Data

US cemeteries by the numbers

Every figure on this page is counted live from the 179,777 cemeteries and burial grounds in Cemetery Directory USA, built from USGS and OpenStreetMap records. Small family plots and single marked graves are included, which is why the totals are higher than lists of active cemeteries.

179,777

cemeteries and burial grounds

3,139

counties with at least one

14,766

cities and towns

1,385

historic cemeteries

Geography

Cemeteries by state

Georgia has the most recorded cemeteries, with 14,941 (8.3% of the national total). The five states with the most cemeteries together hold 31.1% of all listings. At the other end, District of Columbia (44), Alaska (116), Nevada (167) have the fewest. Totals track how many small rural, church and family burial grounds the federal and map records capture, not only how many people live in a state.

#	State	Cemeteries	Share	Counties
1	Georgia	14,941	8.3%	159
2	Tennessee	13,792	7.7%	95
3	Texas	10,998	6.1%	254
4	Pennsylvania	8,437	4.7%	67
5	Ohio	7,763	4.3%	88
6	Virginia	7,324	4.1%	132
7	Kentucky	7,302	4.1%	120
8	Alabama	7,086	3.9%	67
9	Illinois	6,940	3.9%	102
10	Missouri	6,303	3.5%	115
11	North Carolina	5,909	3.3%	100
12	Mississippi	5,777	3.2%	82
13	New York	5,565	3.1%	62
14	Iowa	5,083	2.8%	99
15	Arkansas	4,450	2.5%	75
16	Indiana	4,114	2.3%	92
17	Minnesota	4,062	2.3%	87
18	West Virginia	4,001	2.2%	55
19	Michigan	3,756	2.1%	83
20	Wisconsin	3,292	1.8%	72
21	Maine	3,244	1.8%	16
22	South Carolina	3,185	1.8%	46
23	Florida	3,141	1.7%	67
24	Oklahoma	3,136	1.7%	77
25	Louisiana	2,799	1.6%	64
26	Kansas	2,787	1.6%	105
27	Massachusetts	2,047	1.1%	14
28	North Dakota	2,043	1.1%	53
29	South Dakota	1,722	1.0%	66
30	Maryland	1,704	0.9%	24
31	Rhode Island	1,606	0.9%	5
32	California	1,601	0.9%	58
33	Nebraska	1,531	0.9%	93
34	Vermont	1,529	0.9%	14
35	Connecticut	1,486	0.8%	8
36	Oregon	1,195	0.7%	36
37	New Hampshire	1,113	0.6%	10
38	New Mexico	1,058	0.6%	33
39	New Jersey	880	0.5%	21
40	Colorado	854	0.5%	64
41	Washington	826	0.5%	39
42	Montana	709	0.4%	56
43	Arizona	617	0.3%	15
44	Utah	572	0.3%	29
45	Idaho	428	0.2%	44
46	Wyoming	344	0.2%	23
47	Delaware	219	0.1%	3
48	Hawaii	179	0.1%	5
49	Nevada	167	0.1%	17
50	Alaska	116	0.1%	27
51	District of Columbia	44	0.0%	1

Names

The most common cemetery names

"Fairview Cemetery" is the most frequent name, used by 584 cemeteries in 45 states. Biblical place names, church names and descriptive words like "Evergreen" and "Oak Grove" dominate, alongside family surnames used for burial grounds on family land.

1Fairview Cemetery58445 states
2Union Cemetery56841 states
3Smith Cemetery55532 states
4Bethel Cemetery55038 states
5Mount Zion Cemetery52737 states
6Saint Marys Cemetery47639 states
7Evergreen Cemetery45544 states
8Oak Grove Cemetery45236 states
9Saint Johns Cemetery40741 states
10Calvary Cemetery40340 states
11Pleasant Hill Cemetery40338 states
12Williams Cemetery37632 states
13Mount Pleasant Cemetery37335 states
14Johnson Cemetery36639 states
15Brown Cemetery36233 states
16Jones Cemetery36030 states
17Greenwood Cemetery34542 states
18Riverside Cemetery33641 states
19Salem Cemetery31933 states
20Davis Cemetery31332 states
21New Hope Cemetery31228 states
22Antioch Cemetery29826 states
23Shiloh Cemetery29225 states
24Zion Cemetery28330 states
25Miller Cemetery27934 states

Types

Cemeteries by type

A cemetery can belong to more than one type. Types are assigned only when the source data or the official name says so, so true totals are higher.

Faith

Recorded religious affiliations

19,269 cemeteries (10.7%) have a recorded religious affiliation. The twelve most common:

Baptist4,959 25.8%
Christian4,225 21.9%
Lutheran2,541 13.2%
Methodist2,380 12.4%
Catholic2,318 12.0%
Presbyterian795 4.1%
Jewish744 3.9%
Mennonite469 2.4%
Episcopal398 2.1%
Quaker251 1.3%
Orthodox132 0.7%
Muslim44 0.2%

Counties

Counties with the most cemeteries

Elevation

Highest and lowest recorded burial sites

Based on the elevation USGS records for 145,375 sites. Several are single graves rather than cemeteries.

Highest

J P Chitwood GraveEstes Park, CO12,303 ft
Louis R Levings GraveEstes Park, CO12,126 ft
Buckskin CemeteryFairplay, CO10,672 ft
Park City CemeteryFairplay, CO10,505 ft
Tomichi CemeteryBuena Vista, CO10,469 ft

Lowest

Dayton Harris Grave MonumentDeath Valley, CA-249 ft
Jean Lemoigne GraveDeath Valley, CA-230 ft
Martinez CemeteryMecca, CA-131 ft
Riverview CemeteryBrawley, CA-118 ft
Memory Gardens CemeteryImperial, CA-79 ft

Method

How these numbers are counted

145,133 listings (80.7%) come from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. The rest come from OpenStreetMap. Records that describe the same place are merged before counting.

A "cemetery" here is any named burial ground the sources record: municipal and church cemeteries, memorial parks, national cemeteries, small family plots and some individual marked graves.

Counts refresh daily as records are corrected or added. See how our data works, or add a missing cemetery.

Frequently asked questions

How many cemeteries are there in the United States?

This directory lists 179,777 cemeteries and burial grounds. The number includes many small family and historic burial grounds that no longer accept burials, so the count of active cemeteries is much lower.

Which state has the most cemeteries?

Georgia has the most in our directory, with 14,941 recorded cemeteries and burial grounds, followed by Tennessee (13,792) and Texas (10,998).

What is the most common cemetery name in the US?

Fairview Cemetery is the most common name in our directory, used by 584 cemeteries across 45 states, followed by Union Cemetery (568) and Smith Cemetery (555).