Guide
Cremation or burial
The price gap is the ceremony and the casket, not the disposition itself. A direct cremation and an immediate burial are both dispositions without a viewing. A funeral with a viewing costs more either way.
| Direct cremation, family’s container | $2,645 |
|---|---|
| Direct cremation, funeral home’s container | $2,750 |
| Immediate burial, family’s container | $2,995 |
| Immediate burial, funeral home’s container | $3,720 |
| Funeral with viewing and cremation | $6,280 |
| Funeral with viewing and burial, no vault | $8,300 |
| Funeral with viewing, burial, and a vault | $9,995 |
Where the money goes
- A viewing and ceremony add $3,530 to direct cremation with the funeral home’s container. That is embalming, the viewing, the ceremony, a service vehicle, printed materials, and an urn.
- The same funeral with burial, and no vault, is $2,020 more than the same funeral with cremation.
- A burial vault adds another $1,695 at the median.
Casket, container, and urn
These are separate merchandise medians from the same 2023 study. A rental casket is used when the family wants a viewing and then a cremation.
- Metal casket$2,500
- Rental casket$1,095
- Alternative cremation container$160
- Urn$295
NFDA does not publish a state price median. The figure that matters locally is the General Price List for the funeral home you call. See the national table and every state.
National price medians are from the NFDA 2023 General Price List Study, published in the 2024 NFDA Cremation & Burial Report. State cremation rates are that report’s 2025 projections, not a funeral home’s current price. A home is added to this directory only after its own General Price List is on file.