How Much Are the Estimated Funeral Costs in the USA?

9 June

Contents

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNERAL PROCESS

There are certain things to be arranged to start the funeral process. The first step would be to report the death and fix the necessary documents (such as the death certificate) so that the body can be brought to a funeral home.

After that, the family members can discuss with the funeral director what kind of funeral service they would like for their loved one. They can choose either a memorial or a burial service. They may have the body embalmed if they want, although it would not be necessary if you choose to have a direct memorial with no public viewing. Memorial and/or burial products may also be availed of.

The funeral ceremony itself will depend on the deceased’s religious and cultural beliefs. Some of them may have a minister to preside over the ceremony, recite prayers, and sing religious songs. Other families may choose to make it more personal by conducting a funeral ceremony that is more reflective of the deceased loved one’s personality instead of relying on religious traditions.

The funeral procession will be held after the funeral ceremony. There are certain rules and guidelines to be followed regarding funeral processions. You can click here for more detailed information on funeral processes.

HOW MUCH ARE FUNERAL COSTS IN THE USA?

STATISTICS SHOW THAT FUNERAL COSTS HAD AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 25%.

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), also known as the leading funeral service association worldwide, provided statistics showing an increase of 28.6% in the median adult funeral costs over the past decade (2004 – 2014).

In fact, the projected funeral costs of the USA in 2020 amounts to more than $11,200 at a 3.43% inflation rate.

HOW MUCH IS THE ESTIMATED COST FOR A FUNERAL HOME?

The estimated cost for a funeral home is around $2,000. This payment includes the services of the funeral director, death certificate and other necessary documents, storage of the corpse, and arrangements for the funeral ceremony. Miscellaneous expenses may be added as well.

HOW MUCH WOULD IT BE TO AVAIL OF ADDITIONAL FUNERAL SERVICES?

You may want to avail of additional services from the funeral home or other stores. Estimated embalming price range is from $500 to $700. A casket is priced at around $2,300 while the hearse (transportation of the corpse) is at an average of $275. The funeral ceremony itself may cost approximately $1,000 while burial clothing may be priced at $100. More or less, this will result to an average cost range of $4,175 to $4,375 for additional services.

HOW MUCH ARE THE AVERAGE BURIAL COSTS?

The average cost for a burial plot and the digging of the grave would be $1,000 each, with a total of $2,000. On the other hand, grave liners have an average cost of $950, while the installation of the grave liner costs an average of $100. A simple grave marker may cost $1,000 but you will have to spend more if you prefer a headstone. This leads to a total average burial cost of $4,050.

HOW MUCH ARE AVERAGE MEMORIAL COSTS?

If your actual memorial process includes the transportation and storage of the corpse, casket (for rental or purchase), and the witnessing of the memorial process, it is most likely to have a price range of $1,000 to $3,000. The location and additional memorial products can significantly affect the pricing. However, a direct memorial (without the mentioned additional services) may even be priced at less than $1,000.

FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL COSTS IN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK, FLORIDA, AND TEXAS

If you want to look for funeral prices in specific states, we have gathered estimated funeral costs from four states in the USA.

FUNERAL COST VS MEMORIAL COST IN CALIFORNIA

Average funeral cost in California

The average funeral costs in California (excluding cemetery costs) amount to more than $7,000. On the other hand, average burial costs in this state are valued at approximately $3,000. This will lead to an average total funeral cost of $10,000.

Average memorial cost in California

The cost of the standard memorial in California can range from $625 up to $3,000. This may also depend on what city you live in. For example, the city of Los Angeles offers the lowest price for direct memorial with $625, while other cities like Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco have their direct memorial costs at almost $700. On the other hand, Fresno is the Californian city with the most expensive memorial costs starting at $1,035.

FUNERAL COST VS MEMORIAL COST IN NEW YORK

Average funeral cost in New York

According to us-funerals.com, the standard funeral costs in New York amount to more than $8,000, excluding the costs for the cemetery plot. The prices of cemetery plots in New York can vary depending on the city you are in. As a result, a funeral ceremony with burial service may cost more than $10,000.

Average memorial cost in New York

The cost of simple memorial in the state of New York can amount to an estimated $700, but will also depend on the city. The starting simple memorial costs for the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are pricier at almost $1,400, while Albany’s starting price for direct memorial is at around $900. This is followed by the city of Yonkers, where direct memorial costs start at an estimated $675. New York City has the lowest memorial prices, starting at only $475.

However, the price range for memorial can vary from $2,500 up to $4,000 if there will be public viewing, other funeral services, and memorial products.

FUNERAL COST VS MEMORIAL COST IN FLORIDA

Average funeral cost in Florida

The average cost for a funeral in Florida is slightly less expensive than the average funeral cost in New York, with an amount of $6,500. This does not include additional cemetery costs.

Cemetery plots in Florida have a price range of $600 to $3,000. As you can see, the type of funeral service has a huge impact on the funeral costs in Florida. This can result to a total funeral cost price range of $7,100 to $9,500.

Average memorial cost in Florida

The memorial costs in Florida are cheaper than in other states due to a huge presence of crematories in the area. The memorial rate in this state is also higher than average.

On average, memorial prices range from as low as $500 up to $3,500. The cities of Hialeah and Miami have the cheapest memorial prices which start at just more than $500. Jacksonville comes next with a starting memorial cost of an estimated $695. The remaining cities of Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Tampa have the most expensive memorial prices in Florida. Their starting memorial costs have an approximate amount of $795.

FUNERAL COST VS MEMORIAL COST IN TEXAS

Average funeral cost in Texas

The average cost for traditional funerals in Texas is priced at an estimated $10,000. This is difficult especially for those who are struggling to make ends meet. Even if they want to give a special farewell to their departed loved one, they are forced to cut costs and stick with simpler funeral services.

Funeral planning can help in the management of funeral costs. This ensures that the bereaved family will have no need to worry on how they will pay the funeral costs. Some of them even avail of prepaid funeral planning to minimize funeral expenses and to make things more convenient.

Average memorial cost in Texas?

It is much easier to find affordable memorial prices in Texas than in other states. Most of the time, simple memorials can only cost less than $1,000. The prices for direct memorial in Texas range from $595 up to $995. Memorial prices only become more expensive when families want to add more elaborate practices to the funeral ceremony itself. There are also cities that offer lower memorial prices.

The city of Austin has the lowest starting memorial cost, with only $575. This is followed by San Antonio and Houston, with starting memorial costs of $595 and $675, respectively. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have higher starting memorial prices with more than $750, while El Paso has the most expensive starting memorial costs with more than $900.

HOW MUCH DO MEMORIAL URNS COST?

The prices of memorial urns may vary depending on the size, shape, type of urn, and material.

If you want to buy keepsake urns, the cost can range from $10 to $40. This is often the case when family members want to divide and keep the loved one’s cremated ashes to themselves. Keepsake urns from higher quality materials are more expensive and may reach $50 to $250.

Memorial urns with cast resin range from $25 to $160, while wood memorial urns have a price range of $30 to $140. If the memorial urn will be made of brass, ceramics, pewter, porcelain, or stainless steel, the price range would be from $100 to $250.

Some decorative memorial urns can be priced at around $250 to $700. However, there are stores that offer sculpted memorial urns made from precious materials. These expensive urns are often priced from $1,000 to a whopping $6,000.

ARE FUNERAL COSTS TAX DEDUCTIBLE?

Funeral costs such as burial or memorial costs, expenses for religious services, monuments, or markers for the deceased, and the cost of funeral meals to accommodate visitors can be deducted from the estate tax or inheritance tax.

It should be noted that funeral expenses are not deducted from the income tax, whether it is an individual or an estate who paid them.

The estate tax is a death tax computed based on the net property value of the deceased on the date of death. Tax exemptions for the estate tax vary depending on your location. The states of Delaware and Hawaii are more lenient with their tax exemptions, amounting to $5,340,000 while the state of New Jersey only allows a tax exemption limit of $675,000. However, most states offer a $1,000,000 tax exemption.

On the other hand, an inheritance tax is also a death tax, but is computed through the assets received by an heir from the deceased’s property. The rules on inheritance tax will depend on the state you are in. For example, the states of Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, and Iowa declare that heirs will be completely exempted from the inheritance tax if the heirs are the deceased’s surviving children and grandchildren. On the other hand, the states of Pennsylvania and Nebraska require the heirs (children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, and friends) to pay inheritance tax.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER WAYS TO MINIMIZE FUNERAL COSTS WHILE MEMORIALIZING THE LIFE OF A LOVED ONE?

EverDear & Co., a US company, produces diamonds from cremated human ashes. These are called memorial diamonds or memorial diamonds.

To make a memorial diamond, we will need 100 grams of ashes or 2 grams of hair. If you would like to submit a combination of the two, you can send us 50 grams of ashes and 1 gram of hair. These are subjected to high pressure and high temperature (HPHT), just like natural diamonds. This process takes about seven to eleven months, unlike natural diamonds which take billions of years to be formed.

HOW MUCH IS THE COST OF EVERDEAR & CO.’S DIAMONDS FROM MEMORIAL ASHES?

Unlike other memorial diamonds, the cost of EverDear & Co.’s diamonds from memorial ashes starts at only A$1100. If you want your memorial diamonds to undergo an intense purification process with a higher carat weight, it can reach an amount of more than $5,000 only. This is cheaper than other companies who produce memorial diamonds at a price of more than $10,000.

If you want to have your diamonds from ashes mounted onto memorial jewellery, we offer jewellery setting services with an average price range of $800 to $1,200. This is still cheaper than burial costs and expenses incurred in additional services for memorial.

EVERDEAR & CO. HAS PAYMENT AND DISCOUNT PLANS FOR YOU!

Since EverDear & Co. considers customers our number one priority, we are willing to offer a flexible payment plan. You have to pay only 50% of the total price after placing an order. The other 50% will only be due once the memorial diamond is delivered to you.

EverDear & Co. also offers the following discount plans to make things easier for you.

5% discount on the total memorial diamonds cost for orders of two in the same colour and size.
5% discount on the total memorial diamonds cost for orders of two or more memorial diamonds in different colours and sizes.
8% discount on the total memorial diamonds cost for orders of three in the same colour and size.
10% discount on the total amount for memorial diamonds of four or more in the same colour and size.

Our diamonds from cremated ashes are graded based on 4Cs – colour, carat weight, cut, and clarity.

Colour – Our memorial diamonds are available in three colours – yellow, blue, and colourless. The colours will depend on the chemical composition of ashes and/or hair.
Carat weight – This is a unit of measurement for the mass of a gemstone. The carat weights of our ashes to diamonds are available from 0.03 carats up to 0.69 carats.
Cut – The type of cut brings out the true beauty of diamonds from ashes. We offer the round brilliant cut with 58 facets.
Clarity – We are proud to say that our memorial diamonds are in the VS (Very Slightly Included) or VVS (Very, Very Slightly Included) range in terms of diamond grading scale. This means that our diamonds from ashes only have extremely small inclusions. They can only be seen through magnification.

We include certificates either from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or the International Gemological Institute (IGI) to ensure the authenticity of our diamonds from cremated ashes.

TURNING YOUR LOVED ONE’S CREMATED ASHES TO DIAMONDS IS ONE SPECIAL WAY OF HONORING AND REMEMBERING THAT PERSON.

We often hear the quote, “diamonds are forever.” This is most likely attributed to the special properties that diamonds possess. However, this is also true for memorial diamonds.

Encapsulating your loved one in a brilliant memorial diamond allows you to always be in the presence of that person. This is a flexible option because you can even have your diamond from ashes transformed into memorial jewellery.

Our memorial diamonds can be passed on from one generation to another. In this way, your loved one is remembered for years to come.

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