The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

Cremation vs. Burial Cost in Washington

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published August 21, 2026 Updated September 23, 2026 10 min read

Quick answer

We found no published source for Washington cremation prices as of September 2026, so this page states no Washington cremation figure and no difference. NFDA reports a national median of $8,300 for a traditional burial with viewing, or $9,995 with a vault, excluding cemetery plot, marker and opening/closing fees.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are the ones a statute or a named, dated publisher sets. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Washington with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

What is and isn't specific to Washington on this page. There are no Washington cremation price figures below: we found no independent published source for them. The national cremation rates quoted below are national. The burial figures are national medians, because no authoritative per-state burial cost data is published — NFDA reports nationally, and cemetery costs are set by individual cemeteries rather than by state. Every burial number on this page is labelled where it appears. We do not estimate a state-level burial figure for Washington from national data.

What cremation costs in Washington

Option Washington range
Cremation in Washington Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026

No Washington law sets the price of a cremation, and we found no published source for Washington cremation prices as of September 2026 that is not a funeral provider or a site paid to refer customers to one. What the law does set is documented below: the waiting period in Washington before a cremation may take place, who may authorise one, and the right to see every price itemized first. Under the FTC Funeral Rule a funeral provider must give a printed, itemized general price list, to keep, to anyone who inquires in person — not only on request, but as soon as discussion begins of prices, the overall type of funeral or disposition, or specific goods or services, and whether that discussion happens at the funeral home or elsewhere (16 C.F.R. §453.2(b)(4)(i)(A)–(B)).

This page states no Washington cremation rate. The two bodies that publish US cremation rates — the Cremation Association of North America and the National Funeral Directors Association — sell their state-by-state tables to members and subscribers, and neither publishes a figure for Washington on its public pages, so there is no state rate here to cite.

Nationally, two figures are published and they are not the same kind of figure. The Cremation Association of North America — the cremation industry's own trade association — reports in its 2026 Annual Statistics Report that the US cremation rate was 62.8% in 2025, up from 57.2% in 2021, and projects 69.1% by 2030. The National Funeral Directors Association — the funeral homes' own trade association — gives a projected 2025 US cremation rate of 63.4%, with burial projected at 31.6%, from its 2025 Cremation & Burial Report, on a page NFDA states was last updated 29 September 2025. CANA's 62.8% is a rate reported for a year that has ended; NFDA's 63.4% is a projection for that same year. Both are national figures, neither is a figure for Washington, and a cremation rate is a share of dispositions, not a price.

What Washington law sets — the waiting period, who may authorise a cremation, and the scattering rules: Average Cost of Cremation in Washington.

What burial costs — nationally

These are national medians, not Washington figures. Source: National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 2023 General Price List Survey.

Type National median
Traditional burial with viewing $8,300
Traditional burial with viewing and vault $9,995
Cremation with viewing (national, for reference) $6,280

Excludes: Cemetery plot, marker, and opening/closing fees, which NFDA's survey does not include.

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.

The arithmetic, and what it does and does not tell you

No Washington cremation range is published, so no Washington-to-national difference is stated here. The national burial median is $8,300:

Washington cremation option Washington range Against the national burial median
Cremation in Washington No independent published source found as of September 2026 No difference can be stated

Where a state figure is published, this page sets it against the national median. That subtraction crosses two different levels of geography, so it is arithmetic on published numbers rather than a measurement of the gap inside a state, and none of the national figures include cemetery plot, marker, or opening and closing fees. For Washington no such subtraction is shown, because no Washington figure is published.

What burial includes that cremation does not

A burial bill carries line items a cremation bill does not: a casket, an outer burial container or vault where the cemetery requires one, a cemetery plot, opening and closing the grave, a headstone or marker, and embalming where a viewing is held. Each appears as a separate item on the general price list the FTC Funeral Rule requires.

We found no independent published source for what any of those items costs, nationally or in Washington, as of September 2026, so this page states no figure for them. Cemetery plot, opening and closing, and marker costs are set by the individual cemetery, are billed separately from the funeral home, and are not included in the national medians above.

Under 16 C.F.R. §453.4(b)(1) a provider may not require the purchase of a casket for a direct cremation, and §453.3(e) requires an alternative container to be made available.

The Washington rules that apply either way

Waiting period. Washington does not impose a fixed hour-based waiting period. Cremation may proceed once the death is registered and a disposition (burial-transit) permit is issued; in any death the medical examiner or coroner may investigate, no cremation may occur without the coroner's consent (RCW 68.50).

Who authorises the disposition. RCW 68.50.160(1) provides that "[a] person has the right to control the disposition of his or her own remains without the predeath or postdeath consent of another person", and that a written document expressing those wishes "signed by the decedent IN THE PRESENCE OF A WITNESS, is sufficient legal authorization". RCW 68.50.160(2) provides that prearrangements prepaid or filed with a licensed funeral establishment or cemetery authority under RCW 18.39.280 through 18.39.345 and chapter 68.46 RCW "are not subject to cancellation or substantial revision by survivors". Only where there is no such prearrangement, or the cost of carrying out the decedent's wishes exceeds a reasonable amount, or the decedent gave no directions, does RCW 68.50.160(3) vest the right in survivors in the order it states — a designated agent, then the surviving spouse or state-registered domestic partner, then a majority of the surviving adult children, then the parents, then siblings.

Scattering. RCW 68.50.130 makes it a misdemeanour to dispose of human remains anywhere except a cemetery, a family burial ground or a building dedicated exclusively for religious purposes, "except as otherwise provided by law". As amended by 2026 c 173 s 18 it provides that disposition "following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction may also occur on private property, with the consent of the property owner; and on public or government lands or waters with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters." Scattering at sea is governed by the federal Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act and 40 C.F.R. §229.1, not by RCW 68.50.130. Burial of cremated remains at sea is covered by a federal general permit. 40 C.F.R. §229.1(a) grants a general permit to transport human remains for the purpose of burial at sea and to bury them at sea, on conditions. §229.1(a)(3) provides that "[c]remated remains shall be buried in or on ocean waters without regard to the depth limitations specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section provided that such burial shall take place no closer than 3 nautical miles from land" — so the 100-fathom (600-foot) depth requirement in §229.1(a)(2), and the 300-fathom requirement in the three areas it names off Florida and Louisiana, apply to remains that are NOT cremated, not to ashes. §229.1(b) defines "land" for this purpose as the portion of the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured that lies closest to the proposed disposal site. §229.1(c) permits flowers and wreaths of readily decomposable materials at the same site. §229.1(d) requires that "[a]ll burials conducted under this general permit shall be reported within 30 days to the Regional Administrator of the Region from which the vessel carrying the remains departed."

Regulator. Washington State Department of Licensing, Funeral and Cemetery Board.

Your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule

16 C.F.R. Part 453 applies in Washington as it does in every state. Under the FTC Funeral Rule a funeral provider must give a printed, itemized general price list, to keep, to anyone who inquires in person — not only on request, but as soon as discussion begins of prices, the overall type of funeral or disposition, or specific goods or services, and whether that discussion happens at the funeral home or elsewhere (16 C.F.R. §453.2(b)(4)(i)(A)–(B)). A telephone inquiry is treated differently: the provider must tell a caller any accurate information from its price lists, and any other readily available information that reasonably answers the question, but the duty to hand over the printed list runs to people who inquire in person (16 C.F.R. §453.2(b)(1) and §453.2(b)(4)(i)(A)). A provider may not condition the furnishing of any funeral good or service on the purchase of another, except as required by law or as otherwise permitted by Part 453 (16 C.F.R. §453.4(b)(1)(i)). A provider may not refuse to use a casket or urn the family bought elsewhere (§453.4(b)(1)(i)) or charge a fee for handling it (§453.4(b)(1)(ii)), and a provider arranging direct cremations must make an alternative container available rather than requiring a casket (§453.4(a)(1)–(2)).

What the record shows

We found no published source for Washington cremation prices as of September 2026. No per-state burial figure is published for Washington either; the national medians reported by National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 2023 General Price List Survey are $8,300 for a traditional burial with viewing and $9,995 with a vault, both excluding cemetery plot, marker and opening/closing fees.

Compare other states

Educational information only — not legal, financial, or funeral planning advice. Prices, statutes, and regulator practices change. Confirm current figures with licensed Washington providers before relying on this page. Cremation figures are Washington-specific; burial figures are national medians and are labelled as such throughout. Sources: National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 2023 General Price List Survey (national medians, effective 2023, last verified 2026-09-22); 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; Washington State Department of Licensing, Funeral and Cemetery Board; RCW 68.50.160, RCW 68.50.130, RCW 68.50 (human remains / cremation), RCW 18.39 (funeral directors and embalmers).

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