Funeral professionals are too familiar with financially struggling families scraping together money to cover the costs of a funeral. Although there are new ways of paying like crowdfunding and at-need financing, this continues to be one of the most challenging and heartbreaking parts of the job – No one like to make collection calls to grieving families.
Finder.com has recently released a study to give us more insight into both the cost of funerals and the percentage of household income families are using to cover the costs. Knowing where your city lands on the list may give you a better understanding of the tools and resources families need to financially prepare for a funeral so they can focus on the grieving process.
The finder.com analysis revealed that the average traditional funeral in the U.S. costs $6,723.92 and the average cremation service costs $3,667.97. The data looked at 483 US cities across 50 states to unearth the cost data.
Most Expensive Cities for Traditional Funeral Services
Rockville, Maryland is in the lead for the most expensive city to have a traditional funeral with an average price of $9,847. Following closely behind Rockville is Bernardsville, New Jersey at $9,265 and Metairie, Louisiana at $9,191. The complete list of the top cities is below.
Most Expensive Cities for Cremation Services
As for cremation services, Rockville, Maryland continues to prevail, with an average cremation service provided at $6,170. Cities from New Jersey, Parsippany ($6,130) and Bernardsville ($5,920), took second and third for the most expensive cities for cremation services, followed by seven other cities revealed in the chart below.
The analysis reveals that traditional funerals cost on average 83% more than cremation services. Many funeral professionals suspect price is the driving force behind rising cremation rates. The cremation rate was 55.1% last year, and it is projected to increase by 30% over the next 18 years, according to the 2018 NFDA Cremation and Burial Report.
Given that 4 out of 10 cities were from the Garden State, it is no surprise that the data revealed New Jersey as the most expensive state to have both traditional funeral and cremation. Traditional funerals in New Jersey cost an average of $7,944.40 and cremation cost an average of $4,790.00.
Although Rockville, Maryland proved to be the most expensive for both traditional funeral and cremation service, people from Rockville might not be the most financially burdened in terms of having a funeral. While a traditional funeral takes up 9.68% of the annual median income in Rockville, a traditional funeral in Metairie, Louisiana will require up to a whopping 16.97% of annual median income.
This article was written by guest-contributor Rachel Dix-Kessler, Consumer Advocate, finder.com.
Rachel Dix-Kessler is the Consumer Advocate of personal finance comparison website, finder.com. In her role of Consumer Advocate, she analyzes and reports on the spending and savings habits of Americans. Rachel is passionate about studying financial trends in order to provide actionable advice that encourages more people to talk about, and understand, their own personal finances.
