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Cremation cost in New Jersey: prices from 39 funeral homes

Direct cremation in New Jersey has a median price of $2,753 across the 38 funeral homes that price it, collected through September 2026. Burial costs are here too.

Direct cremation, median
$2,753

Direct cremation, median

Cremation with a memorial service, median
$4,025

Cremation with a memorial service, median

Funeral with viewing, then cremation, median
$9,143

Funeral with viewing, then cremation, median

What New Jersey funeral homes charge

Direct cremation38 funeral homesMedian$2,753Most charge$1,789 to $6,135
Cremation with a memorial service (services, before urn)25 funeral homesMedian$4,025Most charge$3,097 to $7,080
Funeral with viewing, then cremation (services, before urn)16 funeral homesMedian$9,143Most charge$7,273 to $11,910
Immediate burial28 funeral homesMedian$4,500Most charge$3,468 to $5,970
Traditional funeral (services, before casket and cemetery)18 funeral homesMedian$8,073Most charge$6,602 to $9,500

“Most charge” is the middle 80% of prices: one home in ten charges less, one in ten charges more.

Each price is the funeral home’s own charge, and cremation prices include the crematory fee. Government fees, such as the permit and certified copies of the death certificate, are usually added on top.

The traditional funeral figure counts the funeral home’s services only: the casket, vault and cemetery come on top, so a burial usually costs well above it. A funeral with viewing before cremation includes a rental casket and the crematory fee, which is why it can show the higher figure.

New Jersey has about 421 funeral home establishments (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Prices differ widely between them, so call two or three before choosing: every funeral home must give you its prices over the phone.

Direct cremation by area

Only New Jersey funeral homes are counted, even where a metro area crosses a state line. An area needs prices from at least 8 funeral homes to be shown.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ20 funeral homesMedian$3,085Most charge$1,630 to $6,135
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD17 funeral homesMedian$2,750Most charge$1,995 to $3,562

What to know in New Jersey

Cremation rules in New Jersey

  • No one may cremate a body in New Jersey until at least 24 hours have passed from the time of death written on the death certificate (N.J.S.A. 26:7-18.1).
  • If no agent was named, the right to decide passes in this order: the surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner; a majority of the adult children; the parents; a majority of the brothers and sisters; then other next of kin by closeness of blood (N.J.S.A. 45:27-22).
  • The person or group with the highest right must act within 72 hours of the death. If they do not, or cannot be reached after a reasonable attempt, the right moves to the next group on the list (N.J.S.A. 45:27-22).
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  • You can name your own funeral agent in a will, or on the New Jersey Cemetery Board's appointment form signed in front of two witnesses and a notary. The agent cannot be an owner or employee of the funeral home, cemetery or crematory you use unless the agent is a relative (N.J.S.A. 45:27-22).
  • A body that is not buried or cremated within 48 hours must be embalmed or kept refrigerated at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, under state health rules (N.J.A.C. 8:9-1.1).
  • When the parents hold the right, both must sign off if both are living and can be reached. A divorce ends a former spouse's right, and anyone the deceased had a domestic violence restraining order against, or anyone charged with intentionally killing the deceased, is passed over (N.J.S.A. 45:27-22).
  • Cremating a body without a burial or other final disposition permit is a misdemeanor in New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 26:7-16). The funeral director gets the permit by filing the death certificate with a local registrar (N.J.S.A. 26:6-6).
  • Before taking a body, the crematory must check the cremation permit and a signed authorization form that names who approved the cremation, confirms that any implants that must come out were removed, and notes any radiation therapy (N.J.A.C. 13:44J-9.3 and 13:44J-9.7).
  • Human remains that have not been identified may not be cremated in New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 52:17B-220).
  • New Jersey crematories may only be located on dedicated cemetery property, with an exception for crematories run with funeral homes before December 1, 1971 (N.J.S.A. 45:27-16 and 45:27-40).
Sources (11)

Fees you will pay in New Jersey

  • The state Office of Vital Statistics and Registry charges $25 for the search and one certified copy of a death certificate, and $2 for each extra copy of the same record ordered at the same time.
  • Local vital statistics offices set their own prices: Newark charges $25 for the first copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record, and Jersey City charges $25 per copy for deaths in the city after 2000.
  • The Burlington County Medical Examiner's Office and the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office in North Brunswick both say families pay nothing for medical examiner services. The family pays only the funeral home, including moving the body from the examiner's office.
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  • New Jersey does not charge sales tax on a funeral director's charges for services or caskets, or on a cemetery's charges for interments and inurnments. A grave marker bought without installation is taxed (Division of Taxation publication ANJ-22).
  • On request, the state registrar gives one certified copy of a veteran's death certificate free to the family or legal representative. Any other copies cost the regular fee (N.J.S.A. 26:8-63).
  • The state fee for each burial, removal or transit permit is $5 (N.J.S.A. 26:6-17). On the funeral home's itemized statement, permit fees appear as a cash disbursement under "State permit and filing fees" (N.J.A.C. 13:36-1.9).
  • Ordering a state copy through VitalChek adds a processing fee of $6 by mail or $12.95 by phone, and optional UPS tracking costs $18.
Sources (9)

Help paying for a cremation

  • For people who were receiving Work First New Jersey cash assistance (TANF or General Assistance), SSI or Medicaid Only, the county or municipal welfare agency may pay up to $3,056 for funeral services and up to $714 for cemetery costs for anyone age 2 or older, the maximums in force since January 22, 2022 (N.J.A.C. 10:90-8.2 and 10:90-8.5).
  • For a cremation, the crematory charge is paid from the $714 cemetery allowance and an urn from the funeral allowance (N.J.A.C. 10:90-8.5).
  • The New Jersey Victims of Crime Compensation Office can pay up to $7,500 for funeral costs within its $25,000 limit per claim when a victim dies from a crime. The claim must be filed within five years of the death, and the crime generally must be reported to police within nine months.
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  • Each county must arrange and pay for the burial or cremation of a veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable who dies with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, up to $1,250 in all. The county of residence pays up to $250 and the state adds the rest, subject to available funds (N.J.S.A. 38:17-1 and 38:17-4).
  • Burial at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Arneytown, North Hanover Township, Burlington County, is free for eligible veterans and certain family members, including the grave, liner, upkeep and a government headstone or niche cover. The family pays for preparing the remains and getting them to the cemetery, unless the death occurred on active duty.
  • Family and friends may contribute up to $1,570 toward the arrangements for anyone age 2 or older without reducing the welfare agency's payment, but a prepaid funeral contract reduces it dollar for dollar (N.J.A.C. 10:90-8.5).
  • The funeral home or family must tell the welfare agency before the services if they will ask it to pay, and the claim petition is due within 30 days after the burial or cremation (N.J.A.C. 10:90-8.4).
  • At Doyle, the family can schedule the burial of cremated remains directly without a funeral home, the plastic container most crematories provide is acceptable, and graves and columbarium niches cannot be reserved ahead of time.
Sources (10)

Price lists and your rights

  • Cash items such as state permit fees, death certificate copies and crematory charges may not be folded into a direct cremation package price. They must be listed separately (N.J.A.C. 13:36-1.9).
  • The Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected must be one single-sided page, signed and dated by you and the funeral director as soon as it is filled out, with a copy given to you right away (N.J.A.C. 13:36-1.9).
  • Complaints about a funeral home go to the State Board of Mortuary Science, and complaints about a cemetery company go to the New Jersey Cemetery Board, using the complaint forms on the Division of Consumer Affairs website. The Cemetery Board is at 124 Halsey Street in Newark, (973) 504-6553, and regulates nonsectarian cemetery companies, not every cemetery in the state.
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  • Every prepaid funeral agreement in New Jersey must let you cancel the funeral arrangements and must pay any money left over after the funeral to the purchaser, the estate or the policy's beneficiaries. It may not be paid for through installment contracts, reverse mortgages or credit life insurance (N.J.S.A. 45:7-85 and 45:7-90).
  • A New Jersey general price list must be printed or typed with nothing handwritten on it, and must show the name, license number and title of the funeral home's manager (N.J.A.C. 13:36-9.7).
  • Next to the embalming price, a New Jersey price list must also tell you that the body may be embalmed somewhere other than that funeral home (N.J.A.C. 13:36-9.7).
  • If an owner of the funeral home also owns half or more of another New Jersey funeral home, the price list must say so and name those homes and their towns (N.J.A.C. 13:36-5.21).
  • A cemetery company must post its price list and file it with the New Jersey Cemetery Board, and may not charge for a service missing from that filed list unless the service is unique or highly specialized.
Sources (7)

What New Jersey cemeteries charge for ashes

  • Camden New Cemetery, run by the City of Camden's Department of Public Works, charges $200 to bury cremated ashes, compared with $650 to open a grave for anyone over six. Openings after noon on Saturdays, on Sundays and on holidays cost double, and the city code says no graves are available for purchase (Camden Code chapter 253, amended May 14, 2013).
  • Pinelands Memorial Park, the municipal cemetery Shamong Township owns and runs, lists niches from $1,000 at ground level to $1,400 on the top row, plus a $500 preservation fund payment per grave or niche at purchase (price list dated November 2024).
  • At Pinelands Memorial Park, placing cremated remains in a grave or niche, with a proper urn vault, costs $500 on weekdays until 2 p.m., and engraving one name on a niche costs $480. A $1,250 grave holds one burial and one set of ashes, or two sets of ashes.
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  • The state's Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery charges nothing to bury eligible veterans and family, but charges $500 to disinter an unburied urn and $1,000 to disinter a buried urn.
  • For every burial or placement of ashes, a New Jersey cemetery company must collect 3 percent of its charge or $20, whichever is more, and pay it into its Maintenance and Preservation Fund (N.J.S.A. 45:27-13).
  • The New Jersey Cemetery Board does not set grave or service prices, so charges for placing ashes vary from cemetery to cemetery. The Board will send you a copy of a specific cemetery's filed fees if you call (973) 504-6553.
Sources (7)

What happens to the ashes in New Jersey

  • The crematory puts the ashes in a leak-proof container labeled with the person's name and the cremation date, and may not add anything else to it without written instructions from the person who authorized the cremation (N.J.A.C. 13:44J-9.10).
  • A New Jersey crematory may ship ashes by registered or certified mail with a return receipt, or by another parcel service that provides a delivery record, with the inner container and the outer wrapping both labeled (N.J.A.C. 13:44J-9.12).
  • If no relative or friend claims the ashes within one year of the cremation, they may be disposed of after a diligent effort to find a relative or friend, which must include a certified letter, return receipt requested, to the person who authorized the cremation (N.J.S.A. 26:7-18.2).
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  • Unclaimed ashes may then be scattered at sea or buried on land in a dignified manner (N.J.A.C. 8:9-1.11).
  • Ashes buried in a New Jersey cemetery can be moved without a disinterment permit, but the owner of the plot and the person with the right to control the remains must agree first (N.J.S.A. 45:27-23).
  • The cremation authorization form a New Jersey crematory requires asks for the planned disposition of the ashes and its date, if known (N.J.A.C. 13:44J-9.3).
  • Unclaimed ashes of a veteran, or of a veteran's eligible spouse or dependent, go to a qualified veterans' organization, which must scatter them at sea or bury them at the Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery or another veterans cemetery (N.J.S.A. 26:7-18.2).
  • When a veteran, or a veteran's eligible spouse or dependent, is cremated, the state's electronic death registration system notifies the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs once the cremation permit is issued (N.J.S.A. 26:8-24.1).
Sources (7)

Composting and water cremation

  • New Jersey legalized natural organic reduction, often called human composting, in P.L.2025, c.143 (Assembly Bill 4085 and Senate Bill 3007), signed on September 11, 2025. The law took effect on the first day of the tenth month after it was signed, which is July 1, 2026.
  • A funeral home can offer composting only after its facility is registered with the State Board of Mortuary Science, a registration renewed every year, and inspected and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection before it opens. The work must be supervised by a licensed funeral director (N.J.S.A. 45:7-61.1).
  • The law directs the State Board of Mortuary Science, the New Jersey Cemetery Board and the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt the rules needed to carry it out (P.L.2025, c.143, section 6).
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  • When you make arrangements, the funeral director must tell you in writing that cemeteries on the New Jersey Cemetery Board's list can accept remains after composting (N.J.S.A. 45:7-65.6).
  • A composting facility must be inside a registered funeral home or on its property, and composting sites must be set back at least 500 feet, or 200 days' time of travel, from any drinking water well (N.J.S.A. 45:7-34 and 45:7-61.1).
  • State law defines natural organic reduction, also called controlled supervised decomposition, as the contained, accelerated conversion of human remains into a soil-like product (N.J.S.A. 45:7-34).
  • New Jersey's cemetery law defines cremation as reducing human remains to bone fragments through flame, heat and vaporization (N.J.S.A. 45:27-2). The 2025 composting law covers natural organic reduction only and does not mention alkaline hydrolysis, also called water cremation.
Sources (6)

Checked against these sources in October 2026.

New Jersey cremation questions

Who gets to decide on a cremation in New Jersey if no agent was named?

Under N.J.S.A. 45:27-22, the surviving spouse or civil union or domestic partner decides first, then a majority of the adult children, then the parents, then a majority of the brothers and sisters. Whoever holds the right must act within 72 hours of the death, or it passes to the next group.

How soon after a death can a New Jersey cremation happen?

At least 24 hours must pass from the time of death on the death certificate (N.J.S.A. 26:7-18.1), and a permit must be issued first. If the body waits more than 48 hours, it must be embalmed or refrigerated.

What does a death certificate copy cost in New Jersey?

The state charges $25 for the search and first certified copy and $2 for each extra copy ordered at the same time. Local offices set their own prices; Newark charges $25 for the first copy and $4 for each extra one.

Do families in Burlington or Middlesex County pay the medical examiner?

No. The Burlington County and Middlesex County medical examiner offices both say families pay nothing for medical examiner services. The family pays only the funeral home, including transport from the examiner's office.

How much will a New Jersey welfare office put toward a cremation?

For an eligible person age 2 or older, the county or municipal agency may pay up to $3,056 for the funeral home and up to $714 for cemetery costs, and the crematory charge comes out of the $714. Family can add up to $1,570 without lowering the agency's share.

Is there cremation help for a low-income veteran in New Jersey?

Yes. For a veteran with income under 200 percent of the poverty level who was not dishonorably discharged, the county must cover burial or cremation up to $1,250, paying the first $250 itself with the state adding the rest. Burial at the state's Doyle veterans cemetery is free for eligible veterans.

Where can I report a New Jersey funeral home or cemetery?

File with the State Board of Mortuary Science for a funeral home, or the New Jersey Cemetery Board for a cemetery company, using the complaint forms on the Division of Consumer Affairs website. The Cemetery Board can also be reached at (973) 504-6553.

Can a New Jersey funeral home hide permit and death certificate costs inside a direct cremation price?

No. N.J.A.C. 13:36-1.9 bars funeral homes from putting cash items like state permit fees, death certificates and crematory charges into a packaged price, so they appear as separate lines on your statement.

What does it cost to bury ashes in a New Jersey town cemetery?

Camden New Cemetery charges $200 to bury cremated ashes, though the city code says no graves are available for purchase. Shamong Township's Pinelands Memorial Park charges $500 to place ashes in a grave or niche, with niches from $1,000 to $1,400 plus a $500 preservation fund payment.

What happens to ashes no one picks up in New Jersey?

After one year and a diligent effort to find family or friends, including a certified letter to the person who authorized the cremation, the ashes may be scattered at sea or buried on land. A veteran's unclaimed ashes go to a qualified veterans' organization for burial at sea or in a veterans cemetery.

Can a New Jersey crematory mail cremated remains?

Yes. N.J.A.C. 13:44J-9.12 allows registered or certified mail with a return receipt, or a parcel service that gives a delivery record, with both the container and the outer wrapping labeled.

Is human composting legal in New Jersey yet?

Yes. P.L.2025, c.143, signed September 11, 2025, took effect July 1, 2026, the first day of the tenth month after it was signed. A funeral home can offer it only after its facility is registered with the State Board of Mortuary Science and inspected and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, so ask whether that has happened.

Does New Jersey law allow aquamation?

No. New Jersey's cemetery law defines cremation as reducing remains to bone fragments through flame, heat and vaporization (N.J.S.A. 45:27-2), and the 2025 composting law does not mention alkaline hydrolysis.

Where these prices come from

Every funeral home must give an itemized General Price List to anyone who asks. Some post it on their website. We have the price lists of 39 New Jersey funeral homes, where a business with several locations often uses one list for all of them, and computed each service’s price from its line items, the same way for every home.

Homes that post prices online may charge less than homes that do not, so treat these figures as a guide and ask for the price list of any home you are considering.

Run a funeral home here and something has changed? Email support@lovekept.co and we will update or remove your listing. Download these figures (CSV), free to reuse with credit to Lovekept.

By the Lovekept editorial team. Prices last updated September 2026.

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