Average Cost of a Headstone: Types & Fees

Lettering and inscriptions

Basic text is usually included in the headstone price, while extra lettering, symbols, portraits, and color fill cost more.

•         Sandblasted lettering: the standard method for names and dates. One vendor, Markers and Headstones, lists per-character fees of about $8 to $25 beyond what’s included, with minimums of about $300 to $600 for full inscriptions (vendor-reported).
•         Laser etching: fine-detail images and portraits, often on black granite. The same vendor puts symbols or laser-etched portraits at about $150 to $500 or more.
•         Color fill: paint added to lettering for contrast, usually an extra charge.

Cost to add a date of death to an existing headstone

Adding a final date or a second name to a companion headstone is usually done on site by a monument company, and the price depends on the number of characters, the method, travel distance, and cemetery fees. Many cemeteries also charge a permit or supervision fee for on-site work, so get an itemized quote that separates the engraver’s charge from the cemetery’s.

Timing matters too. On-site engraving often needs above-freezing temperatures, so a late-year request may not be finished until spring.

Cemetery setting, installation, and permit fees

Delivery and installation typically cost about $100 to $500 when they’re not included, and the cemetery may charge its own setting fee for the foundation. Ask both the monument company and the cemetery what’s included, because these fees are easy to overlook.

Long-term maintenance: cleaning, repainting, and resetting

Headstones need occasional cleaning, and older stones may need resetting if they sink or tilt. Prices vary by stone and location, so ask a local monument company for quotes.

•         Cleaning: use only water and a soft brush or a cleaner made for stone. Avoid bleach and wire brushes.
•         Repainting lettering: restores faded color fill.
•         Resetting: lifting and leveling a sunken or tilted stone on a new foundation.

Customization and maintenance fee schedule

Regional Price Variances & Veteran Memorial Benefits

Headstone prices vary by region because of labor costs, cemetery rules, delivery distance, and local competition. No public source tracks average headstone prices by state, so the best way to compare is to get itemized quotes from two or three monument companies near the cemetery.

State and city cost spotlights

Average cost of a headstone in Massachusetts, Ohio, Virginia, NYC, or Utah: the national ranges above are the most reliable starting point. Local prices shift with these factors:

•         Labor costs: high-cost metro areas like New York City usually mean higher installation, setting, and on-site engraving charges.
•         Cemetery rules: some cemeteries allow only flat or lawn-level markers, or set strict sizes and materials. Older town and church cemeteries may require approved installers or permits.
•         Delivery distance: rural cemeteries far from a monument company can add travel charges.
•         Local competition: areas with several monument companies tend to offer more price choice.
•         Veteran cemeteries: states with national or state veterans cemeteries give eligible families a no-cost option.

Regional headstone cost checklist

No national source we could verify publishes average headstone prices by state or city, so this guide doesn’t list state-specific dollar averages. Get two or three itemized local quotes.

How to get a headstone for free: VA headstones and markers

Eligible veterans can receive a government headstone or marker at no cost, in a national, state, tribal, or private cemetery. Families apply with VA Form 40-1330, Claim for Standard Government Headstone or Marker, along with a copy of the veteran’s DD214 or other discharge papers.

VA-furnished options:

Veterans with a privately purchased headstone who died on or after November 1, 1990, can request a bronze medallion to attach instead.

What to know:

•         Eligibility: the veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and minimum service rules apply for service after 1980 (enlisted) or 1981 (officers).
•         Spouses and dependents: eligible for a headstone in national, state, or tribal veterans or military cemeteries. In a private cemetery, they may be eligible for an inscription on the veteran’s marker.
•         Fees: in a private cemetery, families may still pay the cemetery’s setting or installation fee. The VA doesn’t supply the base for flat bronze markers.

Apply online through AccessVA’s QuickSubmit or by mail, or call 800-697-6947.

Why leave rocks at a grave?

Placing a small stone on a grave is a Jewish tradition that shows someone visited and that the person is remembered. Rabbi David Wolpe, writing for My Jewish Learning, describes several explanations:

•         Permanence: flowers wilt, but stones last, like memory.
•         Folk belief: an old belief held that stones help keep the soul in place.
•         A prayer for the soul: the Hebrew word tzror means both “bond” and “pebble,” echoing the traditional epitaph asking that the soul be “bound up in the bond of life.”

People of many backgrounds now leave stones as a quiet sign of a visit and lasting respect.

Pre-Planning & Funding Memorial Expenses with Burial Senior Insurance

The headstone is often the expense families forget, because it’s usually ordered weeks or months after the funeral. The NFDA’s 2023 median for a funeral with viewing, burial, and vault was $9,995, and that figure doesn’t include the cemetery plot or headstone.

Why waiting causes overspending

When the funeral budget has already been spent, families may delay the headstone for years, or rush into a costly design to make up for it. Choosing the style, material, and inscription in advance avoids both problems.

A simple memorial plan includes:

•         Headstone style (flat, slant, upright, or companion) and material.
•         The inscription, including any symbols or a photo.
•         The cemetery’s marker rules and fees.
•         Veteran status and VA marker eligibility.
•         How the cost will be paid.

How final expense insurance covers headstones and cemetery fees

Final expense insurance pays a cash benefit to your beneficiary, who can use it for the headstone, engraving, setting fees, and the funeral itself. Death benefits are generally not taxable income to the beneficiary.

Sample monthly rates for a $10,000 policy (non-tobacco):

Source: Choice Mutual published final expense sample rates (valid March 9, 2026). Your rate depends on health, tobacco use, state, and carrier.

Note: To cover both a traditional funeral and a headstone, you may need $15,000 or more in coverage. Use our funeral cost calculator to estimate your total.

Step-by-step: compare level-premium burial plans

1. Price the funeral -> Services, casket or cremation, transport
   2. Price the cemetery -> Plot, opening/closing, vault or liner
   3. Price the headstone   -> Style, material, engraving, setting fees
   4. Choose a benefit  -> Round the total up to the next $5,000
   5. Compare policies  -> Talk to Burial Senior Insurance specialists
   6. Share the plan    -> Write down your headstone choice for family

Learn more about burial insurance, final expense insurance, and funeral arrangements.