• Funeral Service Facts
• Funeral Costs
• Cremation Facts
• Death Rate

Funeral Service Facts

Employment: U.S. funeral homes employed 102,877 workers in 2007.¹

Funeral home/funeral home combined with crematories revenue: $11.95 billion in 2007, increased from $11.05 billion in 2002.¹

2009 national employment estimate for occupation of funeral director: 25,820; embalmers: 8,190.²

Number of U.S. funeral homes per office of National Directory of Morticians Redbook: 2010: 19,902; 2005: 21,495;2000: 22,107.³

The top 4 publicly-traded funeral home operators in the U.S. accounted for approximately 10% of market share in 2009.

In 2008, 71% of deaths were casketed according to the Casket & Funeral Supply Association of America, a 5% decrease since 2003 (76%). In 1998, 79% of deaths were casketed.

Sources
¹Latest U.S. Census Bureau Economic Census (2007). Economic Census conducted every 5 years.
²Latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data
³2009 IBISWorld Industry Report: "Funeral Homes in the U.S."; Red Book

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2009 Funeral Costs

Cost of regular adult funeral including following basic items. Does not include cemetery, monument/marker costs or miscellaneous cash advance charges such as for flowers or obituaries.

Source
2010 NFDA General Price List Survey.

Cost of an Adult Funeral: 1960 - Present

Source
2010 NFDA General Price List Survey.

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Cremation Facts

2009 U.S. Cremation Rate: 36.86%

1999 U.S. Rate: 25.04%

2009 Canadian Cremation Rate: 68.4%

2009 Top 10 U.S. States by Percentage of Deaths Cremated

• Nevada – 73.93%
• Washington – 69.62%
• Oregon – 69.24%
• Hawaii – 68.82%
• Vermont – 65.67%
• Arizona – 65.60%
• Montana – 64.81%
• Maine – 62.75%
• Colorado – 62.01%
• Wyoming – 61.76%

2009 Bottom 10 U.S. States by Percentage of Deaths Cremated 

• Mississippi – 11.87%
• Georgia – 13.61%
• Kentucky – 14.82%
• Alabama – 15.42%
• Louisiana – 19.46%
• West Virginia – 20.76
• Tennessee – 22.85%
• South Dakota – 23.90%
• Indiana – 24.46%
• Arkansas – 25.49%

Projected 2015 U.S. Rate: 46.04%

Projected 2025 U.S. Rate: 58.85%

Source
© Cremation Association of North America, August 2010 Report: "2008 Statistics and Projections to the Year 2025: 2009 Preliminary Data."

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Death Rate

U.S. death rates (annual deaths per 1,000 population)

According to the latest projections of the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the U.S. death rate, which has been in decline overall the last 20 years, will hover at an average of 8.3 for the next decade.

Increase in death rate not predicted until approximately 2020, when the progressive aging of the U.S. population will trigger steady growth – rising to 9.7 by 2045-2050.

Source
U.S. National Center for Health Statists-Vital Statistics of the United States; National Vital Statistics Reports; U.S. Census Bureau.

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