The state's Bureau of Vital Statistics also showed that Palm Beach County was not far behind at 49.5 percent.
South Florida first began cremating in larger numbers in the 1980s. Although the rest of the nation still embalms and buries about 60 percent of the deceased, more than 58 percent of Florida's dead are cremated.
"The biggest reason is the economics of cremation: You can get a simple direct cremation for $700," said Jack Hagin, president of Brooks Cremation and Funeral Services in Fort Lauderdale. Burial will cost at least $4,300, he said.
"Money is so tight,'' he said. "Families just don't have that kind of money."
And most of the elderly who bought burial plots ahead of time have died, Hagin said.
Florida is second in the nation for the number of cremations — behind only California, according to statistics from the Cremation Association of North America.
The exception in the statewide trend: Blacks prefer to follow tradition and bury their deceased — nearly 63 percent — although the economy is forcing more to choose cremation, said Ronnie Berry, who started Global Funeral Choices in Fort Lauderdale and teaches at Miami Dade College.
Blacks who come from the Caribbean opt, if they can, to ship their deceased family members to their native islands for burial, she said.
Daniel Tobin's family chose to have his brother Douglas cremated after Douglas died Oct. 27.
"These days, cost is a concern for a lot of people. It [cremation] is a lot more cost-effective. It's easier to plan and less things are involved,'' said Tobin. His brother, 44, was a Coral Springs electrical contractor.
Many South Floridians like himself, Tobin added, have changed their minds over the best way to honor their departed family members. Tobin considers himself spiritual and does not consider cremation in conflict with his non-denominational Christian faith.
"The casket and grave and that whole thing — it just seemed like it is outdated," Tobin said.
His brother would not have wanted a viewing of his body. A memorial service was held Nov. 5, when people celebrated Douglas Tobin's life, Tobin added.
Since the 1980s, many South Florida families have gradually switched from traditional funeral and burial servides to cremation. Many of the elderly now tell their families that they want to be cremated, funeral director Hagin said.
Most out-of-town family members no longer opt to ship the bodies of their deceased loved ones to hometown burial spots. Last year, the remains of about 10 percent of the people who died in Florida were shipped out-of-state. In Palm Beach County, almost 20 percent were shipped, as were 13 percent in Broward.
The two daughters of the late Kathleen Hermann, 70, who lived in Broward, are having her cremated remains shipped north, where there will be a memorial service, said daughter Karen Hofmann of Delaware.
"It seemed like the most sensible thing to do,'' she said. Traditional funeral and burial services "would have been so emotionally draining to the family."
Hofmann's brother and daughter died months apart this past year, and both were cremated, she said. Her daughter's remains are in a velvet satchel, and she'll receive half of her mother's ashes.
Some South Florida funeral home workers are also choosing cremation over traditional services.
Les Byczkiewicz of Global Funeral Choices in Fort Lauderdale said he and his wife decided on cremation about a year before she passed away.
The savings from not having traditional services allowed the couple to help provide for the daughter in college, he said.
Many frugal-minded people are choosing cremation because it saves money and land, said Berry.
"It's really something how our society is changing."
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