Funeral Homes in Pennsylvania: Verified Directory and Costs 2026

Pennsylvania Funeral Home Directory: Real Costs, Real Rights, and Real Family Savings

Pennsylvania families who lose someone tonight face a problem most state directories never mention. Under 63 P.S. § 479.13(a), only a licensed Pennsylvania funeral director can remove a body, transport it across the Commonwealth, or conduct the burial. The DIY home funeral options other states allow are largely illegal here, which makes the funeral home you call in the next 24 hours a higher-stakes decision in PA than in nearly any other state. Below are verified Pennsylvania funeral homes by city and county, real cost data from current industry studies, the federal and state rights every PA funeral home is legally required to honor, and the partner discounts and financing options that consistently save Pennsylvania families thousands.

Memorial Merits is an editorial site, not a directory aggregator. Every listing on this page is matched against the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System (PALS) before publish, and every cost figure, statute citation, and consumer right traces back to a primary source. Industry compliance is uneven; the Federal Trade Commission’s 1997 Philadelphia metro funeral home sweep found 19 of 67 Philadelphia, Bucks, and Delaware County funeral homes in violation of the federal Funeral Rule, and the FTC’s first-ever undercover phone sweep in 2024 added five more Philadelphia metro warning letters. No other state metro in the 41-year history of the Funeral Rule has been targeted at this volume. Knowing your rights before you call is half the protection.

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The fastest paths to relief in the first 72 hours, before you call a single Pennsylvania funeral home. Each card below jumps to its section deeper on the page.

Find a Funeral Home in Your Pennsylvania City

Pennsylvania funeral homes listed below by city, alphabetical. Each listing on this page is matched against the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System (PALS) before publish, the official portal for the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors. Use the county pill bar to jump to a specific Pennsylvania county, or the table of contents at the top of the page to jump directly to your city. Pennsylvania includes 57 cities, hundreds of boroughs, and many first-class and second-class townships, so the directory below covers cities, boroughs, and townships at or above 30,000 population. Cities are added on a rolling basis as the Memorial Merits team completes verification, so additional Pennsylvania municipalities may publish on this page after launch.

Funeral Homes in Abington Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Allentown, Pennsylvania

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Funeral Homes in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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Funeral Homes in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania

Cheltenham Township listings are pending PALS verification (ZIP codes 19012, 19027, 19038, 19046 covering Elkins Park, Glenside, and Wyncote). Verified independent and family-owned providers will publish on a rolling basis. To verify any Cheltenham Township funeral home or director license in the meantime, search pals.pa.gov.

Funeral Homes in Chester, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Easton, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Erie, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Falls Township, Pennsylvania

Falls Township covers Levittown CDP and Fairless Hills. Verified independent listings will publish on a rolling basis as PALS verification completes (ZIP codes 19030, 19054, 19056, 19067). Galzerano Funeral Home (listed under Bristol Township) and James J. Dougherty (Middletown Township) both serve Falls Township residents in the meantime. Search any Falls Township funeral home license at pals.pa.gov.

Funeral Homes in Hampden Township, Pennsylvania

Hampden Township listings are pending PALS verification. Verified independent providers in Mechanicsburg (which sits within or adjacent to Hampden Township, ZIP code 17050) will publish on a rolling basis. Search any Hampden Township funeral home license at pals.pa.gov.

Funeral Homes in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania

Lower Macungie Township listings are pending PALS verification (covers Macungie Borough area, ZIP codes 18062, 18103, 18106). Verified independent providers will publish on a rolling basis. Search any Lower Macungie funeral home license at pals.pa.gov.

Funeral Homes in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Manheim Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania

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Funeral Homes in Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Norristown, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Northampton Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Penn Hills Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia has 100+ licensed funeral establishments. Additional verified listings will publish on a rolling basis. To verify any Philadelphia funeral home or funeral director license, search pals.pa.gov.

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Funeral Homes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh has 50+ licensed funeral establishments. Additional verified listings will publish on a rolling basis. Search any Pittsburgh funeral home or director license at pals.pa.gov.

Funeral Homes in Reading, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in State College, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Funeral Homes in York, Pennsylvania

What a Pennsylvania Funeral Actually Costs in 2026

The first number a Pennsylvania funeral home gives you is rarely the lowest number you can pay. National medians from the NFDA 2023 General Price List Study put a traditional funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300 nationally and a cremation service with viewing and memorial at $6,280. Pennsylvania-specific industry estimates from Funeralocity’s Pennsylvania pricing analysis put the typical PA traditional funeral with burial in the $7,000 to $10,000 range before a cemetery plot or grave marker, average direct cremation around $2,460 statewide, and average full-service cremation around $6,537. The Philadelphia metro publishes the lowest direct cremation pricing in the state, with packages starting near $995.

Pennsylvania runs slightly below the national cremation rate, with roughly 53 percent of PA dispositions choosing cremation versus 61.8 percent nationally per NFDA’s most recent Cremation and Burial Report. The Mid-Atlantic region (PA, NJ, NY) has been slower to adopt cremation than the South or West. The cards above frame the medians; what your family actually pays depends on the funeral home you call. Any Pennsylvania funeral home is required by federal law to give you a written General Price List on request, no purchase required, in person or with accurate pricing on request by phone.

Source: Pennsylvania-specific cost data from Funeralocity Pennsylvania, cross-referenced against NFDA national medians. NFDA paywalls state-specific medians, so the PA figures above are estimated ranges from industry aggregators rather than primary medians. Costs vary by funeral home and county; verify against any funeral home’s General Price List before signing.

Pennsylvania Funeral Consumer Protection Laws

Pennsylvania funeral homes operate under three layers of rules: the federal FTC Funeral Rule, the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors regulations under 49 Pa. Code Chapter 13, and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking pre-need contract rules under the Cemetery and Funeral Merchandise Trust Fund Law of 1963. Most PA families never learn what each layer actually protects.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors licenses every funeral director and funeral establishment in Pennsylvania and investigates complaints against them. Search any funeral director or funeral establishment by name, license number, or location at the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System (PALS). If a Pennsylvania funeral home cheats your family, refuses to honor the FTC Funeral Rule, or pressures you into purchases you legally have the right to decline, you can file a complaint with the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs at 1-833-DOS-BPOA (1-833-367-2762) or by email to ST-FUNERAL@PA.GOV.

Pennsylvania never requires embalming. State regulation 49 Pa. Code § 13.201 only requires that a body be embalmed, refrigerated, or placed in a sealed container if final disposition will not happen within 24 hours after death. Refrigeration is a fully legal and substantially cheaper alternative to embalming, and the funeral home is required to disclose it as an option. After 36 hours of refrigeration, public viewing is discouraged but not prohibited.

If you are buying a pre-need (prepaid) funeral contract in Pennsylvania, the rules sit under 49 Pa. Code §§ 13.224 through 13.226 and the Cemetery and Funeral Merchandise Trust Fund Law of 1963. Funeral directors must deposit the entire amount paid into an escrow or trust account at a Commonwealth banking institution, separate from the funeral director’s business and personal accounts, and must file a report with the Board within 90 days for each prepaid contract. The protection is only as strong as enforcement. The 2017 Kezmarsky case in Uniontown showed how one funeral director stole $525,000 from 82 elderly clients across 12 years by co-mingling funds in defiance of the rule. The Pennsylvania Attorney General prosecuted that case in 2017. Always request annual escrow reporting and verify the escrow account exists before signing.

If your family cannot afford a funeral in Pennsylvania, the PA Department of Human Services burial and cremation program pays up to $750 toward burial or cremation services for eligible individuals under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 283. Eligibility requires the deceased to have been a recipient of TANF, General Assistance, State Blind Pension, SSI, or State Supplementary Payment at the time of death, with countable resources at or below specific thresholds. County Assistance Offices determine eligibility, and many PA counties operate their own supplemental burial assistance programs on top of the state program.

One Pennsylvania rule that does not apply in most states: only a Pennsylvania-licensed funeral director can remove a body, transport a body across the Commonwealth, or conduct a burial in PA, under 63 P.S. § 479.13(a). Out-of-state funeral directors cannot legally cross the PA line and take a body home without partnering with a PA-licensed funeral director, and PA families cannot move their loved one from a hospital, hospice, or home themselves. As of May 2026, Pennsylvania has not legalized alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation, sometimes called aquamation). The PA House passed House Bill 722 in the 2025-2026 session to authorize it, but the bill has not become law. PA residents wanting water cremation must use providers in Ohio, Maryland, or Maine.

For free price comparison sheets and consumer support, the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Pennsylvania publishes member-vetted resources and operates local chapters across the state.

Your Federal Rights at Any Funeral Home

Eight rights every funeral home in the United States is legally required to honor under the FTC Funeral Rule. They apply at every Pennsylvania funeral home regardless of size, location, or family history. Most PA families never learn them in time.

The FTC enforces the rule through periodic undercover inspections. Pennsylvania has the largest documented FTC enforcement footprint of any state metro in the rule’s 41-year history. The 1997 Philadelphia metro sweep audited 67 funeral homes across Philadelphia, Bucks, and Delaware Counties and found 19 in violation, a 28.4 percent violation rate in a single metro. The 2024 phone sweep, the first telephone sweep in agency history, added five more Philadelphia metro warning letters to the record. Asking for the General Price List on the first call, in writing, is the single fastest way to find out which side of compliance the funeral home you are talking to lands on.

Funeral Financing for Pennsylvania Families

The Pennsylvania funeral home that gives your family a $10,000 estimate will often offer to finance it for you on the spot. The financing offered at the funeral home is rarely the best financing available to your family. Memorial Merits has partnered with Upstart, a lending platform that partners with banks to provide personal loans of $1,000 to $75,000 with funding as fast as one business day after acceptance. The Upstart platform’s underwriting model considers factors beyond credit score alone, including education and work history, which often produces competitive rates for Pennsylvania families who would be denied or overpriced by a funeral home’s in-house financing. Checking your rate is a soft credit inquiry and does not affect your credit score.

Caskets and Urns: The Biggest Pennsylvania Family Savings

The single largest variable in a Pennsylvania funeral’s bottom line is the casket or urn. Funeral home casket pricing typically runs three to five times wholesale. The federal Funeral Rule guarantees Pennsylvania families the right to buy from any source, and the funeral home is legally required to accept it without a handling fee. This rule alone saves the average PA family $1,000 to $3,000 per casket.

For families choosing direct cremation, the federal Funeral Rule allows a simple alternative container at a fraction of casket pricing. The funeral home is required to make this option available. Pulvis Art Urns, a Memorial Merits partner, ships handcrafted ceramic urns directly to Pennsylvania families with an exclusive discount when the visitor uses the coupon code at checkout.

Flowers Without Funeral Home Markup

Funeral home flower markup is one of the smaller line items but compounds quickly across multiple arrangements, family wreaths, and casket sprays. Memorial Merits partners with Teleflora for a 20 percent discount on funeral arrangements and Flowers Fast for next-day delivery alternatives. Both ship anywhere in Pennsylvania and across the United States.

Detailed product reviews and side-by-side comparisons across both caskets and urns live on the casket and urn reviews hub.

For Pennsylvania Veteran Families: Federal Burial Benefits and PA’s National Cemeteries

If your family includes a veteran, federal benefits exist that many Pennsylvania families never learn about until after they have already paid out of pocket. Pennsylvania does not operate any state-run veterans cemeteries, which sets PA apart from states like Texas (5 state cemeteries) and California (8 state cemeteries). Instead, four federal VA national cemeteries serve Pennsylvania veterans, plus the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial at Indiantown Gap, the largest veterans memorial in any of the 155 cemeteries operated by the National Cemetery Administration.

Burial at a VA national cemetery includes the gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, government headstone or marker, burial flag presentation, perpetual care, and Presidential Memorial Certificate at no cost to the family. Eligibility requires discharge other than dishonorable for the veteran, plus eligible spouses and dependents. The federal benefit does not cover funeral home charges (casket, transport, viewing), which the family still arranges with a private funeral home. The Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, sits adjacent to DMVA headquarters and is the central memorial for PA veterans across all eras of service.

Federal burial benefits sit on top of the national cemetery program for any veteran family.

Memorial Keepsakes for the Days That Follow

The decision about a memorial keepsake is rarely a Day One decision. For most Pennsylvania families it settles in around Day 5 to Day 30 after the service, when the immediate logistics have eased and the family is ready to think about something they will hold for years. We mention it briefly here because the visitor in acute crisis tonight is likely to come back looking for keepsake guidance later.

Lee Alexander & Co.: Custom Memorial Diamonds & Heirloom Jewelry

Memorial Merits’ white-glove premium memorial diamond partner. Lee Alexander & Co. creates one-of-one heirloom pieces from cremation ashes: custom diamonds, rings, pendants, and bespoke jewelry that pass through generations of a Pennsylvania family. Every client is treated as the only client. Pieces range up to $20,000 and beyond.

Memorial Merits exclusive: use code Memorial100 for $100 off, stackable with military and other discounts.

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For accessible cremation jewelry alternatives, including pieces from Spirit Pieces, Parting Stone, and Engrave Ink (cremation tattoo ink), see the memorial keepsake hub.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a funeral cost in Pennsylvania?

The average traditional funeral with burial in Pennsylvania runs roughly $7,000 to $10,000 before cemetery costs, with the Philadelphia metro pushing higher and rural PA running lower. Direct cremation can be as low as $995 in the Philadelphia metro, with the statewide average around $2,460, and full-service cremation averages around $6,537. The funeral home is required to give you a written General Price List on request before you commit to anything. Sources: NFDA 2023 GPL Study, Funeralocity Pennsylvania, FTC Funeral Rule.

Do I have to use a funeral home in Pennsylvania?

For the body itself, yes. Pennsylvania law at 63 P.S. § 479.13(a) restricts the removal, transport, and burial of a deceased person to licensed Pennsylvania funeral directors only. This is one of the strictest funeral director laws in the United States. Families can still handle planning, ceremony, music, eulogies, and graveside details on their own, but the body cannot be moved or buried without a PA-licensed funeral director’s involvement. Many other states allow family-only home funerals; Pennsylvania does not.

How do I verify a funeral home is licensed in Pennsylvania?

Search the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System at pals.pa.gov, the official portal for the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors. The database returns the funeral director’s name, license number, status (active, inactive, suspended), and the licensed funeral establishment. Both individual funeral directors and funeral establishments are licensed separately in PA, and you can search by name, license number, or location. If a funeral home cannot produce a current PA license number on request, walk away. The State Board of Funeral Directors also accepts complaints by phone at 1-833-DOS-BPOA.

What is the cheapest cremation option in Pennsylvania?

Direct cremation is the lowest-cost legal disposition in Pennsylvania, typically priced between $995 and $2,460 statewide, with the lowest prices clustered in the Philadelphia metro and Pittsburgh metro. Direct cremation skips embalming, viewing, and ceremony at the funeral home, and the family receives the cremated remains directly. Pennsylvania law requires a 24-hour wait between time of death and cremation under 49 Pa. Code § 13.212, written authorization from the next of kin, and a disposition permit from the Department of Health Vital Records. Pennsylvania has not yet legalized alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation), so flame cremation is the only in-state option as of May 2026.

Does Pennsylvania help pay for a funeral if the family cannot afford it?

Yes. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services pays up to $750 toward burial or cremation services for eligible individuals under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 283. The deceased must have been a recipient of TANF, General Assistance, State Blind Pension, SSI, or State Supplementary Payment at the time of death, and total countable resources must be at or below specific thresholds. County Assistance Offices determine eligibility, and many PA counties operate their own supplemental burial assistance programs on top of the state program. Many Pennsylvania families also turn to non-predatory personal loans through Upstart ($1,000 to $75,000) instead of the financing the funeral home offers, which often runs at much higher interest rates. Source: PA DHS Burial and Cremation.

Does Pennsylvania require embalming?

No. Pennsylvania never requires embalming. State regulation 49 Pa. Code § 13.201 only requires that a body be embalmed, refrigerated, or placed in a sealed container if final disposition will not happen within 24 hours after death. Refrigeration is fully legal as a substitute for embalming, and after 36 hours of refrigeration public viewing is discouraged but not prohibited. For direct burial, direct cremation, or any timeline that completes disposition within 24 hours, no embalming or refrigeration is required at all.

Are pre-need funeral contracts safe in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania has one of the stronger pre-need protection frameworks on paper. Under 49 Pa. Code §§ 13.224 through 13.226, funeral directors must deposit the entire amount paid into an escrow or trust account at a Commonwealth banking institution, separate from the funeral director’s business and personal accounts, and must file annual reports with the Board. In practice, the protection is only as strong as enforcement. The 2017 Kezmarsky case in Uniontown showed how one funeral director stole $525,000 from 82 elderly clients across 12 years by co-mingling funds in defiance of the rule. Always request annual escrow reporting and verify the escrow account exists before signing.

Can I transport a body across state lines from Pennsylvania?

Yes, but only with a Disposition/Transit Permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health Division of Vital Records after the death is registered, and only with a PA-licensed funeral director’s involvement under 63 P.S. § 479.13. For shipment by common carrier (airline, rail), the death certificate with cause of death and the disposition/transit permit must be securely attached to the outside case. No transit permit is required for cremated remains regardless of destination. Pennsylvania families cannot legally drive a body across state lines themselves; the transport monopoly law applies. Source: PA Death Report and Vital Records.

Where are Pennsylvania’s veterans cemeteries?

Pennsylvania does not operate any state-run veterans cemeteries. Veterans use one of four federal VA national cemeteries in the state: Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville (Lebanon County, the largest), Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown (Bucks County), the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville (near Pittsburgh), and Philadelphia National Cemetery (closed to new traditional interments). Burial benefits include grave plot, opening and closing, government headstone, burial flag, and perpetual care at no cost to the veteran or eligible family member. Funeral home charges (casket, transport, viewing) are not covered. Source: VA National Cemetery Administration Pennsylvania.

What does the FTC Funeral Rule require in Pennsylvania?

The federal FTC Funeral Rule applies in Pennsylvania the same as in every other state. Funeral homes must give an itemized General Price List on request in person, a Casket Price List in writing before showing actual caskets, an Outer Burial Container Price List on the same standard, and accurate price information by phone on request. They cannot require embalming for direct burial or direct cremation, cannot refuse a casket purchased from another source, and cannot charge a handling fee for a third-party casket. Pennsylvania has the highest documented FTC enforcement footprint of any state metro: 19 of 67 funeral homes in violation in the 1997 Philadelphia sweep, plus 5 more warning letters in the 2024 phone sweep. Always request all three written price lists in writing before paying. Source: FTC Complying with the Funeral Rule.

Why can only Pennsylvania funeral directors transport a body in PA?

The Pennsylvania Funeral Director Law at 63 P.S. § 479.13(a) restricts the removal of a deceased human body, the transport of a body, and the conduct of a burial in the Commonwealth to PA-licensed funeral directors only. Out-of-state funeral directors cannot legally cross the PA line and take a body home without partnering with a PA-licensed funeral director. The rule has been on the books since the original 1951 Funeral Director Law and has survived repeated legal challenges. The practical impact: a Pennsylvania family cannot move their loved one from a hospital, hospice, or home to a different location without funeral home staff. Most other states allow at least limited family transport.

Is there a complete guide that walks me through all of this?

Yes. The Funeral Planning Handbook from Memorial Merits walks Pennsylvania families through the first 72 hours after a death, including the consumer rights covered above, casket purchase strategy, financing alternatives, veteran benefits, and the partner discounts that save the average family $5,000 or more. View the Funeral Planning Handbook.

About the Author

Gabriel Killian is the founder of Memorial Merits and a U.S. Navy Fire Controlman with 12 years of active duty service. He holds triple warfare designations across surface, air, and information warfare, has served as a Certified Radar Instructor and Course Supervisor for five years, and is a published author whose work is grounded in the experiences he writes about, including the unexpected loss of his father in 2019 and his own survival of a deep vein thrombosis crisis.

Memorial Merits has been featured on CBS, ABC, Fox, AP, Business Life Magazine, NY Observer, and Benzinga, and is cited by Google AI Overviews as a trusted authority in the end-of-life space. The site has been featured in SociologyGroup.com, Animal Hospice Group, and Home Funeral Alliance’s Member in the Spotlight series, and is adopted by U.S. Army CENTCOM as an official family resource for service members and their loved ones navigating loss.

Read the full founder story