Cremation gaining traction in Arkansas, nationwide
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Early data projects that more than half of Arkansans who died in 2025 were cremated, and cremation is now twice as popular as burials in the U.S., according to the National Funeral Directors Association.
Why it matters: Shifting attitudes around religion, cost and the environment are reshaping how Americans handle death.
The big picture: Cremation surpassed burial nationwide in 2015 — and the gap has only widened since, with the NFDA projecting cremation will continue gaining share.
- Burials also cost significantly more: In 2023, the median price of a casketed burial with viewing and ceremony was $8,300, compared with $2,750 for a direct cremation, according to NFDA data.
By the numbers: In 2020, 45% of Arkansans who died were cremated, according to data from the NFDA.
- The rate was projected to be 54.4% in 2025.
What they're saying: Americans' environmental mindset "is carrying all the way over into death now," NFDA spokesperson Jack Mitchell, a sixth-generation funeral director based in Baltimore, tells Axios.
- Instead of opting for a traditional burial — which requires more land use, upkeep, embalming processes and items like caskets — people are going greener.
State of play: Interest is growing for end-of-life options beyond burial and cremation, Mitchell tells Axios.
- Alkaline hydrolysis is like flame cremation but done with water. Also called aquamation, it's gained traction, but "just the notion of somebody being liquefied instead of burned, even though it's more environmentally friendly, [comes with an] ick factor," Mitchell tells Axios.
- Organic reduction, aka human composting, uses straw, wood chips and other natural materials to convert human remains into soil. It can feel poetic, especially if "mother loved her flower garden," Mitchell says. You could "literally use her to keep her flower garden beautiful for a long time."
- Green burial "is really the greenest option of all," but only limited cemeteries offer it, Mitchell says. There's a grave dug, but no embalming or burial wall. The deceased is in a natural, often biodegradable casket and placed directly into the ground.
Zoom in: Green burial is available in Arkansas, but alkaline hydrolysis and human composting are not, Arkansas Department of Commerce spokesperson Tyler Hale told Axios.
- The only green hybrid cemetery certified by the Green Burial Association is Kirby Tucker Memorial Cemetery in Mountain Home.
- "A green burial can take place at other cemeteries in Arkansas, but to truly be green, it must be a burial with no vault, a biodegradable casket and no use of embalming or chemical preservation methods," Hale said in an email.
The intrigue: As traditional, religious services decline, remembrance is shifting toward life celebrations and living funerals, sometimes held in spaces called "life event" venues, instead of "funeral homes," Mitchell says.
What we're watching: How funeral ceremonies continue to evolve as more people get comfortable talking about death before they're near it.