Management Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 11-9171

Funeral Home Managers

The published band from $49,700 to $156,400 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Chief Executives.

Same-major-group titles next to Funeral Home Managers: Chief Executives ($214K) , Industrial Production Managers ($126K) , Managers, All Other ($142K) , Public Relations Managers ($147K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Funeral Home Managers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 11-9171 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans…
  2. 2. Schedule funerals, burials, or cremations
  3. 3. Deliver death certificates to medical facilities or offices to obtain signatures from legally authorized persons
  4. 4. Offer counsel and comfort to families and friends of the deceased
  5. 5. Monitor funeral service operations to ensure that they comply with applicable policies, regulations, and laws
  6. 6. Direct and supervise work of embalmers, funeral attendants, death certificate clerks, cosmetologists, or other staff
  7. 7. Complete and maintain records, such as state-required documents, tracking documents, or product inventories
  8. 8. Sell funeral services, products, or merchandise to clients
  9. 9. Plan and implement changes to service offerings to meet community needs or increase funeral home revenues
  10. 10. Respond to customer complaints, legal inquiries, payment negotiations, or other post-service matters
  11. 11. Negotiate contracts for prearranged funeral services
  12. 12. Explain goals, policies, or procedures to staff members

Funeral Home Managers: O*NET ranks Service Orientation first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 11-9171 - lead skill Service Orientation at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Service Orientation 4.0
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.9
  3. 3. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.6
  5. 5. Time Management 3.6
  6. 6. Speaking 3.5
  7. 7. Critical Thinking 3.5
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 3.5

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.7
  2. 2. Administration and Management 4.4
  3. 3. English Language 4.3
  4. 4. Administrative 4.0
  5. 5. Economics and Accounting 3.7
  6. 6. Sales and Marketing 3.6
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$49,700 to $156,400
median $78,790 · ~3.1× spread
$79K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
2,600
Annual openings
13,910
Estimated US jobs
Chief Executives
Highest-pay peer · $214K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Associate's degree
Related experience Less than 5 years

Top Paying States for Funeral Home Managers

The OEWS band for Funeral Home Managers runs from $49,700 (10th) to $156,400 (90th), about 3.1× wide, with median $78,790. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 2,600 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Associate's degree as typical education needed for entry and less than 5 years as the typical related-work-experience category. 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: Rhode Island at $122,150. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Chief Executives at $213,990. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Funeral Home Managers pay-rank #32 in Management Occupations

On the Management Occupations median table (37 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Funeral Home Managers lands at #32, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Funeral Home Managers land on the Management Occupations median table?
Funeral Home Managers is pay-rank #32 of 37 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling ($80K), Social and Community Service Managers ($80K), Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers ($70K), Personal Service Managers, All Other ($70K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do funeral home managers do day to day?
O*NET lists published task statements for Funeral Home Managers. Leading ones include: Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans…; Schedule funerals, burials, or cremations; Deliver death certificates to medical facilities or offices to obtain signatures from legally authorized persons; Offer counsel and comfort to families and friends of the deceased. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for funeral home managers?
For SOC 11-9171, O*NET importance scores lead with Service Orientation (4.0), Active Listening (3.9), Social Perceptiveness (3.9), Reading Comprehension (3.6). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Funeral Home Managers?
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $49,700 and the 90th at $156,400 for Funeral Home Managers (3.1× spread). The national median is $78,790. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Funeral Home Managers?
The 2024-2034 projection for Funeral Home Managers is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 2,600. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Funeral Home Managers?
BLS assigns Associate's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Funeral Home Managers. Related-work-experience category: less than 5 years. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Funeral Home Managers?
Rhode Island ($122,150), Montana ($84,900), Washington ($102,540) 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 Home Managers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 11-9171. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Funeral Home Managers. 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