How Much Does Burial Insurance Cost? What Really Drives the Price

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A $10,000 burial insurance policy costs about $33 a month for a 60-year-old woman and about $173 a month for an 80-year-old man. Here’s where those numbers come from, and what moves them up or down.

For the big picture on costs, policy types and red flags, see our final expense insurance guide.

One of the most frustrating things about shopping for burial insurance is that there’s no simple sticker price. The same coverage can cost one person a little and another person a lot. That’s not the insurers being difficult. The price is built from a handful of specific factors, and once you know them, the quotes suddenly make sense.

So let’s start with real numbers, then work through what changes them.

What burial insurance actually costs

The table below is for a $10,000 level-benefit policy — the kind that asks a few health questions and pays in full from day one — for a non-tobacco applicant paying by monthly bank draft. We calculated these ourselves from each company’s published rate chart, including their annual policy fees.

Calculated from Mutual of Omaha’s Living Promise premium calculator (form UC8167, Texas version) and Americo’s Eagle Premier Series agent guide (13-178-7), including each carrier’s annual policy fee — $36 and $40 respectively. Checked 22 September 2026.

Notice that the same person, same coverage, same day, can pay very different amounts at two reputable insurers. At 80, a man pays about $40 a month more at Americo than at Mutual of Omaha. Over ten years that’s roughly $4,800 — nearly half the policy’s face value, for identical coverage.

What waiting costs you

Age is the single biggest factor, and the effect compounds. A man buying $10,000 of Mutual of Omaha coverage at 60 pays $42.76 a month. The same man buying at 70 pays $73.70, which is about 72% more. For a woman the increase is about 62%.

Here’s the part people miss. If he buys at 60 and lives to 85, he pays roughly $12,828 in total premiums. If he waits until 70 and lives to 85, he pays roughly $13,266. He pays slightly more overall and spends ten years uninsured — during which a diagnosis could have priced him out entirely.

What skipping the health questions costs

Policies that ask no health questions are easier to get, but you pay for that convenience, and the gap is larger than most articles suggest. We ran the same calculation on both carriers’ no-questions plans, for a man with $10,000 of coverage:

You’re paying between 1.6 and 2.6 times as much, and you’re also accepting a waiting period during which death from natural causes returns only your premiums plus interest. That trade is worth it if no insurer will take your health questions. It’s a poor deal if one would. Before buying a no-questions policy, apply for one that asks them. For how that trade-off works in detail, see our guide to guaranteed issue life insurance.

What tobacco adds

At Mutual of Omaha, a tobacco user pays roughly 36% to 46% more than a non-tobacco applicant of the same age and sex. A 70-year-old man pays $73.70 a month as a non-tobacco applicant and $106.76 as a tobacco user. At Americo the gap is wider still: a 65-year-old man pays $65.40 as a non-smoker and $117.06 as a smoker, about 79% more.

One useful detail: insurers define “non-tobacco” differently, and some count cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco as non-smoking while others don’t. If you only smoke occasionally, ask each company how it classifies you before assuming you’ll be rated as a smoker.

Does double the coverage cost double?

Slightly less, because the annual policy fee is fixed. At Mutual of Omaha, a 70-year-old man pays $73.70 a month for $10,000 and $144.20 for $20,000 — about $3 a month less than twice the price. Going the other way, a $5,000 policy costs $38.45, which is more than half of the $10,000 price.

The practical takeaway: very small policies are relatively poor value per dollar of coverage. If you’re choosing between $5,000 and $10,000 and can afford either, the larger one usually gives you more for your money.

What actually drives your premium

Pulling it together, here are the levers behind the number you’re quoted:

• Age — the biggest factor. Every year you wait raises the price, permanently.
• Policy type — health-qualified coverage costs 1.6 to 2.6 times less than no-questions coverage.
• Tobacco use — typically 36% to 79% more, depending on the insurer.
• Insurer — the same person can be quoted 20% to 30% apart by two A-rated companies.
• Coverage amount — more coverage costs more, but slightly less than proportionally.
• Sex — women pay less, because they live longer on average.
• Health answers — on health-qualified plans, your answers decide which rate tier you land in.

Why two people get very different quotes

Imagine two 70-year-old men. The first is a non-smoker who answers the health questions and buys $10,000 from Mutual of Omaha: $73.70 a month. The second smokes, can’t get through the health questions, and takes a guaranteed acceptance policy from Americo for the same $10,000: $220.83 a month, with a three-year waiting period on top. Same age, same coverage, three times the price. This is why comparing your own quotes matters far more than any average you read online.

How to pay less

You have more influence over the price than it seems:

• Buy sooner. Ten years of waiting costs a 60-year-old man about 72% more per month, for life.
• Answer the health questions if you possibly can. It’s the difference between $73.70 and $220.83 in the example above.
• Get quotes from at least three insurers. A 20% to 30% spread between reputable companies is normal.
• Right-size your coverage. Insure the costs you actually need covered — but don’t go so small that the fixed policy fee eats your value.
• Ask about discounts. Some insurers offer a household discount, and some offer lower rates to existing Medicare Supplement customers.

Our guide on how to get burial insurance quotes walks through comparing fairly. For the underlying basics, the Insurance Information Institute is a solid reference.

The bottom line

For most people in reasonable health, $10,000 of burial insurance runs somewhere between $33 and $173 a month, depending almost entirely on your age, sex and which insurer you choose. Skipping the health questions roughly doubles it. Tobacco adds a third to a half. Waiting ten years adds about 70%.

Several of those are within your control. Buy earlier, answer the health questions when you can, size your coverage sensibly, and compare at least three insurers. Do that, and the “random” quotes turn into a price you understand and can manage.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Mutual of Omaha, Living Promise Whole Life premium calculator (form UC8167, United of Omaha)
• Americo, Eagle Premier Series agent guide, policy series 311/312/313 (13-178-7)
• Americo, client brochure, Permanent Final Expense Whole Life, Eagle Premier Series (13-178-9)

All premiums on this page were calculated by KnowMyCover from the carrier rate charts listed above, for a monthly bank draft, including each carrier’s annual policy fee. Checked 22 September 2026. Rates can change and vary by state — confirm with the insurer before you buy.