What will the funeral really cost?

The most widely quoted figures come from the National Funeral Directors Association’s General Price List Study. In its latest edition (2023), the US median for an adult funeral with a viewing and burial was $8,300, up 5.8% from $7,848 in 2021. Add a burial vault and it was $9,995. A funeral with a viewing followed by cremation was $6,280, up 8.1% from $5,810.

Those medians cover the funeral home only. They don’t include the cemetery plot, opening and closing the grave, a headstone or marker, or “cash advance” items such as flowers and the obituary. For a burial, the cemetery can add thousands more, which is why the calculator asks for those prices separately.

Funeral cost breakdown

The national median price of each item, from the same NFDA study:

Cremation vs. burial

Cremation is now the most common choice: NFDA projected a 2025 cremation rate of 63.4%, against 31.6% for burial, rising to 82.3% by 2045. It usually costs less because there is no casket, vault, plot or grave to open. But a cremation with a full viewing and service still runs to several thousand dollars. The real savings come from direct cremation, with any memorial held separately.

Your rights when you compare prices

Under the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule, every funeral home must:

• Give you prices over the phone if you ask, without your name
• Hand you a written General Price List to keep when you visit
• Let you choose items separately instead of a package
• Accept a casket or urn you bought elsewhere, without a handling fee
• Offer an alternative container for cremation. No law requires a casket for cremation

No state law requires routine embalming for every death. Read the FTC’s Funeral Rule summary before you meet a funeral director.

Are funeral costs tax deductible?

Not for income tax. IRS Publication 559 states that no deduction for funeral expenses can be taken on the final Form 1040, and they aren’t deductible as medical expenses either. They may be deducted on the federal estate tax return (Form 706), but only estates above the federal exemption have to file one.

Help paying for a funeral

• Social Security: a $255 lump-sum death payment to a surviving spouse or eligible child, claimed within two years.
• Veterans: VA burial and plot allowances, and free burial in a VA national cemetery for eligible veterans.
• Life insurance and prepaid plans: check for policies and prepaid funeral contracts before choosing anything.
• State and county programs: many offer indigent burial or cremation help. Ask county social services.
• Whole-body donation: medical schools often cover transport and cremation, with the ashes returned later.

A prepaid funeral that meets your state’s rules is also one of the ways a parent can spend savings without a Medicaid penalty. See Medicaid look-back exemptions.

Who pays?

Funeral costs are normally paid from the person’s estate before most other debts, and family members aren’t personally liable for a relative’s debts just because they are family. But whoever signs the funeral home’s contract is responsible for paying it. If you are the executor, keep every receipt: our checklist for when a parent dies covers the steps in order.