Methodology: How We Research Cremation Prices

Every price on this site can be traced to a source and a date. This page explains where the numbers come from, how the estimates are built, what we never do, and how to report an error.

Our sources

National figures

National medians come from the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) 2024 General Price List Study, the funeral industry standard survey of provider price lists. The study puts the median cost of a funeral with cremation at $6,280 and a funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300. The national cremation rate, about 63% of funerals in 2025, also comes from NFDA reporting.

State direct cremation prices

For each state we record an average direct cremation price and the lowest all-inclusive price we could find advertised. The current dataset is built from US Funerals Online, an independent consumer guide that publishes a state price table based on provider price lists, reviewed in October 2026, and re-verified against the live tables on 22 October 2026. Where a state has no published lowest price (the source network lists no provider price for it), our dataset estimates the low end conservatively at 60% of the state average, and that figure carries an Estimate tag on the state page and in the national tables. The Alaska and Hawaii pages work this way: neither state has a published all-inclusive starting price in the source, so both carry the estimate.

Cremation with a funeral service

For 20 states, service averages come from the state table published by Funeral Cost Analyzer (2026), which itself draws on the NFDA General Price List Study and state filings; we use the midpoint of each published range. For the remaining states we scale the NFDA national median of $6,280 by a state cost index: the state direct cremation average divided by the national mean of state averages.That keeps expensive states expensive and cheap states cheap, in proportion to researched direct cremation prices. A scaled average is never presented as a published figure: on the state page it is tagged Estimate in the stat cards, the price table and the chart, and the same tag marks it in the national tables on the home page and the by-state index. The high and low ends of each range are a band around the average, set at 0.78 and 1.32 times the average for services, and for direct cremation the high end mirrors the spread between the average and the lowest price found.

Pet cremation prices

There is no national survey of pet cremation prices. Our pet pages use typical ranges that pet cremation providers and veterinary sources commonly publish, and every pet page frames its figures as typical ranges that vary by region and provider, never as quotes.

Rules we work by

• Dated and cited. Each state page names its sources and the date prices were last verified. The current dataset was verified on 2026-10-22.
• Conservative wording. Where a figure is an estimate, it carries an Estimate tag wherever it appears on the site, and this page explains how it was built.
• No invented businesses. We never invent provider names, phone numbers, addresses, or ratings, and we do not publish prices for a named company unless that company publishes them.
• No paid placement. Providers cannot pay to appear in, or disappear from, our tables.
• Your quote wins. Prices change and providers differ street by street. The General Price List a provider hands you always outranks our averages, and our guides say so.

Who checks the numbers

Two named people stand behind every figure. Sarah Linden, our Senior Cost Researcher, builds the dataset from the sources above and records the source and check date behind each state figure. Daniel Mercer, our Editor & Reviewer, then reviews every figure against its source before the dataset is used on any page, and re-checks any figure a reader questions. The team page sets out who owns what.

How the calculator works

The cremation cost calculator reads the same state dataset as the tables. It takes the state average for the type of cremation you choose, spreads a range around it using the state low and high figures, and adds the extras you select at typical national prices. It is a planning tool, not a quote.

Corrections and updates

We re-verify the dataset on a rolling basis and update the verification date when we do. If you are a provider, a consumer group, or a family who found a price that contradicts ours, send it through the contact page with the source. If your evidence is better than ours, we will change the number and note the correction.