May 12, 2021 - Health
"Cost of dying" in America nears $20K
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If anything is certain in life, it's death and taxes. And in some states, the former is a heck of a lot more expensive, according to data released by Self Financial.
State of play: Using 2020 figures from the National Funeral Directors Association and the CDC, the group looked at the average 'cost of dying' across the U.S. based on the price of end-of-life care, funerals and cremations.
Catch up quick: The average cost of dying in the U.S. is about $19,566.
- Hawaii was the priciest state, with end-of-life medical costs topping $23,073, the average funeral adding up to $14,478 and the average cost of cremation coming in at $12,095. All that comes to a whopping average cost of dying of $36,124.
- Mississippi is the cheapest place to die, with an average cost of about $15,516.
The big picture: CDC figures show the cost of funerals and end-of-life care jumped to $63.8 billion in 2020, up 14.3% from a total of $55.8 billion in 2019, the report points out.
- When taking all COVID-19 related deaths into consideration, they estimate the COVID-19 pandemic now accounts for $8.1 billion in household costs through April 2021.
