“There’s a Lot of Money in Death”: Funeral Home Consolidation Hits Western Massachusetts, an article by Jonathan Gerhardson, was posted today on The Shoestring. This reporter has spent weeks investigating changes in ownership of funeral homes in our region and analyzing pricing trends that affect consumers. For example, one private equity firm has bought over 10% of our local funeral homes in recent years. In Hampden County, about 20% of the funeral homes are now owned by a single private equity firm.
This article also reports significant increases in lobbying expenses by several industry groups. A chart compares the recent spending of Funeral vs. Cemetery groups in our state.
Here is a direct link to the article: https://theshoestring.org/2025/10/28/theres-a-lot-of-money-in-death-funeral-home-consolidation-hits-western-mass/