How Much Does a Funeral Cost in California?

California funeral homes charge a median of $6,320 for a funeral with a viewing and burial and $1,983 for a direct cremation, before cemetery charges.

State

Arrangement

Direct cremationImmediate burialGraveside service and burialFuneral with viewing and burial

Casket Price

Funeral with viewing and burial in California

Embalming, a viewing and a funeral ceremony at the funeral home, then burial.

$6,320

Median of 70 California price lists, with the lowest-priced casket each funeral home sells.

$3,000

Median $6,320

$9,500 or more

70 California price lists. Half charge under $6,320, one in ten under $4,980, one in ten $8,963 or more.

What the total includes

Basic services of the funeral director and staff$2,100

Transfer of the remains to the funeral home$600

Embalming$795

Other preparation of the body$250

Use of the facilities and staff for a viewing$495

Use of the facilities and staff for a funeral ceremony$750

Hearse$450

Casket, the least expensive on the list$1,133

Median total$6,320

Not included in the total

Cemetery: The plot, opening and closing the grave, and the marker are billed by the cemetery.
Outer burial container: A vault or grave liner is priced separately on the funeral home's list.
Other costs: Clergy, an obituary, flowers and anything else the funeral home pays others on the family’s behalf cost extra.

California rules

Embalming: Not required by law
Licensed funeral director: Not required — a family may legally direct the disposition itself
Public burial or cremation program: County indigent disposition (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7104; Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 17009)

California burial and cremation laws and the California funeral home directory, which links to each funeral home's posted price list.

General information about the median price funeral homes charge for four funeral arrangements, taken from the general price lists they post. Each total is added up from a single funeral home's price list, and the median is taken across the price lists that price every item in the arrangement. A price list that covers several locations is counted once, and outdated price lists are left out. Where a state has too few price lists for an arrangement, the figure shown is the median across every state with price lists. Federal law requires a funeral home to give its general price list to anyone who asks in person. Consult the funeral home for its current general price list. Pricing verified Nov 10, 2026

California funeral homes charge a median of $6,320 for a funeral with a viewing and burial. The price covers the basic services fee, the transfer of the remains to the funeral home, embalming and other preparation, use of the facilities for the viewing and the ceremony, the hearse, and the lowest-priced casket the funeral home sells. A graveside service and burial with no viewing costs a median of $5,395. Cemetery charges are separate.

California funeral homes charge a median of $1,983 for a direct cremation, a cremation with no viewing or ceremony. One price list in ten charges $1,095 or less, and one in ten charges $3,020 or more. A memorial service and an urn cost extra.

California funeral homes charge a median of $3,243 for an immediate burial, a burial with no viewing or ceremony. A graveside service and burial, with a hearse and the lowest-priced casket the funeral home sells, costs a median of $5,395. Neither figure includes the cemetery's charges for the plot, opening and closing the grave, or the marker.

Yes. Under federal law, a funeral home must give a general price list to anyone who asks in person about its goods, services or prices. The list is printed, shows the date its prices took effect, and is handed over at the start of that conversation. It prices each item separately, so the same items can be compared from one funeral home to the next. The California funeral home directory links to the price list of each funeral home that posts one.

A funeral home's price list covers only the funeral home's own goods and services. The cemetery charges separately for the plot, opening and closing the grave, and the marker. Anything the funeral home pays others on the family's behalf is added to the bill: a separate crematory's fee, clergy, an obituary and flowers. There is a public program in California for a family that cannot pay: County indigent disposition (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7104; Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 17009). The California burial and cremation laws page has the details.

What a Funeral Costs in California

California funeral homes charge a median of $1,983 for a direct cremation, $3,243 for an immediate burial, $5,395 for a graveside service and burial, and $6,320 for a funeral with a viewing and burial. The graveside service and the funeral with a viewing include the lowest-priced casket each funeral home sells. All four are the funeral home's own charges; the cemetery bills separately.

Prices differ from one funeral home to the next. One California price list in ten charges $1,095 or less for a direct cremation, and one in ten charges $3,020 or more. For a funeral with a viewing and burial, the same range runs from $4,980 to $8,963.

The prices can be compared because federal law sets what every funeral home's price list contains. A funeral home must give a general price list, printed and dated, to anyone who asks in person about its goods, services or prices. The list itemizes the basic services fee, the transfer of the remains, embalming, use of the facilities for a viewing and for a ceremony, the hearse, and the price range of its caskets. California funeral homes' price lists have the same items as those in any other state.

Embalming is priced separately on the list, and in California it is not required by law. A licensed funeral director is not required — a family may legally direct the disposition itself.

These figures leave out the cemetery's charges (the plot, opening and closing the grave, and the marker) and anything the funeral home pays others on the family's behalf. There is a public program in California for a family that cannot pay: County indigent disposition (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7104; Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 17009).

Legal Sources

(4)·Updated November 9, 2026

SimplyTrust Editorial

Data sourced from California statutes and official state code. Funeral prices are medians of funeral homes' general price lists; each figure's note says how many. How we research.

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