The Death Arbitrage Tool
Real estate has location, location, location. So, it turns out, does dying. The exact same simple cremation can cost over a thousand dollars more on one side of a state line than the other. Pick your state and run the numbers.
Death hack #1
Run the numbers
Pick a state to see what dying there costs, and what it costs one state over.
America’s best border crossings (for dying)
The ten biggest one-state-over savings in the country, by typical direct cremation price. Passport not required. Pulse optional.
| # | Dying in | Cross into | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey ($3,000) | Pennsylvania ($2,050) | $950 |
| 2 | New York ($2,950) | Pennsylvania ($2,050) | $900 |
| 3 | Maryland ($2,600) | West Virginia ($1,800) | $800 |
| 4 | Massachusetts ($3,100) | Vermont ($2,500) | $600 |
| 5 | California ($2,200) | Arizona ($1,700) | $500 |
| 6 | Virginia ($2,200) | West Virginia ($1,800) | $400 |
| 7 | Colorado ($2,050) | Arizona ($1,700) | $350 |
| 8 | Delaware ($2,400) | Pennsylvania ($2,050) | $350 |
| 9 | Oregon ($2,250) | Idaho ($1,900) | $350 |
| 10 | Illinois ($2,150) | Kentucky ($1,850) | $300 |
Typical prices from our 50-state Price Index.
Yes, we know you can’t schedule where you die
But here’s the part that isn’t a joke: providers really do cross state lines for pickups. Most include 25–30 miles of transport free and charge about $3 a mile after that, so if you live near a border, the “arbitrage” is just… shopping. A quarter of New Jersey lives one bridge from Philadelphia, comfortably inside a Philly provider’s normal pickup radius. For them the $950 isn’t theoretical.
And even if you’re nowhere near a border: the price gaps inside a state are often as big as the gaps between states. Two funeral homes in the same city routinely quote prices $1,000 apart for the exact same direct cremation. The families who pay the high price are simply the ones who didn’t compare.
So the real hack has nothing to do with geography: get more than one quote, ask for the itemized price list (federal law says they have to give it to you), and know what a fair price looks like where you live before you sign anything.
How the numbers work
State prices are the typical direct-cremation figures from our 50-state Direct Cremation Price Index. Border states share a land border; Alaska and Hawaii get compared to the cheapest state nationally, for obvious reasons. The body-run math assumes what typical provider price lists show: pickup included within about 25 miles, roughly $3 a mile beyond, with the neighbor-state provider sitting 15 miles past the border.
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