HomeFuneral costs by stateCaliforniaSan Diego
How much does a funeral cost in San Diego, CA?
A traditional burial with a service in the San Diego metro area averages $7,790 at the funeral home. Once the cemetery has billed, families typically pay closer to $16,410, which is about 1% below the California figure of $16,580. The metro takes in Chula Vista and Carlsbad as well as San Diego.
What San Diego funeral homes actually charge
Everything below this section is modelled from national survey data. This section is not. These are 12 funeral homes trading across 3 towns in the San Diego area with a direct cremation price we hold. The middle one charges $1,170. American Cremation Service in Carlsbad is recorded from $675, Community Mortuary in Chula Vista at $2,000, which is 3 times the price for the same service inside one metropolitan area.
Of the 12, 5 come in under $1,000, 6 sit between $1,000 and $1,999, and 1 between $2,000 and $2,999. 11 of them publishes a basic services fee as well, the charge you cannot decline whatever else you turn down. Ring three at random rather than one and you would expect to pay $350 less than the $1,107 average.
| Funeral home | Where | Direct cremation | Basic services fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Cremation Service Website | Carlsbad, CA | from $675 | $1,200 |
| Bayview Cremation & Burial Services Website | Chula Vista, CA | from $675 | $1,200 |
| American Cremation Service Website | San Diego, CA | from $675 | $1,200 |
| Bayview Cremation & Burial Services Website | San Diego, CA | from $675 | $1,200 |
| Bayview Crematory & Burial Services Website | San Diego, CA | from $675 | $1,200 |
| Featheringill Mortuary Chapel Website | San Diego, CA | from $1,045 | $1,395 |
| Preferred Cremation & Burial Website | San Diego, CA | $1,295 | $1,395 |
| California Cremation & Burial Chapel Website | San Diego, CA | $1,307 | |
| Accu-Care Cremation Center Website | Carlsbad, CA | from $1,320 | $950 |
| Village Cremation Service, Inc. Website | Chula Vista, CA | $1,350 | $1,100 |
| Williams San Diego Memorial Chapel Website | San Diego, CA | from $1,595 | $1,995 |
| Community Mortuary Website | Chula Vista, CA | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| Accu-Care Cremation Center Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| All Faiths Mortuary & Crematory Services Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Am Israel Mortuary Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Anderson Ragsdale Mortuary Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Balboa Cremation Services Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Beardsley-Mitchell Funeral Home Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Clairemont Mortuary Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Cortez Cremations & Funeral Services | San Diego, CA | ||
| Cypress View Mausoleum, Mortuary & Crematory Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| El Camino Memorial | San Diego, CA | ||
| Funeraria Del Angel Chula Vista | Chula Vista, CA | ||
| Funeraria Del Angel San Diego | San Diego, CA | ||
| Greenwood Memorial Park & Mortuary Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Guadalupana Memorial Chapel & Mortuary Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| InvoCare Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Lakepointe Cremation & Burial Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Merkley Mitchell Mortuary | San Diego, CA | ||
| Miramar Memorial Services Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Orchid Cremations Website | Carlsbad, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Pacific Beach La Jolla Chapel | San Diego, CA | ||
| San Diego Central Care Center Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| San Diego Crematory Service Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Telophase Cremation Society | San Diego, CA | ||
| Thresholds Home & Family Directed Funerals Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
| Trident Society - San Diego Website | San Diego, CA | Their prices | Their prices |
Published 07-24-2026 by the home's own published price list. Prices for other homes on this list carry their own dates, shown on each home's page. They are the figures we hold rather than quotes, several are years old, and no funeral home is bound by them. Where a row says Their prices, the only figure we hold comes from a directory we could not check against the home's own list, so the link goes to the home instead.
Estimated burial with a service in San Diego
- Funeral home services, viewing and ceremony$5,090
- Casket, standard$2,700
- Cemetery plot$3,590
- Opening and closing the grave$1,040
- Burial vault or grave liner$1,830
- Headstone or marker$2,160
Most families have no plan for this
A burial insurance policy is written to cover exactly this amount. It pays out in days rather than months, and for most people over 50 there is no medical exam, only health questions.
The calculator is set to San Diego. The funeral home lines are scaled by what San Diego homes charge against the California median, a factor of 0.89, and the plot by local land prices.
What makes up the $16,410 in San Diego
| Item | Billed by | San Diego | California |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funeral service with viewing | Funeral home | $5,090 | $5,750 |
| Casket, standard steel | Funeral home | $2,700 | $2,650 |
| Cemetery plot | Cemetery | $3,590 | $3,090 |
| Opening and closing the grave | Cemetery | $1,040 | $1,170 |
| Burial vault or grave liner | Cemetery | $1,830 | $1,800 |
| Headstone or marker | Monument dealer | $2,160 | $2,120 |
| Total | $16,410 | $16,580 |
Basic services fees published by San Diego homes, set against those across California, give the funeral home lines a factor of 0.89, that ratio pulled toward the state by how many homes stand behind it. The plot is the exception, scaled by land prices, San Diego at 179.3 against 154.3 for California (2024 BEA parities). The full working is on the California page.
Why we stopped using a cost of living index for any of this.
Funeral homes in the San Diego area
The Census counts 80 death care establishments in the San Diego metro, meaning funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries, employing about 814 people (2023 County Business Patterns). We hold a direct cremation price for 12 of them, and the spread between the cheapest and the dearest is $1,325. That is 3 times the price for the same service, inside one metropolitan area, which is a larger difference than the one between San Diego and California as a whole.
Cremation in San Diego
Cremation with a service models out at $5,550 here, about $2,240 less than a burial at the funeral home because there is no casket, plot, vault or headstone to buy. Strip the service out and the San Diego homes themselves put the middle direct cremation at $1,170, 12 of them measured, 5 of those under $1,000, which puts roughly $4,380 on the ceremony, the viewing and the staff time around it. For a family choosing on price alone that gap is the whole decision, and it is a bigger number than anything the metro comparison above turns on.
Your rights when you ring a San Diego funeral home
All 12 of the homes listed above owe you the same thing on the telephone, without being told who you are. American Cremation Service from $675 and Community Mortuary at $2,000 are the two ends of it. Working down from the $1,170 in the middle of that list is worth $495 before anyone has driven anywhere. What the law requires of California funeral homes sets out the rest.
Covering $16,410 in San Diego
$16,410 is the number a policy here would be written for, and it is $170 less than the California average, which is the sort of thing people get wrong when they pick a round figure. It pays out in days rather than weeks, and for most people over 50 there is no medical exam.
(786) 818-0383Talk to one of our licensed agentsCommon questions
How much does a funeral cost in San Diego?
About $16,410 for a burial with a viewing once the cemetery has billed, of which $7,790 goes to the funeral home and $8,620 to the cemetery and the monument dealer. The funeral home half is the Pacific survey median moved by what San Diego homes actually publish, and the cemetery half by local land prices. They are estimates, not quotes.
Is a funeral more expensive in San Diego than the rest of California?
No, it is about 1%, $16,410 against $16,580, and it is largely the land under the plot rather than the funeral home. Inside the metro the same direct cremation runs from $675 to $2,000, a wider gap than the one between San Diego and California.
How much does cremation cost in San Diego?
The middle of the 12 San Diego area homes we hold a price for charges $1,170 for a direct cremation, from $675 at American Cremation Service up to $2,000 at Community Mortuary. Add a service and the model puts it near $5,550. Every price here is one we hold rather than a quote, several are years old, and each carries its own date on that home's page.
Which funeral home is cheapest in San Diego?
American Cremation Service in Carlsbad, from $675, and 4 other San Diego area homes are also under $1,000. Community Mortuary is $1,325 higher for the same service. Prices move and several of ours are years old, so treat the list as where to start ringing, worth about $350 on three calls, not as the answer.
Does every San Diego funeral home charge a basic services fee?
Yes, all of them, and in San Diego the published ones run $950 to $2,500 with $1,200 in the middle, across the 11 we hold. It is the charge you cannot decline whatever else you turn down, so it sets the floor under everything else on this page, and American Cremation Service, cheapest here on cremation from $675, asks $1,200 for it.
Other metro areas in California
- Los Angeles$16,700
- San Francisco$18,260
- Sacramento$16,040