Missouri Funeral Costs: Real Prices, Laws and How to Compare

Missouri has no official average funeral price. The NFDA's 2023 national medians were $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for one with viewing and cremation, before cemetery costs. In a 2025 survey of Greater Kansas City funeral homes, the same direct cremation, with no viewing or service, was listed from $825 to $3,840, so the funeral home you choose can matter more than anything else.

How much does a funeral cost in Missouri?

The NFDA medians cover funeral home charges and a casket or container, not the cemetery plot, opening and closing or marker. The Kansas City survey is from the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City, a nonprofit, and covers funeral homes in both Missouri and Kansas. It takes its prices from each funeral home's General Price List (GPL), and some of the lists are dated as far back as 2022. Averages rose from $1,889 to $1,979 for direct cremation (4.8%), from $3,197 to $3,359 for immediate burial (5.1%) and from $6,485 to $6,867 for a standard funeral (5.9%) between the survey's 2023 and 2025 editions.

We could not find a verified published price survey for St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia or rural Missouri. If you are outside the Kansas City area, use the same method in this guide: call local funeral homes and ask for written prices. Our guides cover cremation costs by state, burial costs by state and direct burial.

How do you compare Missouri funeral homes?

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, funeral homes must give you prices over the phone and a written GPL to keep. They must let you choose individual items instead of a package, and cannot refuse a casket you bought elsewhere or charge a fee to handle it.

1. Call at least three funeral homes, including a cremation-only provider if you are considering cremation.
2. Ask for the total for the exact service you want, and the date on the price list.
3. Ask what is not included, such as refrigeration, mileage and death certificates.
4. Compare totals, not packages. See how to read a General Price List and funeral home fees explained.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City publishes an interactive price survey that you can sort by price.

What costs extra in Missouri?

The funeral home's price usually does not include the cemetery plot, opening and closing the grave, a burial vault and a marker. The FTC says no law in the U.S. requires an outer burial container, but many cemeteries do, so ask for the cemetery's written rules and prices. Cash advance items such as flowers, obituaries and clergy fees are also separate.

You do not need a casket for cremation. A funeral home that offers cremation must tell you that alternative containers, such as cardboard or unfinished wood, are available.

What does Missouri law require?

Who has the right to decide?

RSMo 194.119, Missouri's right of sepulcher statute, gives the right to control the final disposition of remains to the first person available on this list:

1. an attorney in fact named in a durable power of attorney that specifically grants the right of sepulcher
2. a military designee, if the person was on active duty and named one on Department of Defense Form 93
3. the surviving spouse, unless divorce proceedings were pending
4. surviving children
5. surviving parents or guardians
6. surviving siblings
7. the next nearest relative by blood or marriage
8. anyone who takes financial responsibility, if no next of kin does
9. the county coroner or medical examiner, who does not become financially responsible by acting

Naming an agent in writing ahead of time helps avoid disputes. See who arranges the funeral.

Can your family handle the funeral without a funeral director?

Missouri is not on the Funeral Consumers Alliance's list of nine states that restrict home care of the dead. RSMo 193.145 says the death certificate is filed by the funeral director or the person in charge of final disposition within five days of death, and that the medical certification should be completed within 72 hours. Many families still use a funeral home for the paperwork, transport and cremation. See home funeral laws by state.

Is embalming required, and is there a waiting period for cremation?

The FTC says no state requires routine embalming for every death, though some require embalming or refrigeration if burial or cremation is delayed. We could not verify a Missouri-specific embalming deadline or a statewide waiting period before cremation, so ask the funeral home which rules apply and where they come from. See embalming and the law.

How do prepaid funeral plans work in Missouri?

Missouri regulates prepaid ("preneed") funeral contracts under RSMo 436.400 to 436.520. A few rules from the statutes:

• For a trust-funded contract, the seller must deposit payments in the preneed trust within 60 days, and the trustee must be a financial institution authorized to exercise trust powers in Missouri that is not controlled by the seller.
• A seller may take up to 5% of the contract amount as an origination fee after that amount is deposited, and the trustee may later distribute up to 10% of the contract's face value to the seller.
• If the contract is designated revocable, you can cancel before final disposition without giving a reason. A trust-funded contract must have its trust property distributed within 15 days of your written notice, not counting income earned.
• Cancelling a contract funded by life insurance does not cancel the policy. You must cancel it separately with the insurer.

Before you sign, ask whether the contract is revocable, how the money is held, and whether it covers you if you move. See comparing prepaid plans and what happens if a provider fails.

What help is there paying for a funeral in Missouri?

• The person responsible. If the person left an estate, funeral bills are usually paid from it. The right to decide can come with responsibility for the cost, so get a clear price before you sign.
• Social Security. A one-time $255 death payment goes to an eligible surviving spouse or, in some cases, children. See Social Security death benefit.
• State veterans cemeteries. The Missouri Veterans Commission runs five active cemeteries, in Springfield, Higginsville, Bloomfield, Fort Leonard Wood and Jacksonville. There is no residency requirement, and there are no fees for eligible veterans, spouses and dependents. See state veterans cemeteries.
• VA national cemeteries and allowances. A VA national cemetery provides a gravesite, opening and closing, and a headstone at no cost to eligible veterans. For non-service-connected deaths, the VA's burial and plot allowances are $1,002 each for deaths from October 1, 2025, and $1,032 each for deaths on or after October 1, 2026. Find locations in the VA cemetery finder and see VA burial allowance.
• Local social services. The Funeral Consumers Alliance suggests asking your local Department of Social Services about burial assistance, especially if the person received Medicaid or SSI. See what to do if you cannot afford a funeral.

Are green options available in Missouri?

Natural burial, with no embalming and a simple container or shroud, is up to each cemetery, so ask what is allowed and whether a vault is required. We could not confirm that water cremation (alkaline hydrolysis) or natural organic reduction (human composting) is licensed in Missouri, so ask funeral homes what they offer before you make plans.

What to do next

1. Confirm who has the right to decide and whether the person left written wishes.
2. Get written GPLs and totals from three or more funeral homes, with the date on each list.
3. If the person was a veteran, ask the Missouri Veterans Commission or the VA about burial in a state or national cemetery before paying for a private plot.
4. Order certified death certificates. See how many death certificates you need.