How much does a headstone cost?
Nobody is required to publish what a headstone costs, which is why every figure you find for one is an estimate. The Federal Trade Commission prints Marker/monument (including setup) as a blank line on its own funeral pricing checklist, under Cemetery/Mausoleum Costs, and states elsewhere that its Funeral Rule does not cover cemeteries and mausoleums unless they sell both funeral goods and funeral services. Two things around the stone are published. The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes a government headstone or marker at no charge for the unmarked grave of an eligible Veteran, in any cemetery in the world, regardless of the date of death, and where a spouse is buried with that Veteran in a national cemetery their name and dates go on the same stone at no cost to the family. Then the cemetery publishes what it charges against a stone: Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90 for a flat marker, $112 for anything rising above ground level and $586 for an oversize stone needing a variance, on a schedule running from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Those three figures are decided by the form of the stone and nothing in them moves with what the stone cost.
$0
a government headstone or marker for an eligible Veteran, in any cemetery in the world
$90, $112 or $586
what one named city cemetery charges against a flat, an upright or an oversize stone
$0
a spouse’s name and dates added to a Veteran’s headstone in a national cemetery
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
What the Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes, and what it costs the family
| Whose grave, and where | What is furnished, and what it costs |
|---|---|
| An eligible Veteran, no stone yet | A government headstone or marker, in any cemetery in the world, regardless of the date of death. No charge to the applicant |
| A grave that already has a stone | A government headstone or marker where the Veteran died on or after 1 November 1990. No charge to the applicant |
| The same grave, by medallion instead | A bronze medallion fixed to the privately purchased stone, in small, medium or large, where the Veteran served on or after 6 April 1917. One or the other rather than both, and no charge either way |
| A spouse, national cemetery | Their name and date of birth and death inscribed on the Veteran’s headstone, at no cost to the family |
| A spouse, private cemetery | Nothing. Only an eligible Veteran may receive a government stone for placement in a private cemetery |
| Burial in a VA national cemetery | The gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, the headstone or marker, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a burial flag, all at no cost to the family |
Who sets a government stone, and who pays for that
| Where the grave is | Who sets it, and who pays |
|---|---|
| A national cemetery | Cemetery staff, at no cost to the applicant |
| A military post or base cemetery | Cemetery staff, at no cost to the applicant |
| A state Veterans’ cemetery | Cemetery officials order it from the inscription information the next of kin give. Some may charge the applicant a nominal fee for setting it |
| A private cemetery | Arranging it is the applicant’s own responsibility, and all placement costs are at private expense |
Salt Lake City Cemetery, what it charges against a headstone
| The stone | Fee | What the schedule adds |
|---|---|---|
| Flat | $90 | Nothing further |
| Upright | $112 | Anything rising above ground level |
| Oversize | $586 | Variance required |
The rest of the same schedule, so the headstone line can be read beside something
| Service, as the schedule names it | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| Opening and closing, adult | $1,172 | $1,676 |
| Opening and closing, cremains | $586 | $820 |
| Opening and closing, double depth | $1,347 | $1,856 |
| Opening and closing, infant | $703 | $1,142 |
| Continuing care per grave, adult | $726 | $1,289 |
| Continuing care per grave, infant | $363 | $644 |
| Transfer of burial rights, per deed | $234 | $234 |
| Head stone monitoring, upright | $112 | $112 |
What carries a published price, and what does not
| The charge | Is it published, and by whom |
|---|---|
| The stone itself, from a dealer | No. No rule requires one, and the Federal Trade Commission prints it as a line for you to fill in, under Cemetery/Mausoleum Costs |
| Placing the stone, private cemetery | Sometimes, where that cemetery publishes a fee schedule of its own, with its own effective date |
| A government stone for a Veteran | Yes, by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it is nothing |
| Setting it, national cemetery | Yes, by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it is nothing |
| Adding a spouse to that stone | Yes, by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it is nothing |
| Cutting a date onto a private stone | No published price found. The work is done by a monument dealer, who is under no obligation to publish one |
A bar for each row of the table above, 3 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- Whether the grave is a Veteran’s grave
- It is the largest single factor and the one page one leaves out. The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes a government headstone or marker at no charge for the unmarked grave of an eligible Veteran, in any cemetery around the world, regardless of the date of death.
- Whether a stone is already standing on it
- A grave with nothing on it qualifies whenever the Veteran died. The Department of Veterans Affairs states that a grave already carrying a privately purchased stone qualifies for a government one only where the Veteran died on or after 1 November 1990, and that a Veteran who served on or after 6 April 1917 can instead have a bronze medallion fixed to the private stone, one or the other rather than both.
- The form of the stone, before anything is cut into it
- A cemetery can charge by shape alone. Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90 against a flat marker, $112 against anything rising above ground level and $586 against an oversize stone needing a variance.
- Which cemetery it is going into
- The Department of Veterans Affairs sets a government stone at no cost in a national, military post or military base cemetery, says some state Veterans’ cemeteries may charge a nominal fee for setting one, and says that in a private cemetery arranging it is your responsibility and every placement cost is at private expense.
- What that cemetery permits in the first place
- The Department of Veterans Affairs says the style chosen has to be permitted by the officials in charge of the private cemetery. The Federal Trade Commission puts the same thing on its list of questions to ask before buying a site: what type of monuments or memorials the cemetery allows.
- Whether a commemorative urn or plaque was chosen instead
- This one cannot be undone and is rarely mentioned. The Department of Veterans Affairs states that where a family chooses an urn or a plaque to commemorate a Veteran, it is prohibited by law from interring that Veteran in a national cemetery or from providing a headstone, marker or medallion for placement in any cemetery, and that the law provides no method to restore those benefits.
How to pay less
- Check the government stone before buying one at all
- The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes it at no charge for an eligible Veteran’s unmarked grave in any cemetery in the world, on VA Form 40-1330, with flat markers in granite, marble and bronze and upright headstones in granite and marble.
- Ask the cemetery for its fee schedule before choosing the shape
- The shape can decide the cemetery’s charge on its own. At Salt Lake City Cemetery a flat marker is $90 and anything rising above ground level is $112, before the stone is priced or ordered.
- Ask about the medallion where a stone is already standing
- The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a bronze medallion at no charge for a Veteran who served on or after 6 April 1917 whose grave in a private cemetery carries a privately purchased stone, in small, medium or large, on VA Form 40-1330M.
- Ask who sets it, and whether that is in the quote
- The Department of Veterans Affairs says cemetery staff set a government stone at no cost in a national, military post or military base cemetery, and that in a private cemetery all placement costs are at private expense. A quote for the stone may cover none of that.
- Ask the cemetery what it allows before ordering anything
- The Federal Trade Commission lists the type of monuments or memorials a cemetery allows among the things to establish before buying a site, and the Department of Veterans Affairs says a government stone still has to be a style the private cemetery permits.
- Get the itemised cemetery charge in writing, and read the setup line
- The Federal Trade Commission prints Marker/monument (including setup) as one line on its own funeral pricing checklist, which is the regulator saying the setup belongs in the number you are quoted.
Questions
How much does a headstone cost?
There is no published answer, because no rule requires a monument dealer to publish one. What is published is what sits around it: the Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes a government headstone or marker at no charge for an eligible Veteran, and Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90, $112 or $586 against a flat, an upright or an oversize stone on its own dated schedule.
How do I get a headstone for free?
If the grave is an eligible Veteran’s and carries no stone, the Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes a government headstone or marker at no charge, in any cemetery in the world, regardless of the date of death. The claim is VA Form 40-1330. Setting it in a private cemetery is still at private expense.
How much does it cost to add a death date to a headstone?
In a VA national cemetery it is nothing: the Department of Veterans Affairs states that a spouse or dependent buried with a Veteran there has their name and date of birth and death inscribed on the Veteran’s headstone at no cost to the family. On a privately owned stone in a private cemetery there is no published price at all, and the work is done by a monument dealer under no obligation to publish one.
Does a flat headstone cost less than an upright one?
At the cemetery, at least at this one, yes. Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90 against a flat marker and $112 against anything rising above ground level. What the stone itself costs is set by the dealer and is not published anywhere.
Can a spouse get a government headstone?
Only where they are buried in a national cemetery, a state Veterans’ cemetery or a military post or base cemetery. The Department of Veterans Affairs states that in a national cemetery the spouse goes on the Veteran’s headstone at no cost to the family, and that only an eligible Veteran may receive a government stone for placement in a private cemetery.
Who pays to set the headstone?
It depends entirely on the cemetery. The Department of Veterans Affairs states that staff at national, military post and military base cemeteries set a government stone at no cost to the applicant, that some state Veterans’ cemeteries may charge a nominal fee, and that in a private cemetery arranging it is the applicant’s responsibility with all placement costs at private expense.
Why can nobody tell me what a headstone costs?
Because no rule makes anyone publish it. The Federal Trade Commission requires a funeral home to hand you an itemised, written price list, and states that its Funeral Rule does not cover cemeteries and mausoleums unless they sell both funeral goods and funeral services. Its own funeral pricing checklist prints the marker as a blank line under Cemetery/Mausoleum Costs.
Does the cemetery charge depend on what the stone cost?
Not at the one cemetery on this page. Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90, $112 or $586 by the form of the stone alone, and its schedule carries nothing that varies with the price paid for it.
Where these figures come from
Nothing on this page is a price for a headstone, because there is no published one. The stone is sold by a monument dealer under no obligation to publish anything, and the funeral pricing checklist of the Federal Trade Commission, dated July 2012 on the page and read again on 9 October 2026, prints the marker as a blank line for you to fill in. The two Department of Veterans Affairs pages carry their own dates, 20 February 2026 for the burial benefits page and 9 September 2022 for the headstones and markers page, and the older of the two is the one that states who pays to set a stone. The burial benefits page was read on 26 September 2026 and the headstones page again on 9 October 2026, and the rule behind its private cemetery line, 38 CFR 38.630 on the eCFR up to date as of 7 October 2026, still says VA does not pay to install a government stone outside a national cemetery. The Salt Lake City Cemetery schedule is titled for the period it covers, 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and was read on 26 September 2026; its headstone line is headed Head Stone Monitoring and is quoted under that name rather than restated as a setting or foundation fee, because the schedule does not say what it covers. ONE CEMETERY IS NOT A NATIONAL RATE. It is here because it publishes a complete, dated schedule, and another cemetery may price a headstone on a different basis entirely or publish nothing. The Federal Trade Commission page on what its Funeral Rule does not reach is dated July 2012 and was read again on 9 October 2026, and the rule's definition of a funeral provider, in 16 CFR 453.1 on the eCFR up to date as of 7 October 2026, is unchanged since 1994; it is used for the scope of that rule and for the questions it says to ask, and none of its own cost prose is quoted here. Online monument retailers do publish prices and none were used, because what they publish is a promotion on the day you look at it rather than a schedule with an effective date. Every figure here is in US dollars and applies in the United States. Nothing is averaged, turned into a ratio or restated as a typical cost.