Here are summaries and links for some previous Price Comparison studies conducted by our nonprofit organization.
2022. On January 19, 2022, our Price Comparison study committee, led by Joan Pillsbury, met and prepared the letter to all 86 funeral home locations in Western Massachusetts. As usual, we requested copies of the GPLs. We also asked for some additional information. We set a deadline of March 30 for responses. Our committee then followed up, reaching out to non-responders; by June 30 we had GPLs for 60 funeral homes, and some price information for a few more. One funeral home had closed. By mid-August, for the 85 locations, we had GPLs for 64 (75%) and partial price information for five (5) more, bringing the overall response rate to 81%. That is significantly higher than in the past; the response rate was 64.7% two years ago. See the table we posted in July 2022:
2020. The 2020 Price Comparison (a Google spreadsheet) is still viewable online.
2016. Our Fall 2016 Newsletter (archived online) includes a front page article “Comparing Prices in 2016: Good News and Bad” and a price table “Cremation Pricing in Western Massachusetts” on pages 4-5.
NOTE: We conduct studies of funeral home prices every two years. For our earliest history, our price reports and other documents are archived in Special Collections & Archives at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Consult this Finding Aid if you wish to learn about FCAWM documents archived there.