Personal Care and Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 39-4021

Funeral Attendants

O*NET task statements lead this Funeral Attendants card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers, Animal Trainers, First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services, Costume Attendants.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Funeral Attendants: First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers ($64K) , Animal Trainers ($40K) , First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services ($49K) , Costume Attendants ($50K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Funeral Attendants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 39-4021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased
  2. 2. Prepare obituaries for newspapers
  3. 3. Obtain burial permits and register deaths
  4. 4. Transport the deceased to the funeral home
  5. 5. Obtain doctors' signatures on death certificate and complete other paperwork, such as insurance claims forms
  6. 6. Greet people at the funeral home
  7. 7. Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains
  8. 8. Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned
  9. 9. Close caskets at appropriate point in services
  10. 10. Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held
  11. 11. Attend to the needs of the bereaved, such as by offering comfort, counseling, or after-care programs
  12. 12. Place caskets in parlors or chapels prior to wakes or funerals

Funeral Attendants: O*NET ranks Social Perceptiveness first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 39-4021 - lead skill Social Perceptiveness at 3.3 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Social Perceptiveness 3.3
  2. 2. Service Orientation 3.3
  3. 3. Active Listening 3.1
  4. 4. Speaking 3.0
  5. 5. Monitoring 3.0
  6. 6. Coordination 3.0
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 2.8
  8. 8. Critical Thinking 2.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  2. 2. English Language 3.9
  3. 3. Administrative 3.4
  4. 4. Transportation 3.0
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 2.9
  6. 6. Law and Government 2.7
National median after O*NET task lead
$35,680
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased
$36K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
5,700
Annual openings
31,090
Estimated US jobs
First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers
Highest-pay peer · $64K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Funeral Attendants

1. New York $42,210
2. Delaware $46,720
3. Nevada $51,980
4. New Hampshire $55,850
5. Massachusetts $46,280
6. Connecticut $45,800
7. Rhode Island $53,580
8. Washington $41,600
9. Minnesota $43,910
10. Colorado $41,710

Other Personal Care and Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Animal Trainers $39,990
  2. 2. First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services $48,560
  3. 3. Costume Attendants $50,400
  4. 4. First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers $63,820
  5. 5. Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors $47,160
  6. 6. First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers $48,590

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Funeral Attendants (SOC 39-4021). The national OEWS median is $35,680 inside Personal Care and Service Occupations. Same-group neighbors: First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers, Animal Trainers, First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services, Costume Attendants. Lead published task: Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 5,700 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: New York at $42,210. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers at $63,820. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Funeral Attendants pay-rank #24 in Personal Care and Service Occupations

On the Personal Care and Service Occupations median table (32 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Funeral Attendants lands at #24, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 39-4021 · national median $35,680 · lower third of Personal Care and Service Occupations (#24/32). The day-to-day tasks above set this role apart from peers with a similar title.

Funeral Attendants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 39-4021

New York · top state for Funeral Attendants

$42K published median

Delaware · #2 state pay

$47K · behind New York

First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers

Highest-pay peer vs Funeral Attendants · $64K

Animal Trainers

Lower-pay peer beside Funeral Attendants · $40K

Compare Funeral Attendants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
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Role and task next reads

Funeral Attendants full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Funeral Attendants land on the Personal Care and Service Occupations median table? ▼
Funeral Attendants is pay-rank #24 of 32 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Manicurists and Pedicurists ($36K), Animal Caretakers ($35K), Childcare Workers ($35K), Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners ($35K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do funeral attendants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Funeral Attendants. Leading ones include: Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased; Prepare obituaries for newspapers; Obtain burial permits and register deaths; Transport the deceased to the funeral home. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for funeral attendants? ▼
For SOC 39-4021, O*NET importance scores lead with Social Perceptiveness (3.3), Service Orientation (3.3), Active Listening (3.1), Speaking (3.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Funeral Attendants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $35,680 as the national median for Funeral Attendants. The published 10th-90th range is $28,070 to $48,460. Beside First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers ($63,820), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Funeral Attendants? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Funeral Attendants is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 5,700. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Funeral Attendants? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Funeral Attendants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Funeral Attendants? ▼
New York ($42,210), Delaware ($46,720), Nevada ($51,980) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Funeral Attendants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 39-4021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Funeral Attendants. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics