Funeral prices rose 310% since 1986 as inflation rose 193%

Funeral prices have risen 310% since 1986, while overall inflation over the same period was 193%, according to a report the Groundwork Collaborative released on October 29. The report, titled “Death, Debt, and Paperwork: How the Business of Dying is Burying American Families,” was written by Zoe Butler, the organization’s associate director of policy and advocacy.

The Groundwork report cites Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price data for the 310% figure. It puts the average funeral at $7,726, a number it attributes to The Washington Post, before cemetery plots, headstones and other add-ons that can push the total above $10,000. The report does not give a source for the $10,000 figure.

The report cites 2023 data from the National Funeral Directors Association on what the items cost. A basic services fee of $2,495 applies whether a family chooses burial or cremation, and families cannot decline it. Moving the body to the funeral home costs $395. Cremation adds about $400 and an urn about $295. A burial adds more than $1,000 for embalming and body preparation and $2,500 for a casket. The report cites CNBC Select for burial costs of $1,000 to $3,000 for a headstone, about $1,000 for a burial vault and $1,000 to $2,500 to open and close the grave.

The report says pricing is hard to compare. It cites a 2022 Consumer Federation of America figure that 18% of funeral homes post prices online. It cites a 2022 Fortune report that one in five funeral homes is owned by a corporate chain or a private equity firm.

Families are paying for this with borrowed money, according to the report. It cites research from Debt.com that the share of families going into debt for funerals rose from 14% in 2024 to 37% in 2025. The report cites Federal Reserve data that median household savings are about $8,200.

Probate adds costs. The report cites Nasdaq for probate fees of 3% to 8% of an estate’s value. Using its own example, the report says probate on a $250,000 home could cost $7,500 to $20,000. It cites a Caring.com survey finding that fewer than one in four Americans has a will and that 13% have a living trust. It cites an EstateExec industry survey estimating that people spend about 570 hours completing obligations after a death, and a Kiplinger guide recommending 10 or more certified copies of the death certificate.

Life insurance does not close the gap for many households, the report says. It cites the LIMRA 2026 Insurance Barometer Study for the finding that nearly half of Americans do not have life insurance. It cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that 77% of full-time workers have access to employer-provided life insurance, compared with 14% of part-time workers. Access reaches 20% for workers in the bottom tenth of wage earners and 91% for top earners. The report cites the American Council of Life Insurers’ 2025 Fact Book for the finding that 40% of new policies are term policies, which can expire before a person dies.

Lindsay Owens, Groundwork’s president and chief executive, said in the group’s release: “No one should be forced into debt just to bury a loved one.” The report’s conclusion states: “Families should not have to go into debt to bury a loved one or access what is already theirs.”

Groundwork recommends that funeral homes be required to post standardized, itemized prices online and that hidden fees and forced bundling of services be prohibited. It also recommends expanding the Social Security death benefit, creating a basic life insurance program run by the Social Security Administration with a maximum benefit of $15,000 indexed to inflation, and probate reforms at the state and local levels.

The report points to existing models. Wisconsin has run a state life insurance program since 1911, and the Department of Veterans Affairs launched a guaranteed-issue whole life program in 2023 for veterans with service-connected disabilities. In 2024, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced S.5178 in the 118th Congress to raise the Social Security death benefit to $2,900. The benefit is currently $255.