Cremation vs. Burial Cost by State
Neither side of this comparison is published state by state. What is published is a pair of national medians, and what each state sets is law — the waiting period, who may authorise a cremation, the scattering rules — not a price. This cluster states the national figures as national, and documents the law state by state.
The national burial figures every page compares against
Source: National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 2023 General Price List Survey. Effective 2023; last verified 2026-09-22.
The National Funeral Directors Association, the funeral homes' own trade association, reports in its 2023 Member General Price List Study a median of $8,300 for a funeral with a casket and burial, up from $7,848 two years earlier. The same study reports a median of $6,280 for a funeral with cremation, including an alternative cremation casket and urn, up from $5,810. Both come from a survey NFDA mailed to 5,219 member funeral home owners in July 2023, to which 809 responded, so they record what NFDA's responding member firms charge rather than what any family paid. Neither median includes interment in a cemetery, monument or grave marker costs, or cash advances such as flowers or an obituary. Both are national medians, not the figure for any one state.
| Type | National median |
|---|---|
| Traditional burial with viewing | $8,300 |
| Traditional burial with viewing and vault | $9,995 |
| Cremation with viewing | $6,280 |
Excludes: Cemetery plot, marker, and opening/closing fees, which NFDA's survey does not include.
What each state’s law sets
No state statute sets the price of a cremation or a burial, and we found no independent published source for either, state by state, as of September 2026. What each state does set is the waiting period before a cremation may take place, who may authorise one, and the scattering rules. Each state’s page below documents those, cited to the state code, together with the buyer’s rights under the FTC Funeral Rule.
| State | Regulator | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| California | California Department of Consumer Affairs, Cemetery and Funeral Bureau (CFB) | |
| Texas | Texas Funeral Service Commission (TFSC) | — |
| Florida | Florida Board of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services (Department of Financial Services) | |
| New York | New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Funeral Directing | — |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors (Department of State) | — |
| Illinois | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) | — |
| Ohio | Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors | — |
| Georgia | Georgia State Board of Funeral Service | — |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Board of Funeral Service | — |
| Michigan | Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science | — |
| Alabama | Alabama Board of Funeral Service | — |
| Alaska | Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing | — |
| Arizona | Arizona Department of Health Services (A.R.S. §§32-1301, 32-1321, 32-1399) | |
| Arkansas | Arkansas State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries and Burial Services | — |
| Colorado | Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Division of Professions and Occupations — Office of Funeral and Mortuary Science Services. | — |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Department of Public Health (Funeral Directors and Embalmers licensing), with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issuing cremation certificates. | — |
| Delaware | Delaware Division of Professional Regulation — Delaware Board of Funeral Services (with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issuing cremation permits). | — |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Professional & Vocational Licensing, with the Department of Health handling death registration and disposition permits. | — |
| Idaho | Idaho State Board of Morticians (Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licenses) | — |
| Indiana | Indiana State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service (Indiana Professional Licensing Agency) | — |
| Iowa | Iowa Board of Mortuary Science (Iowa Department of Health and Human Services) | — |
| Kansas | Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts | — |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors | — |
| Louisiana | Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors | — |
| Maine | Maine State Board of Funeral Service (Department of Professional and Financial Regulation) | — |
| Maryland | Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors (with the Office of Cemetery Oversight) | — |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing (Division of Occupational Licensure) | — |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Department of Health, Mortuary Science Section | — |
| Mississippi | Mississippi State Board of Funeral Service | — |
| Missouri | Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors (Division of Professional Registration) | — |
| Montana | Montana Board of Funeral Service, Department of Labor & Industry | — |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Board of Funeral Directing and Embalming, Department of Health and Human Services | — |
| Nevada | Nevada State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Services | — |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers | — |
| New Jersey | New Jersey State Board of Mortuary Science (and the New Jersey Cemetery Board for crematories) | — |
| New Mexico | New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Board of Thanatopractice (with cremation permits via the Office of the Medical Investigator) | — |
| North Dakota | North Dakota State Board of Funeral Service | — |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Funeral Board (with cremation permits via the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) | — |
| Oregon | Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board (OMCB) | — |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Department of Health (funeral director and embalmer licensing) and the Office of State Medical Examiners | — |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), State Board of Funeral Service | — |
| South Dakota | South Dakota State Board of Funeral Service | — |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, within the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. | — |
| Utah | Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Funeral Service program, within the Utah Department of Commerce. | — |
| Vermont | Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, Board of Funeral Service (Secretary of State); the Vermont Department of Health issues cremation permits. | — |
| Virginia | Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, within the Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP) | — |
| Washington | Washington State Department of Licensing, Funeral and Cemetery Board | — |
| West Virginia | West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners | — |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin Funeral Directors Examining Board (Department of Safety and Professional Services) | — |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Board of Funeral Service Practitioners | — |
A date means every citation in that row has been checked against the statute. A dash means it has not been checked yet.
What the record shows
Neither cremation nor burial costs are published per state by an independent publisher, so this cluster states none. Burial and cremation are published as national medians — $8,300 for a funeral with a casket and burial, $9,995 with a vault, $6,280 with cremation — excluding cemetery plot, marker, and opening and closing fees, which individual cemeteries set and which are not published on a state-by-state basis. Every per-state page in this cluster carries those figures with their scope labelled at the point of use, and documents what that state’s law sets.
Related reading
- Average Cost of Cremation by State — each state’s statutes, waiting period and authorisation rules.
- Cremation vs. Burial Cost: The National Picture — the national comparison and the components that drive the gap.
- How Much Does a Funeral Cost?
- What to Do When Someone Dies: A Step-by-Step Checklist
Educational information only — not legal, financial, or funeral planning advice. Prices and rules change. Confirm current figures with licensed providers in your state before relying on this page. Sources: National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 2023 General Price List Survey; Cremation Association of North America (CANA) 2026 Annual Statistics Report (https://www.cremationassociation.org/industrystatistics.html); Federal Trade Commission Funeral Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 453.