Key figures for this trade are also summarized in the multiples by trade table.
Funeral home value at a glance
Estimate your funeral home's value
Applies the cited SDE multiple band for your trade, then positions you inside it using recurring revenue, customer concentration, owner dependence, years operating and trend. Educational estimate, not an appraisal.
Educational estimate, not an appraisal or an offer. Ranges come from published closed-sale data and broker/adviser reports cited on each trade page; the adjustment weights are our own documented heuristic (see Editorial policy). Real estate, inventory and working capital are excluded.
Get the full valuation brief (printable)
Your inputs and range, the cited multiples behind it, the buyer type active at your size, three changes that move the multiple, and next steps - on this page, ready to print or save as a PDF.
Published funeral home multiples by deal size
| Deal size / buyer | Multiple | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Latest published figures | BizBuySell funeral home comps (2021-2025): 4.28x average earnings, 1.67x average revenue, median price $1.5M, median 297 days on market. No quartiles published. | |
| Funeral home transactions, 2024 average | 6-8x EBITDA | The Foresight Companies - Tracking your business worth (2024-11) |
| Published average range (undated) | 2.77-4.08x EBITDA | Peak Business Valuation - Valuation multiples for a funeral home |
| All industries, Q2 2026 (context) | Under $500K deals: 2.0x SDE; $2M-$5M: 4.0x EBITDA; $5M-$50M: 5.8x EBITDA | IBBA / M&A Source / Pepperdine Market Pulse, Q2 2026 highlights |
What moves the multiple for a funeral home
Key metric buyers ask for: Annual call volume and trend, cremation rate, average revenue per call, preneed trust and insurance backlog, real estate.
Pushes you toward the top of the range
- Stable or growing call volume in the market
- A healthy, properly funded preneed backlog
- Owned, well-kept real estate and a licensed staff that stays
Pushes you toward the bottom
- Declining calls or rising low-price cremation competition
- Preneed trust shortfalls
- A business built around the owner’s personal community ties
How buyers value a funeral home
Funeral homes are priced on EBITDA or SDE with the real estate often valued separately, after reviewing call volume trends and the preneed book. Consolidators and independent buyers can land far apart, which is why published multiples disagree.
Rule of thumb on revenue: BizBuySell average 1.67x revenue (no range published). Use it only as a sanity check; buyers pay for cash flow they can finance.
Worked example: Whitfield Family Funeral Home (fictional)
Fictional business for illustration. Revenue $900,000, SDE $300,000. 210 calls/year, 58% cremation, owns building, $1.1M preneed trust.
| Position in the cited range | Implied value | Multiple of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| At the low end (2x) | $600,000 | 0.67x |
| Midpoint (3.15x) | $945,000 | 1.05x |
| At the high end (4.3x) | $1,290,000 | 1.43x |
Who buys a funeral home at each size
Licensed funeral directors and neighboring independents; regional groups; public consolidators; private-capital funeral groups.
| SDE / EBITDA size | Most likely buyer | How they usually pay |
|---|---|---|
| Under ~$300K SDE | Funeral director buyer | SBA or bank loan plus buyer cash; sometimes a seller note |
| ~$300K-$1M SDE | Regional funeral group | SBA loan, seller note, or cash from a larger buyer |
| $1M+ EBITDA | Consolidator | Mostly cash at close; rollover equity and earn-outs are common |
Thinking about selling your funeral home?
See the step-by-step sale process, license transfer rules and documents buyers will ask for.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a funeral home worth?
Published figures disagree. BizBuySell’s funeral home comps (2021-2025) average 4.28x earnings and 1.67x revenue; The Foresight Companies put 2024 transactions at 6-8x EBITDA on average. Call volume, preneed and real estate explain most of the gap.
Does the funeral establishment license transfer?
It depends on the state. In Texas a change of ownership is handled through a new license application or a Commission change-of-ownership form within 30 days (22 TAC 203.9).
Is this an appraisal?
No. It is an educational estimate built from published data. Lenders, courts and the IRS may require a credentialed appraisal; see appraisal vs estimate.
Sources
- BizBuySell Valuation Benchmarks - Funeral Home (accessed 2026-09-23)
- BizBuySell - Business valuation multiples by industry (sold Q3 2021-Q2 2026) (accessed 2026-09-23)
- The Foresight Companies - Tracking your business worth (2024-11) (accessed 2026-09-23)
- Peak Business Valuation - Valuation multiples for a funeral home (accessed 2026-09-23)