National Cemetery Administration

What National Cemetery Administration does

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, established in its current form in 1973 when the national cemetery system was transferred from the U.S. Army. NCA operates and maintains 157 national cemeteries across 44 states and Puerto Rico, and administers the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program which has funded 125 additional cemeteries operated by states, territories, and tribal governments. In fiscal year 2025, NCA interred 130,693 Veterans and family members, with a combined 174,398 annual interments across the entire national, state, tribal, and territory cemetery network.

NCA's core product is the provision of burial and memorial benefits — at no cost — to eligible U.S. Veterans and their families, including plots or columbarium niches, grave liners, opening and closing of graves, headstones and markers, Presidential Memorial Certificates, burial flags, military funeral honors, and perpetual care. Supporting technology products include the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM), a digital platform memorializing over 10 million Veterans; an interactive cemetery finder map; an online pre-need eligibility application; and digitized historical burial ledgers from the 1860s–1960s available through Ancestry.com and NARA. NCA also operates the Veterans Legacy Program, an educational initiative partnering with universities and K-12 educators that has produced 2,500+ Veteran biographies and 50 documentary videos since 2016.

NCA is funded entirely through annual federal congressional appropriations, with a FY2026 budget of $534 million. The organization employs under 1,800 staff and has achieved the highest customer satisfaction score (98/100) ever recorded in ACSI history, ranking #1 for 8 consecutive years. NCA holds an exclusive statutory mandate under Title 38 CFR Part 39, creating a regulatory monopoly on federal Veterans burial benefits, with no direct private-sector competitor for its core service offering.

Name

National Cemetery Administration

Legal name

National Cemetery Administration

Website

https://cem.va.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agency that operates 157 national cemeteries and administers burial and memorial benefits at no cost to eligible U.S. Veterans and their families, serving approximately 130,000 interments annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veterans Burial and Memorial Services

akta.pro primary industry

Veterans & Military Family Benefits Administration (BPAIAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI), Historic Preservation & Landmarks Conservation (BPAGAHAE)

Keywords

• Veterans burial services
• National cemetery operations
• Memorial benefit administration
• Veterans cemetery grants
• Government memorial services

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Government Appropriation: NCA is funded through annual federal appropriations from Congress. Memorial services at VA national cemeteries are provided at no charge to eligible Veterans and their families. The fiscal year 2026 budget is $534 million.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) operates and manages 157 national cemeteries providing free burial and memorial benefits to eligible U.S. Veterans and their families, including plots, grave liners, opening and closing of graves, Presidential Memorial Certificates, headstones, burial flags, and perpetual care. The agency extends coverage through the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program funding 125 additional state, territorial, and tribal cemeteries, while operating digital memorial platforms including the Veterans Legacy Memorial honoring over 10 million Veterans and the interactive Cemetery Finder map.

Product overview

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) operates as a government agency providing Veterans burial and memorial services through a portfolio of interconnected products and programs. Core offerings include the Veterans Legacy Memorial digital platform for honoring deceased Veterans, a network of 157 national cemeteries with related burial benefits (plots, grave liners, headstones, Presidential Memorial Certificates, and burial flags), and the Pre-need Eligibility system for advance burial planning. Supporting programs include the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program helping states and tribes establish cemeteries, the Veterans Legacy Program for educational outreach, and Military Funeral Honors services. The organization also maintains digitized historical burial records through Ancestry.com. All memorial services at VA national cemeteries are provided at no charge to eligible Veterans and their families.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) Digital memorial platform dedicated to the memory of more than 10 million Veterans and servicemembers, allowing users to post tributes, upload images, share biographical information and military service timelines.
• Burial and Memorial Benefits Comprehensive burial and memorial benefits package for eligible Veterans and their families including plot or columbarium, grave liner, opening and closing of the grave, Presidential Memorial Certificates, burial flag, and perpetual care of the gravesite at no charge.
• Veterans Cemetery Grants Program Federal grant program assisting states, territories, and tribal governments in establishing, expanding, improving, operating, and maintaining Veterans cemeteries. Since 1980, the program has awarded 525 grants totaling $1.87 billion to 47 states, 14 tribal nations, and 3 territories.
• Pre-need Burial Eligibility Online eligibility determination service allowing Veterans and family members to apply in advance to confirm burial eligibility in VA national cemeteries before need arises.
• Find a Cemetery Interactive map service enabling Veterans and family members to search for burial locations, locate gravesites, and find cemetery contact information across 157 VA-managed and 125 VA grant-funded cemeteries nationwide.
• Headstones and Markers Government-furnished headstones, markers, and medallions provided to honor Veterans, service members, or eligible family members in national cemeteries or attached to privately purchased headstones.
• Presidential Memorial Certificates Official certificates issued to honor military service, recognizing the Nation's gratitude for Veterans' service and sacrifice.
• Military Funeral Honors Ceremonial military honors provided at funerals of eligible Veterans, including the playing of Taps and folding of the U.S. flag.
• Veterans Legacy Program (VLP) Educational program commemorating Veterans through discovery and sharing of their stories, partnering with universities and K-12 educators to research and share Veteran histories in national cemeteries. Has funded 35 programs engaging nearly 15,000 students and producing over 2,500 Veteran biographies, 50 documentary videos, and over 100 lesson plans.
• National Cemetery Burial Ledgers Digitized original burial system records from the 1860s to the 1960s, made available through partnership with Ancestry.com for genealogy research and free at NARA facilities.
• Veterans Crisis Line Integration Crisis support service integrated into NCA websites, providing Veterans in crisis access to immediate emotional support via phone (988 Press 1), text, and chat.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98 out of 100 customer satisfaction score - highest ever recorded by any public or private organization in ACSI history
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• St. Ambrose UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational partner in the Veterans Legacy Program focused on researching and sharing stories of Veterans in their communities.
• Black Hills State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational partner in the Veterans Legacy Program that developed extensive resources about Veterans interred at South Dakota cemeteries.
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American HistoryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational partner in the Veterans Legacy Program focused on historical education about Veterans.
• Santa Fe Community CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational partner in the Veterans Legacy Program focused on researching and sharing stories of Veterans.
• West Virginia Humanities CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational partner in the Veterans Legacy Program focused on researching and sharing stories of Veterans in West Virginia communities.
• State, Territorial, and Tribal GovernmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVeterans Cemetery Grants Program partnerships with 47 states, 14 tribal nations, and 3 territories (Guam, Saipan, and Puerto Rico) to establish, expand, improve, operate or maintain Veterans cemeteries. VA can provide up to 100% of development costs for approved projects.
• University of Central FloridaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop extensive educational resources about Florida National Cemetery.
• San Francisco State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner that developed video content about the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl).

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Carriage Services: Public death-care provider operating cemeteries and funeral homes across the U.S. Comparable as a publicly-traded consolidator with national cemetery and funeral home operations, providing a market analog for NCA's multi-site operating model.
• Dignity Memorial (Dignity plc): International funeral services provider operating across multiple geographies with both at-need and pre-need funeral planning. Comparable as a multi-brand death-care network offering pre-need planning, similar to NCA's pre-need burial eligibility service.
• Service Corporation International: Largest publicly traded funeral, cemetery, and cremation services provider in North America. Comparable as a multi-site cemetery and memorialization operator serving families across the death-care continuum, though purely private-sector and revenue-driven vs. NCA's no-cost government mandate.
• American Battle Monuments Commission: Federal agency that commemorates U.S. armed forces through overseas cemeteries and memorials. Comparable as a federal Veterans memorialization agency with similar government mandate, though focused on overseas WWII-era fallen rather than ongoing burial services.

Direct peers

• Arlington National Cemetery: U.S. Army-operated federal cemetery providing burial benefits to Veterans and certain dignitaries. Direct peer as another federally operated national cemetery serving the same Veteran population with similar burial benefits, though under DoD rather than VA.
• StoneMor Partners: Operates one of the largest networks of cemeteries and funeral homes in the U.S. Comparable as a multi-state cemetery operator managing burial property, memorials, and perpetual care obligations — closest private-sector analog to NCA's operating model.
• Foundation Partners Group: Private-equity-backed owner and operator of funeral homes and cemeteries across the U.S. Comparable as a multi-site death-care operator with national reach and PE-style consolidation, serving similar family/customer segments to NCA.
• NorthStar Memorial Group: Private-equity-backed operator of funeral homes, cremation services, and cemeteries with a national footprint. Comparable as a multi-state cemetery consolidator with similar geographic-distribution strategy to NCA's national cemetery network.

Regional players

• Veterans Affairs Canada — Last Post Fund: Canadian nonprofit ensuring dignified burial for indigent and unclaimed Veterans. Comparable as a regional Veteran burial benefits administrator with a similar mission of providing dignified burial for Veterans, though smaller scale and nonprofit-structured.

Others

• Ancestry.com (Genealogy): Genealogy and family history platform that partnered with NCA to digitize 1860s-1960s burial ledgers. Listed as an ecosystem enabler rather than a competitor — provides the digital distribution channel for NCA's historical records and connects the cemetery data to consumers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VANatCemeteries
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DeptVetAffairs
• Facebookfacebook.com/NationalCemeteries
• Instagraminstagram.com/deptvetaffairs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-cemetery-administration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments9 records

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Frequently asked questions about National Cemetery Administration