaling the costs of the following items: basic services fee, removal/transfer of remains to funeral home, embalming and other preparation of the body, use of facilities and staff for viewing and a funeral ceremony, use of a service car/van, basic memorial printed package, and cremation fee. The median cost does not include a cremation casket or container, which is generally required to ensure safe and respectful handling of the decedent’s body. The cost also does not take into account the price of an urn, vault, cemetery monument/marker costs or other miscellaneous cash advance charges.
National Median Cost of an Adult Funeral with Viewing and Cremation: 2019 vs. 2014
|
Item
|
2019
|
2014
|
% Change
|
| Nondeclinable basic services fee | $2,195 | $2,000 | 9.8% |
| Removal/transfer of remains to funeral home | $350 | $310 | 12.9% |
| Embalming | $750 | $695 | 7.9% |
| Other preparation of the body | $255 | $250 | 2.0% |
| Use of facilities/staff for viewing | $425 | $420 | 1.2% |
| Use of facilities/staff for funeral ceremony | $500 | $495 | 1.0% |
| Service car/van | $150 | $143 | 4.9% |
| Printed materials (basic memorial package) | $175 | $155 | 12.9% |
| Cremation fee (if firm uses a third-party)* | $350 | $330 | 6.1% |
|
Total Without Cremation Casket and Urn
|
$5,150
|
$4,798
|
7.3%
|
|
Cremation casket
|
$1,200
|
$1,000
|
20.0%
|
|
Urn
|
$295
|
$280
|
5.4%
|
|
Total With Cremation Casket and Urn
|
$6,645
|
$6,078
|
9.3%
|
|
*71.1 of respondents use a third-party crematory (i.e., the funeral home does not own a crematory)
|
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Other national median costs reported in the survey for 2019 include:
- Rental casket: $995
- Wood burial casket: $3,000
- Alternative cremation container: $150
Costs for goods and services vary by region. Many factors contribute to the final determination of how an individual funeral home prices its goods and services, including the firm’s business philosophy and the market in which it operates.
| New England (Conn., Me., Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.) | Middle Atlantic (N.J., N.Y., Pa.) | South Atlantic (De., Fla., Ga., Md., N.C., S.C., W.Va., Va.) | East South Central (Ala., Ky., Miss., Tenn.) | West South Central (Ark., La., Okla., Texas) | East North Central (Ill., Ind., Mich., Ohio, Wis.) | West North Central (Iowa, Minn., Kan., Mo., N.D., S.D., Neb.) | Mountain (Ariz., Colo, Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.M., Utah, Wy.) | Pacific* (Ala., Calif., Hawaii, Ore., Wash.) | |
|
National Median Cost of a Funeral with Viewing and Ceremony Followed by Burial
|
|||||||||
| $7,612 | $7,849 | $7,461 | $7,353 | $6,933 | $7,855 | $8,123 | $6,907 | $7,290 | |
|
National Median Cost of a Funeral with Viewing and Ceremony Followed by Cremation
|
|||||||||
| $5,447 | $5,364 | $5,021 | $4,928 | $4,688 | $5,305 | $5,673 | $4,517 | $4,808 | |
|
Other Merchandise
|
|||||||||
| Metal Burial Casket | $2,145 | $2,435 | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,295 | $2,500 | $2,600 | $2,450 | $2,600 |
| Wood Burial Casket | $2,500 | $2,800 | $3,195 | $3,495 | $2,898 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $2,956 | $2,995 |
| Cremation Casket | $1,120 | $1,395 | $1,140 | $1,200 | $895 | $1,225 | $1,295 | $1,000 | $995 |
| Alternative Cremation Container | $186 | $175 | $100 | $150 | $180 | $125 | $150 | $140 | $115 |
| Rental Casket | $1,000 | $1,120 | $950 | $995 | $895 | $1,150 | $1,000 | $890 | $995 |
| Urn | $300 | $295 | $295 | $250 | $250 | $280 | $295 | $295 | $288 |
| Vault | $1,450 | $1,595 | $1,500 | $1,495 | $1,386 | $1,450 | $1,595 | $1,200 | $1,295 |
|
*Caution: Pacific region has a small sample size and may not fully reflect regional medians.
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Survey Methodology
A survey was mailed to 5,316 NFDA-member funeral home owners on July 24, 2019, to gather General Price List and other related data. Members also had the option of completing the survey online. A link to complete the survey was emailed to all main contacts with a valid email address, posted for two consecutive weeks in the NFDA Bulletin (electronic newsletter), and a reminder to complete the survey was emailed to all main contacts as well.
Of the potential respondents, 1,027 members anonymously completed the survey (643 mail and 384 online), which accurately reflects NFDA’s total membership (with 95% confidence) within a range of +2.8%. Responses also accurately reflect NFDA’s membership by U.S. census district.
Funeral professionals interested in purchasing a copy of the survey report should call NFDA at 800-228-6332 or visit www.nfda.org/store. The survey report is free to NFDA members and $175 for nonmembers.
About NFDA
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
