In the United States, the cost of a traditional funeral is between $8,000 and $10,000 on average, and that doesn’t include the price of the burial plot or other cemetery fees. A casket alone runs $2,500 on average, making it the biggest single expense of saying goodbye to a loved one. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price has skyrocketed over the past 30 years, increasing by 250% and outpacing the inflation rate by more than double. So why do caskets cost so much? What many people don’t know is that they don’t have to buy a casket from a funeral home. In fact, it’s a federal law that funeral homes must accept all outside caskets, including those bought online or from Costco. There are two types of caskets: wood and metal. With a wood casket, mahogany, hickory or walnut are going to cost far more than pine or oak. For metal caskets, the less expensive models are made of 20-gauge steel, while the priciest are made from copper or bronze. The average wooden casket costs $3,000, while the average metal cabinet costs $2,500. Then there’s the interior — a crepe interior is going to be less expensive than velvet. In the U.S., there are two large casket manufacturers — Batesville and Matthews — that control 90% of the distribution. Because of that structure, they mark up their caskets 300% to 400%. Then funeral directors turn around and tack on their own markups. In today’s economy, more people are choosing cremation over burial. In fact, the cremation rate is right around 58%. With cremation, the body is placed in a plywood or cardboard container that’s also consumed in the fire.
