How to value a funeral homes business

Funeral homes (service businesses; NAICS 812210, SIC 7261). What follows are the market multiples for the industry, a worked example, and the valuation methods that actually fit businesses like this.

A worked example

Take a funeral homes business with $350,000 of annual discretionary earnings — the pre-tax profit plus one owner's compensation, depreciation, and personal or one-time expenses. Applying the industry multiple puts the central estimate at $1,498,000, inside a typical range of$1,042,300 to $1,753,150. Where a specific business lands in that range is driven by its earnings track record, owner dependence, customer concentration, and the other value drivers buyers price.

Size changes the multiple

The single most common mistake is applying one industry multiple regardless of size. The same industry trades very differently as earnings grow — the buyer pool changes from individuals to funds:

From the ExitSight Deal Multiples Database: closed private-company transactions and size-adjusted market benchmarks, anchored at main-street, lower-middle-market, and upper-market size points and interpolated between them. Updated 2026-09-02.

The methods that fit

For an owner-operated funeral homes business, lead with the multiple of discretionary earnings — it prices the owner's whole economic benefit and matches how buyers of businesses this size actually think. Cross-check against market comparables using the figures above, and against capitalized earnings if results are stable. Larger or professionally managed companies shift toward discounted cash flow on an EBITDA basis. Whatever the mix, weight the indications and document why — a single-method number is a guess with confidence.