Every two years the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts (FCAWM) conducts a project to gather price information from funeral homes in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties and share the information with the public.
On January 21, 2026, our Price Comparison study committee met and prepared a letter requesting the General Price List (GPL) from all 83 funeral home locations in western Massachusetts. The GPL is a document that federal law requires them to provide to customers. The letter was sent on January 27, 2026 with a requested deadline of March 1. A stamped return envelope was provided to help busy business owners comply promptly. Our committee then reached out to non-responders by phone, email and/or in-person visits. We collected GPLs from 78 funeral homes, with a response rate of 96%. The response rate in 2024 was 94%. Earlier rates had been 81% (2022) and 65%(2020).
Prior to posting results, the data was revalidated against the supplied GPL for accuracy. A link to a PDF copy of the full GPL is available in the report table to enable viewing other services available but not shown in our table.
Results reveal significant variation in price for the same service definition. It pays to shop around!
For example, “Immediate Burial” prices range from $1795 to $5795.
The range for “Direct Cremation” is $1495 to $5,245. The low range for Direction Cremation has increased slightly since 2024, but the top range has decreased slightly. Note: these Direct Cremation prices charged by funeral homes may or may not include the cost charged by the crematory or the $200 Medical Examinator’s fee. In our Price Comparison Table we report whether these extra fees are included in the quoted price.
To estimate the cost of a full funeral you would begin with the “Basic Services Fee,” which ranges from a low of $895 to a high of $4,000, and add the cost of any goods or services that you wish the funeral home to provide (e.g., embalming, casket, a wake or visiting hours, a funeral ceremony).
If you obtain a General Price List from a funeral home that did not reply to our survey, please forward a copy to us so we may add it. A complete directory of the funeral homes, with addresses and links to their websites, is available on our website.