How Much Does a Casket Cost? 2026 Price Ranges by Material and Source

You'll hear numbers all over the map — $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 — because casket pricing depends almost entirely on two things: what it's made of and where you buy it.

Price Ranges by Material

Carbon steel caskets are the industry workhorse. They're measured by gauge — lower gauge means thicker steel. A 20-gauge steel casket starts around $825 and a heavy-duty 16-gauge model runs up to $3,400. Most funeral homes push 18-gauge as the "standard," which sits in the $1,200 to $2,000 range.

Stainless steel resists corrosion better than carbon steel. Expect $2,350 to $3,050.

Bronze and copper are the premium metals — priced by weight rather than gauge (32-ounce or 48-ounce per square foot). Bronze caskets run $3,900 to $8,100, with custom pieces exceeding $22,000.

Hardwood caskets (mahogany, cherry, walnut, oak, maple) range from $2,150 to $5,450. Premium mahogany can top $10,000. Mid-range options in poplar, pecan, or cedar fall in the $1,500 to $3,000 range. Plain pine ranges from $500 to $3,100 depending on finish.

Veneer caskets use a thin hardwood layer bonded to composite — they look like solid wood at a lower weight and cost.

The Funeral Home Markup

Here's the number that matters most: funeral homes typically mark up caskets 200% to 500% over their wholesale cost. A casket the home bought for $800 might appear on their Casket Price List at $2,400 to $4,000.

The FTC Funeral Rule makes this legal — there's no cap on casket markups. What the Rule does require is that the funeral home give you a written Casket Price List before showing you any physical caskets, and they cannot charge you a handling fee, storage fee, or any surcharge for bringing in a casket purchased from a third-party retailer.

Where to Buy Outside the Funeral Home

Third-party online retailers — Titan Casket, Trusted Caskets, Solace Caskets, and others — sell caskets at substantially lower prices. Walmart and Costco also carry caskets online. Compare models and specifications before treating them as equivalent.

Shipping typically takes two to seven days. Restocking fees run 25% to 35% if you need to return an unused casket, so confirming sizing and cemetery compatibility before ordering is critical.

The savings on a single casket purchase from a third-party source can easily reach $1,000 to $3,000 compared to the funeral home's in-house price for an equivalent model.

What Actually Drives the Cost

Three factors matter more than brand:

1. Material thickness and type — steel gauge or wood species determines the base price
2. Interior finish — crepe is the least expensive lining; velvet and hand-tufted satin are the most
3. Gasket seal — gasketed caskets cost more than non-gasketed ones, though the gasket provides no preservation benefit (and can actually cause problems in mausoleum entombment)

The Casket & Urn Selection Guide includes a provider comparison worksheet and pricing breakdown so you can evaluate options side by side before your funeral home meeting — when emotional pressure makes clear-headed comparison much harder.