Burial, Cremation, Water Cremation, or Composting: A Plain Comparison

People used to choose between two options. Now, depending on where you live, there can be four or five. This comparison puts them side by side. It tries to be neutral: where a number comes from a group with a stake in the answer, we say so, and where we couldn’t find a reliable number, we say that too.

Dated October 7, 2026. State law changes quickly.

The options side by side

	Conventional burial	Green burial	Flame cremation	Water cremation	Human composting
What happens	Embalmed body in a casket, usually with a concrete vault, buried in a cemetery	Unembalmed body in a biodegradable container, no vault, buried	Intense heat reduces the body to bone fragments, which are ground	Water, alkaline chemicals, and heat reduce the body to bone fragments, which are dried and ground	Body is placed in a vessel with plant material; microbes convert it to soil
Legal in	Nearly universally available	Depends on the cemetery	Nearly universally available	26 states (CANA, March 2026)	14 states (NFDA, Sept. 2025)
In Texas	Yes	Depends on the cemetery	Yes	No	No
Time	Varies	Varies	A few hours of heat (about two to three hours, per one report)	About 3 to 16 hours	About 30 days or more
What the family receives	A grave	A grave in a natural setting	Cremated remains	Cremated remains, about 32% more by volume	Some or all of the soil, or soil placed on conservation land
Sourced cost	NFDA 2023 median: $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial	No national median found	NFDA 2023 median: $6,280 for a funeral with cremation	No national median found	No national median found

What does it cost?

The only sourced national figures we found are the NFDA’s 2023 medians, as reported by Inside Climate News: $8,300 for a funeral with a viewing and burial, and $6,280 for a funeral with cremation. The source we read did not say exactly what those figures include, so use them as rough benchmarks, and ask any provider for an itemized price list.

For water cremation and composting, we found no national median. An operator interviewed for that same report said both typically cost about the same as flame cremation, but that depends on the company and services chosen. Other quoted prices for composting range from $5,000 to $7,000 (cited in a 2023 Maryland Catholic Conference alert) to packages starting at $9,200 at one Colorado provider. If you live where the method isn’t available, add the cost of transport; see can a body be moved to another state.

How popular is each option?

• The NFDA projects a 63.4% cremation rate for 2025 and 31.6% for burial, rising to 82.3% cremation by 2045. CANA reports a 2025 rate of 62.8%
• Water cremation accounts for about 1 percent of cremations, according to one report
• In the NFDA’s 2025 survey, 61.4% of consumers said they’d be interested in exploring green funeral options, up from 55.7% in 2021

These are statistics about what people do and say, not about which option is better.

How should I read the environmental claims?

This is where it’s hardest to find neutral information. Consider who is speaking:

• The Green Burial Council promotes full-body burial. Its certification applies only to cemetery burial, and it says flame cremation, water cremation, and composting are reduction processes that use non-renewable resources and have some negative environmental impacts. Its own comparison estimates that water cremation emits 150 to 200 pounds of carbon per person versus 250 to 536 pounds for flame cremation, with 80% less energy
• The NFDA and CANA say water cremation uses less energy and has a lower carbon footprint than flame cremation
• A sustainability news report says that, depending on the machine, water cremation produces one-tenth to one-twelfth of the carbon emissions of a fire crematorium, and that composting could be carbon negative
• Providers of newer methods have a commercial interest in favorable comparisons

The published estimates for water cremation versus flame cremation range from roughly 20% lower to roughly 90% lower, depending on the source and assumptions. We did not find a single independent life-cycle assessment that settles it, so treat any precise number with caution. What most sources agree on: flame cremation uses substantial fuel, water cremation uses less energy, and methods that avoid embalming chemicals and concrete vaults reduce some impacts.

What do different faiths say?

Views differ. The U.S. Catholic bishops’ doctrine committee concluded in 2023 that both water cremation and human composting fail to meet the Church’s requirements for respect for the body, while the Church permits flame cremation and prefers burial. For other communities, we found fewer formal statements; see what different faiths say about composting and water cremation. Ask your clergy.

How could I decide?

Ask yourself:

1. What matters most to me or my family: cost, simplicity, faith, environment, having a place to visit?
2. What is available here? Check your state with our interactive tool before you set your heart on a method, and ask whether a facility is actually operating
3. Would my family accept transport out of state if the method isn’t available locally?
4. Do I want a grave or a place to visit? Burial and green burial provide one; cremated remains can be buried, kept, or scattered where allowed; soil can be placed on conservation land or used for memorial plantings
5. What’s my backup if my first choice isn’t available?

For why many people end up choosing cremation by default, see the cremation paradox.

Add this to your Final Day Plan: your first choice and a backup, whether you’d accept transport out of state, and any faith guidance you want followed.

This is general information, dated October 7, 2026, and not legal or financial advice. Costs, laws, and availability vary and change; confirm with a licensed funeral director and your state funeral board.