Cremation Niche Size Calculator
Standard and companion niche planning.
About this calculator
This calculator sizes a columbarium wall and prices out cremation niche storage from three preset niche types: single (9x9x12 in, one urn), companion (14x9x12 in, two urns), and family (14x14x12 in, four urns). Each niche is padded with 2 inches of granite/marble facing and mortar on every side before the calculator tiles the wall: usable wall width is your entered width minus 6 inches for structural framing, usable height is your entered height minus 12 inches for base and cap rows, and dividing those by the padded niche dimensions (rounded to six decimals first to avoid floating-point rounding shaving off a row or column) gives niches per row and rows per wall. Niches needed is simply your urn count divided by the niche type's urn capacity, rounded up.
Cost per niche starts from a base price by type ($2,500 single, $4,000 companion, $6,000 family) and applies a 25% discount for outdoor placement, since outdoor niches skip climate control. A separate "max urns physical" figure divides the niche's raw interior volume by a flat 200 cubic inches per standard urn — this is a theoretical packing bound based purely on volume, not on how urns actually stack or fit inside a niche opening, so don't treat it as the practical capacity; it will typically overstate what fits by hand. Use the per-row/per-wall breakdown to plan how many wall sections a memorial park needs, and the niche vs. wall capacity numbers together to check whether a proposed wall footprint actually satisfies a target inventory.
Inputs
Results
Niches needed
1
Niches per wall
70
How to Use This Calculator
- Select niche type (single, companion, or family) based on the number of urns to store.
- Enter number of urns to determine how many niches are needed.
- Set wall width and height to calculate total niche capacity.
- Review Niche Dimensions (width × height × depth in), Urns per Niche, Niches Needed, and Niches per Wall.
What each input means
- Niche Type
- Interior dimensions vary by niche type.
- Number of urns to store
- Total urns needing niche storage.
- Wall width (ft)
- Width of the columbarium wall section in feet.
- Wall height (ft)
- Height of the columbarium wall in feet.
- Placement (0=indoor, 1=outdoor)
- Indoor niches cost more than outdoor due to climate control.
What each result means
- Niche width (in)
- Interior niche width in inches.
- Niche height (in)
- Interior niche height in inches.
- Niche depth (in)
- Interior niche depth in inches.
- Niche volume (cu in)
- Interior volume of the niche.
- Urns per niche
- Standard urn capacity for the selected niche type.
- Niches needed
- Number of niches required for your urn count.
- Niches per wall
- Total niche capacity of one columbarium wall.
- Niches per row
- Horizontal niche count per row.
- Rows per wall
- Vertical tiers of niches.
- Cost per niche ($)
- Estimated price per niche based on type and placement.
- Total cost ($)
- Total estimated cost for all niches needed.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersNiche type (0=single, 1=companion, 2=family) = 0, Number of urns to store = 1, Wall width (ft) = 10, Wall height (ft) = 8 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Niches neededNiches needed = ceil(numberOfUrns / niche.urnsCapacity)1 = 1
- Calculate Niches per wallNiches per wall = nichesPerRow * rowsPerWall70 = 70
- Calculate Niche widthNiche width = niche.w9 = 9
- Calculate Niche heightNiche height = niche.h9 = 9
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is 'Max Urns Physical' often higher than 'Urns per Niche'?
Urns per niche (1, 2, or 4 depending on type) reflects how the industry actually configures and sells each niche type. Max Urns Physical instead divides the niche's raw interior volume by a flat 200 cubic inches per standard urn, ignoring the shape of the opening and how urns actually stack — so it's a theoretical ceiling that will typically overstate what physically fits, not the number you should plan around.
How much space does the granite facing and mortar actually take up on the wall?
Each niche adds 2 inches of framing (facing plus mortar) on every side before the calculator tiles the wall, so a 9-inch-wide single niche occupies 11 inches of wall width once framed, and a 9-inch-tall niche occupies 11 inches of height. This framing allowance is included in the niches-per-row and rows-per-wall figures, so the niche's stated interior dimensions are smaller than the space it actually consumes.
Why does outdoor placement change niches needed but not niche dimensions?
Indoor vs. outdoor placement only affects cost — outdoor niches carry a 25% discount off the base price because they skip climate control — while the niche interior dimensions, urns-per-niche capacity, and wall-fitting math stay identical either way. If your urn count and niche type don't change, niches needed and wall capacity are the same for indoor and outdoor.
How does the calculator decide how many niches I need for my urn count?
It divides your number of urns by the selected niche type's urn capacity (1 for single, 2 for companion, 4 for family) and rounds up, since a niche can't be shared across multiple orders. For example, 5 urns in family niches (capacity 4) requires 2 niches, not 1.25, because the 5th urn needs its own niche even though it's not full.
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