The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is one of the top curators of funeral service data in the U.S. Every year they release a Cremation and Burial Report that compiles data from a number of sources, including their members, state vital statistics agencies and the U.S. Census Bureau. The information is analyzed to help funeral directors better serve their communities by uncovering trends and consumer preferences.
The information is also beneficial for consumers themselves, especially if you are considering pre-need funeral arrangements. Our team has taken a look at the most recent report to discover the most important findings that Texas families should know about. Here’s an inside glimpse at what the data revealed.
The Cremation Rate is Now Double the Rate of Burial
The big headline from the NFDA’s 2025 Cremation and Burial Report is that the cremation rate is now double the rate of burial. By the end of 2025 the cremation rate should be around 63.4% while the burial rate will be 31.6%.
The news is almost as big as when cremation first surpassed burials. At these rates it’s clear that cremation is the disposition of choice in most places today.
Cremation Rate That Keeps Climbing
Even though the cremation rate is now well above burial, the number of cremations is expected to go up. The NFDA is projecting that the cremation rate will go up to 82.3% by 2045. At that point burial will be down to 13%. That leaves roughly 5% of people choosing another form of disposition, such as natural organic reduction.
Based on the data-driven assumptions, burial is certainly seen as the traditional method that’s not as modern. As a culture, America has made a major shift in the last decade, and it’s not going back. Just ten years ago in 2015 is the first year cremation was slightly more common than burial, and the trend has surpassed expectations since then.
Every State Will Exceed the 50% Mark by 2035
As we’ve noted in the past, the national cremation rate isn’t always representative of the cremation rate for an individual state. In some states like Nevada the number of cremations have been well above the average for years, while in others like Louisiana it’s still more common to choose burial.
But in all states the cremation rate has been increasing year-over-year. The NFDA is now predicting based on the latest information that the cremation rate will surpass 50% in every state by 2035. At that point, cremation will officially become the norm in the U.S.
However, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) projected that the U.S. would reach this milestone by 2033. Generally speaking, the NFDA has been conservative with its cremation rate projections, so there’s reason to believe the CANA dates could be more likely.
Interestingly, CANA’s research has found that when states hit a cremation rate of 40% the rate increased more quickly in the following years and the pace doesn’t slow down until the cremation rate reaches 80%. According to CANA’s 2025 Annual Statistics Report, Washington and Nevada have reached the slow down point and Oregon is almost there. And in the South region of the U.S. where cremation rates are collectively the lowest there’s expected to be the fastest growth in coming years.
Americans Are Split on Whether to Bury, Keep or Scatter Cremated Remains
One of the advantages of cremation over burial is that the family gets the cremated remains at the end of the process. There are three common options: burying the cremains, keeping them at home in an urn or scattering them.
The options are all very different. Not surprisingly, Americans are split on what they would choose to have happen to their cremains. The top pick was burial. About 38% of people would choose this option. Another 37% would want their cremains kept at home in an urn and 33.5% prefer scattering the cremains in a meaningful place.
The NFDA 2025 Cremation and Burial Report got even more specific. Over one in 10 people would want their cremains to be split up and given to multiple family members. Another 10% would want their cremated remains to be kept in a church or other place of worship.
Cremation.Green Was Ahead of the Curve With Online Cremation Arrangements
At Cremation.Green we’ve never been focused on doing the conventional. From the very beginning we went against the curb and it put us ahead of the curve in a number of ways. One service that we’ve offered for years is online arrangements. Now the practice is becoming more common due to consumer demand.
Fewer and fewer people want to have to make a trip to the funeral home just to get prices for services and start the process. The FTC is also updating its rules so that funeral homes are required to post basic service rates online. It’s a decision that’s taking into account what consumers have asked for and is common practice in other industries.
The primary goal for Cremation.Green is to minimize the impact of death care services any way we can. We also want to help families through the process and ease their burden any way we can. Allowing clients to initiate the process and arrange services online or over the phone is more eco-friendly and convenient.
Other funeral homes are getting the memo. According to the NFDA, approximately 36% of funeral homes already offer online cremation services and another 25% will do the same within four years. It’s unclear if these services will extend to burial.
If you would like to know more about our eco-friendly cremation practices or about alternatives like water cremation, please contact the Cremation.Green team at any time. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
