The funeral industry in the United States is worth $20 billion dollars annually with 2.4 million funerals taking place every year. With death and taxation being the two certainties in life, funeral homes have a long-standing reputation for highly resilient and stable businesses.

Everyone dies. If there’s any business that should stand the test of time, it would be funeral homes and cemeteries. But when we look at the numbers, the surprising reality is that it’s not actually true. For 2 decades, average funeral home revenue has been declining every year. The number of funeral homes has been shrinking every year with more and more closing their doors.

Today, the American funeral industry is significantly fragmented, seemingly unscathed by the M&A of corporate America. There are roughly 18,800 funeral homes in the United States. There are about 1,000 crematoriums and 115,000 cemeteries. Service Corporation International is the largest public funeral home corporation today, operating 1,471 funeral homes and 488 cemeteries across 44 states. The company has 16% market share by revenue and 11% market share by the number of funeral homes under its ownership.

0:00 The Timeless Business of Death
4:52 Two Decades of Decline
6:16 Ashes to Ashes
9:16 Fragmentation + Consolidation
12:58 Funeral Homes vs. Cemeteries
15:52 Impact of Cremation
17:02 Billion Dollar War Chest
19:24 Dust to Dust