Whether the loss is sudden and unexpected or the result of a long illness, it’s important to honor the life of someone who has died and to come together as a community to share grief and get support from each other. This can be accomplished by spending a few hundred dollars on a direct cremation with private memorial gathering or by spending $100,000 on an elaborate funeral. Both can be dignified and meaningful choices.
Prices for identical products and services can vary tremendously depending on whose selling the product and geographic location. Here are a few of the fees you can expect to incur for a funeral.
Funeral Homes’ Basic Services Fee
Think of the basic services fees like the dealer fees at a car lot. However, for the basic service is much easier to justify than the cost passed on by the car dealer. This fee includes services like the initial meeting to plan the funeral, preparation and filing of authorizations and permits, coordinating the arrangements with the cemetery or crematory or other third parties. Also the funeral homes pass on some of their overhead with these charges, items such accounting, insurance, building and utility fees. As with all funeral home services there is a huge range in how much funeral homes charge for their basic services fee.
Medium priced basic service fees range from $1,205 to $1,880
Low $480 to $595 High $2,200 to $3,000.
Casket Costs
The cost of a casket is one of the most expensive elements of a traditional burial. Most traditional caskets are made from wood or metal. Cremation and the green funeral movement have resulted in more sales of cardboard or fiberboard caskets and burial shrouds.
Wood & Metal Casket Costs
Wood caskets range from simple plain-pine-boxes to ornate old growth rainforest mahogany. Likewise, metal caskets vary from 18 gage steel to copper and bronze.
Medium priced finished wood and metal caskets range from $1,000 to $3,000
Low $345 to $800 High $3,500 to $12,000.
Cardboard or Fiberboard Casket Costs
A plain assemble yourself cardboard casket is your absolute least expensive option.
Medium-priced cardboard caskets range from $150 to $300.
Low $50 to $100 High $300 to $500.
Embalming Fees
Routine embalming is not legally required in any state. In Kansas, embalming is required if the body is not buried or cremated within 24 hours.
Medium-priced embalming fees range from $500 to $975.
Low $225 to $445 High $800 to $1,212.
Viewing or Visitation Fees – funeral home facility and staff Fee
The funeral home sets up the viewing and reception area with displays of floral arrangements provided by the family or friends. The funeral home supervises the viewing and reception.
Medium-priced visitation fees range from $300 to $450.
Low $150 to $250 High $500 to $1,175.
Funeral Ceremony Fees
The funeral ceremony fee is the charge for coordinating and supervising the funeral arrangements and assisting with the ceremony.
Medium-priced funeral ceremony fees range from $400 to $600.
Low $200 to $350 High $1,000 to $1,425.
Transportation of the Body to the Funeral Home Fee – “Removal” or “First Call”
This is the funeral home’s fee for picking up a body from a private residence or hospital and delivering it to the funeral home. The quoted fee is usually based on transporting the body no greater than 25 miles. Night and holiday removals can also be more expensive.
Medium priced removal charges range from $200 to $330.
“Other Preparations” Fee – cosmetology, dressing, casketing, hairdressing
The funeral home staff prepares the body for viewing and visitation by applying makeup, dressing the body in clothes, placing the body into the casket and styling the body’s hair.
Medium-priced other preparations fees range from $125 to $215.
Additional Costs to Consider: Storage and Registration Fees
Some funeral homes have a daily charge for storing the body even if it is embalmed. Expect either a lump sum or per day fee. Medium priced storage fees are around $50 a day.
Funeral Printed Programs Costs
One hundred basic funeral programs without a picture range from around $40 to $80.
Guest Register Book Costs
Guests attending the visitation or funeral can sign their name and perhaps write a short condolence. Range $25 to $80.
Flower Costs
There are two floral arrangements unique to funerals – the casket spray and the standing easel display. Medium priced casket sprays and standing easel displays range in price from $220 to $360.
Clergy/Celebrant Fees
Even if they are the deceased’s regular minister you should still expect to compensate the minister. Medium priced clergy/celebrants range from $150 to $250.
Musician Fees
Unless they’re a family member or very close personal friend you should expect to pay for soloists and musicians who provide services at a funeral.
Hearse or Funeral Coach Fees
Fees to transport the body to the cemetery range $300 to $400.
Limousine or Lead Vehicle Fees
Allows family and close friends can ride to the church and cemetery. Range $200 to $350.
Direct Cremation Package Fees
It doesn’t cost very much to cremate a body. Usually crematories charge between $175-$300 for the procedure. However, there are a number of other services and products you’ll want to purchase along with the cremation procedure, such as hiring a funeral home to pick up the body from the place of death and transporting it to the crematory, hiring the crematory or funeral home to place the ashes into the urn, storing the urn until the time of pick-up, and obtaining the necessary legal authorizations and permits for the cremation. You’ll also need a cremation container for the body (often a fiber board or cardboard casket) and something to place the ashes in (usually an urn).
Most funeral homes offer a direct cremation package that provides the basic products and services for cremation. Shockingly, many funeral homes will offer a cremation package that provides everything but the cost of the actual cremation. This is because the funeral home doesn’t own the crematory. The crematory’s fee for the cremation is added to the cost of the funeral homes’ cremation package.
You’ll notice direct cremation packages have huge variation in price.
Medium-priced direct cremation packages range from $1,000 to $1,500.
Average Funeral Costs
Cost of regular adult funeral including the following basic items:
Non-declinable basic service fee……………………………..$1,617
Removal/transfer of remains to funeral home………….. $250
Embalming………………………………………………………… $628
Other preparation of the body……………………………….. $200
Use of facilities/staff for viewing………………………………$395
Use of facilities/staff for funeral ceremony…………………$450
Use of Hearse……………………………………………………..$275
Use of a service car/van………………………………………..$125
Subtotal without casket…………………………………………$4,265
Metal Casket……………………………………………………….$2,295
AVERAGE COST OF A FUNERAL…………………………..$6,560