How we verify providers and prices
What we check, what we don't, and where every number comes from. If we haven't verified something, this page says so.
The directory in numbers
| Published listings | 1,531 |
| States | 8 (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Georgia) |
| City pages | 324 |
| Listings with a published direct cremation price | 140 (9%) |
| Listings checked open on Google in the last 12 months | 1,507 of 1,531 (checks from October 2026 to November 2026) |
| Prices recorded | August 2026 to October 2026 |
| Listings claimed by the provider | 0 |
Counted from our database when this page was built, November 4, 2026.
What we check before listing a provider
| Check | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Open on Google | Google shows the business as open. We re-read each listing's Google profile on a rolling schedule, and an unclaimed listing Google marks permanently closed is taken down at the next check. Each listing shows the month of its last check. A listing not checked in the last 12 months says so. |
| Contact details | A phone number and, where there is one, the provider's own website. |
| Public reviews | The review count and rating from the Google profile, shown when there are at least 3 reviews. |
| A cremation provider | Funeral homes, crematories and cremation services only. Casket and vault makers, transport and trade services, pet cremation and similar businesses are left out. |
| State license record (Arkansas and Tennessee) | In Arkansas we read the licensee search (funeral homes and crematories) of the Arkansas State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries and Burial Services on October 10, 2026 and matched 151 of 161 Arkansas listings to a record: same name and town, and the same street or phone. Each shows its license number, type (funeral establishment or crematory), expiry date and a link to the search. A listing with no match may hold a license under another name. In Tennessee the only list we can read is the board's Listing of Crematories (names and towns, no license numbers); 15 of 146 Tennessee listings are on it under the same name in the same town, and they say "on the state crematory list", never "licensed". |
What we do not verify
State license status outside Arkansas and Tennessee. In the other states we have no state roster we can read yet (the boards' lists sit behind a search we may not script, a challenge, or a paid order), so those listings show no license badge, and a listing there is not a statement about licensure. A listing with no license line is never a finding that the provider is unlicensed. If a provider that claims its listing gives us a license number, we record it as stated by the provider; it is not shown as a verified license. Confirm a provider's license directly with your state funeral board.
Where prices come from
The FTC's Funeral Rule requires funeral providers to disclose itemized price information. Where we show a price, it comes from the provider's own disclosure and carries the date we recorded it. Prices change. If ours is older than the provider's current list, theirs governs, so always confirm before you commit. We never estimate a provider's price, and we never charge a provider to be listed or to rank higher.
Two kinds of source sit behind these numbers: a price stated on the provider's website, or a figure read from its published General Price List, the itemized document the Funeral Rule governs. Every price links to the page or document it came from, so you can check it yourself. Where a provider's list gives several direct cremation options (commonly one price if you supply a container and a higher one if they do), we show the lowest and label it "from", never a single flat figure that hides the range.
Most providers publish nothing at all. That is legal: the Funeral Rule requires disclosure in person and over the phone, not on a website. So a listing without a price is not a mark against that provider, but a listing with one tells you something real, which is why we collect them.
Sources
| Source | Published by | What we use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profiles | Google (read through a Maps data service) | Which businesses exist, their address, phone and website, review counts, and whether Google shows them open. Each listing is re-read on a rolling schedule; one Google marks permanently closed is taken down at the next check. |
| Providers' own websites and General Price Lists | Each listed provider | Direct cremation prices. Only a price the provider publishes itself, never one from another site. Each price links to its page or document and carries the date we recorded it. A price list that was more than three years old when we read it is not used. |
| FTC Funeral Rule (16 CFR Part 453) | Federal Trade Commission | Your right to prices by phone and to an itemized General Price List in person. |
| State statutes, regulations and agency pages | Each state's legislature, funeral board and vital records office | Waiting periods, medical examiner approval, embalming, death certificates and help paying, cited line by line in each state guide and on city pages. |
| National cost estimates | after.com | The national direct cremation range on the home page, the cost guide and the direct cremation pages. An industry estimate, labelled as national, never shown as a local price; the page's own update date and our read date print beside it. A national figure for cremation with a service (us-funerals.com) was withdrawn on 2026-10-10 because its page no longer states it. |
| Licensee search (funeral homes and crematories) | Arkansas State Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, Cemeteries and Burial Services (Arkansas Insurance Department) | The license number, type, expiry and first issue date shown on Arkansas listings matched to a board record (same name and town, and the same street or phone). Read in full, all funeral home and crematory records. |
| Listing of Crematories | Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers | The "on the state crematory list" line on Tennessee listings with the same name in the same town. The list prints names and towns only, so it is never shown as a license check. |
| Census place centroids | U.S. Census Bureau | The centre point of each city and metro, used to measure distance to each provider. |
The quality score
Each listing carries a 0 to 100 score: open on Google, at least 3 reviews, a website and a phone number each add to it. Below 40 a listing stays unpublished. Changes to a listing's status are logged.
How often we re-read our sources
We keep a register of every official source this site uses, with a planned re-read for each. As of November 3, 2026 it holds 11 sources in use: 1 read weekly, 6 read monthly, 1 read quarterly and 1 read once a year, and 2 with no set schedule yet. 10 were read in the 30 days before that; the oldest read is from September 30, 2026.
The register flags a source when a read fails, when it suddenly loses more than 15% of its rows, or when it falls twice as late as planned, and every flag goes on a weekly review list. Separately, once a month every quoted fact behind our guides, rules, fees and prices is read again on its source page, and every outbound link on the site is checked.
What the labels mean
- AR funeral establishment or crematory license #
- The Arkansas funeral board's licensee search lists the business under the same name and town, with the same street or phone. The listing shows the license number, type and expiry date from that record; a license past its expiry date shows no badge.
- On TN board crematory list
- Tennessee's board list names a crematory with this name in this town. That list prints no license numbers, so we never call these listings licensed.
- from $ (price)
- The lowest direct cremation price on the provider's own price page or General Price List, with the date we read it. “From” means the list has higher options too.
- Not confirmed (price)
- We could not read the price again at its source at our last check, or the price list is old and unreadable. The price stays visible with that note and is left out of every summary figure.
- Checked open on Google (month)
- The month we last read the provider's Google profile and found it open. A listing not checked in the last 12 months says so.
- Star rating
- Copied from the provider's Google profile, shown only with 3 or more reviews. Not our rating.
Limits
- Most providers publish no price online, which the Funeral Rule allows. A listing without a price tells you nothing about the provider.
- A price is a snapshot from the date shown. Ask for the current General Price List before you commit.
- Outside the states whose license records we read, a listing makes no statement about licensure either way.
- State law pages summarize statutes and agency rules for general information. They are not legal advice.
Found something wrong? See corrections for how to tell us and what we have fixed.
Found something wrong? Email providers@cremationclear.com and we'll correct it. Same day for price errors.