Returning Home: The Interstate Transportation of Human Remains

Abstract

Many people who die in the United States are transported across state boundaries for burial at a place viewed as “home” by the decedent or the next of kin. This article employs an analysis of data from death certificates to explore the transportation of human remains from Arizona where, in 1983, 17.1 percent of those who died were shipped beyond the state. A sample of 783 removals reveals a predominant geographical pattern of flows to the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes states. This pattern is the reverse of recent patterns of both seasonal (“snowbird”) and permanent in-migration of the living to Arizona. A propensity for individuals to be transported back to their state of birth or to their most recent previous residence is also revealed.

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