Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers
Human ServicesO*NET 39-4031.00United States
Perform various tasks to arrange and direct individual funeral services, such as coordinating transportation of body to mortuary, interviewing family or other authorized person to arrange details, selecting pallbearers, aiding with the selection of officials for religious rites, and providing transportation for mourners.
- Median annual earnings
- $54,503
- Projected change
- +6.3%
- Typical education
- Associate degree
- Employment
- 28.82K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
73.2% of the workforce
Growing to 30.65K by 2035
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The work
What morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Obtain information needed to complete legal documents, such as death certificates or burial permits.
- Oversee the preparation and care of the remains of people who have died.
- Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
- Perform embalming duties, as necessary.
- Remove deceased remains from place of death.
- Contact cemeteries to schedule the opening and closing of graves.
- Plan, schedule, or coordinate funerals, burials, or cremations, arranging details such as floral delivery or the time and place of services.
- Provide information on funeral service options, products, or merchandise, and maintain a casket display area.
- Close caskets and lead funeral corteges to churches or burial sites.
- Offer counsel and comfort to bereaved families or friends.
- Direct preparations and shipment of bodies for out-of-state burial.
- Discuss and negotiate prearranged funerals with clients.
- Maintain financial records, order merchandise, or prepare accounts.
- Arrange for clergy members to perform needed services.
- Provide or arrange transportation between sites for the remains, mourners, pallbearers, clergy, or flowers.
- Plan placement of caskets at funeral sites or place or adjust lights, fixtures, or floral displays.
- Clean funeral home facilities and grounds.
- Manage funeral home operations, including the hiring, training, or supervision of embalmers, funeral attendants, or other staff.
- Inform survivors of benefits for which they may be eligible.
- Arrange for pallbearers or inform pallbearers or honorary groups of their duties.
- Receive or usher people to their seats for services.
- Participate in community activities for funeral home promotion or other purposes.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $30,915
- 25th percentile
- $41,111
- 50th percentile
- $54,503
- 75th percentile
- $75,094
- 90th percentile
- $111,137
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $54,503 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+6.3%faster than average
202528,817 jobs
2035 projected30,646 jobs
1,829 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Associate degree
- 73.2%
- High school diploma or less
- 15.3%
- Bachelor's degree
- 11.2%
- Some college
- 0.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Funeral Arrangers312 postings
- 02Directors of Church Relations98 postings
- 03Location Managers79 postings
- 04Care Center Managers73 postings
- 05Family Services Counselors47 postings
- 06Family Service Advisors45 postings
- 07Advanced Planning Directors20 postings
- 08Family Care Specialists19 postings
- 09Funeral Assistants13 postings
- 10General Counselors12 postings
- 11Funeral Home Managers11 postings
- 12Funeral Services Assistants7 postings
- 13Cemetery Managers5 postings
- 14Combo Drivers5 postings
- 15Arrangers4 postings
- 16Assistant Managers4 postings
- 17Mortuary Affairs Specialists4 postings
- 18Adjunct Faculties3 postings
- 19Client Services Liaisons3 postings
- 20Personal Training Directors3 postings
Top employers
- 01GPAC113 postings
- 02Foundation Partners36 postings
- 03Northstar Memorial Group21 postings
- 04Service Corporation International18 postings
- 05Funeraria Del Angel17 postings
- 06Archdiocese Of L.a Education12 postings
- 07Neptune Society12 postings
- 08Carriage Services10 postings
- 09Park Lawn Corporation10 postings
- 10Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services8 postings
- 11Dignity Memorial8 postings
- 12Treasured Memories8 postings
- 13Legacy Funeral Group4 postings
- 14Prever S.A4 postings
- 15Pugh Funeral Home4 postings
- 16Serenity Memorial Group4 postings
- 17Cedar Memorial3 postings
- 18Continental Funeral Home3 postings
- 19Davis Funeral Home And Memorial Park3 postings
- 20Fidelity Memorial Group3 postings
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