How Much Does Embalming Cost? Typical Prices and Your Rights

Embalming usually costs about $700 to $1,500 at a US funeral home, and it appears as its own line on the General Price List. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) reported a national median of $750 in 2019, and a 2026 survey of Austin-area price lists ran from $725 to $1,495. You pay for embalming only if you approve it or the law requires it, and no state requires it for every death.

How much does embalming cost?

There is no current, free national average for embalming alone. The NFDA, a funeral industry group, gave only overall medians in its 2023 price study announcement and sells the full report. The most recent itemized national figures we could find from the NFDA are for 2019 and 2014. A recent local survey gives a better sense of today's range.

The Austin figures come from a survey by the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Central Texas, a nonprofit. It covers homes in five counties, and the price lists it used carry effective dates from 2021 to 2026. In our reading of its chart, the middle of the range was about $1,000.

Treat these as examples, not quotes. The NFDA says every funeral home sets its own prices based on its business philosophy and its market, and prices in your area may be lower or higher. The spread within one metro area, about $770 between the lowest and highest, shows why a phone call or two is worth making.

What else do you pay for when a body is embalmed?

Embalming is only part of what a funeral home bills for a viewing. On the NFDA's 2019 itemized medians, the related lines were:

Added together, those three lines come to $1,430. That is our arithmetic from 2019 prices, not a current quote, but it shows how a viewing adds more than the embalming line itself. The NFDA's median for a funeral with viewing and burial includes embalming as one of its items. The same is not true of direct cremation or immediate burial, which involve no viewing. See our guide to funeral home fees explained for the rest of a typical bill.

Do you have to pay for embalming?

Usually not, and the law sets firm limits on when a funeral home can charge. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a home can charge for embalming only if one of these is true:

1. State or local law requires it in your circumstances, whatever funeral you choose.
2. A family member or other authorized person approved it in advance, with embalming expressly named.
3. The home could not reach anyone after real effort, had no reason to think the family did not want it, and got approval afterward.

The FTC also says no state requires routine embalming for every death. A funeral home may not tell you embalming is required for direct cremation or immediate burial. It also may not say it is required for a closed-casket funeral without a viewing if refrigeration is available and state or local law does not require embalming. The price list must carry a statement beside the embalming price saying that, except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law.

Some states set a time limit instead. The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Central Texas describes Texas law this way: after 24 hours the body must be kept at 34 to 40 degrees, be placed in an odor-proof and leak-proof container, or be embalmed. The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) says no state requires embalming when burial or cremation happens within two days. Our guide to whether embalming is required by law covers the state rules in more detail.

When do families choose embalming anyway?

Embalming temporarily slows decomposition. It does not preserve a body permanently. Families most often pay for it in these situations:

• A public viewing or open-casket funeral. Many funeral homes require embalming for this, according to the FTC, but it is the home's policy and not the law in most states. The FTC suggests asking whether the home offers a private family viewing without embalming. Our guide to viewing without embalming explains the options.
• A long gap before the service. The FCA says embalming can be useful when a long period passes between death and viewing.
• Transport. The FCA says Alabama, Arkansas and New Jersey require embalming for a body crossing state lines, and several other states require it when public transportation is used. See transporting a body across states.

Some faiths prohibit embalming. The FCA says Muslim, Bahá'í and Orthodox Jewish traditions do, so check with your family or faith leader.

What are the cheaper options?

You have several ways to avoid the charge, and none of them is less respectful. Each depends on the kind of service you want.

• Refrigeration. The FTC says refrigeration is an acceptable alternative in most cases. Compare daily rates first. The Austin survey notes that many homes charge more than $50 a day, which adds up over a long wait.
• Direct cremation or immediate burial. The FTC says neither needs any form of preservation. See direct cremation cost and direct burial cost.
• A private family viewing. Ask for a short viewing soon after death, before any visible changes.
• A graveside service or a later memorial. If the body is buried or cremated within a couple of days, a memorial can follow weeks later with no body present. See types of funeral services.
• A different funeral home. With embalming priced from $725 to $1,495 in a single metro area, and basic services fees varying even more, comparing homes can save real money. See how to negotiate funeral prices.

Some homes now offer embalming with formaldehyde-free fluids. The Green Burial Council says such fluids exist, and it encourages avoiding embalming altogether where possible. If you are interested, ask what the home uses and what it charges, because prices for these services are set by each home and we found no reliable national figure.

What should you check on the bill?

Read the itemized statement the funeral home gives you after you make arrangements. It must list every good and service you selected and the price of each.

• Look for "embalming" and "other preparation" lines and confirm you approved them.
• If you chose a package, see whether embalming is built into it. The FTC says you do not have to accept a package with items you do not want.
• Check for refrigeration charges, especially with immediate burial and direct cremation, where the Austin survey says some homes add them even if the service happens within a day.
• Compare the total with your General Price List. Our guide to the General Price List shows how to read one.

What to do next

1. Decide whether you want a viewing, and whether a private one would be enough.
2. Call two or three funeral homes and ask for the embalming price, the refrigeration price per day and the basic services fee.
3. Tell the home in writing what you approve and do not approve, and ask for the itemized statement before you pay.
4. Add the figures to the funeral budget builder to see the whole picture.