Personal Care and Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 39-4031

Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers

The published band from $33,350 to $88,620 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Embalmers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers: Embalmers ($59K) , Concierges ($39K) , Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors ($47K) , Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other ($42K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 39-4031 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Oversee the preparation and care of the remains of people who have died
  2. 2. Obtain information needed to complete legal documents, such as death certificates or burial permits
  3. 3. Perform embalming duties, as necessary
  4. 4. Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans…
  5. 5. Remove deceased remains from place of death
  6. 6. Contact cemeteries to schedule the opening and closing of graves
  7. 7. Plan, schedule, or coordinate funerals, burials, or cremations, arranging details such as floral delivery or the time and place of services
  8. 8. Close caskets and lead funeral corteges to churches or burial sites
  9. 9. Provide information on funeral service options, products, or merchandise, and maintain a casket display area
  10. 10. Offer counsel and comfort to bereaved families or friends
  11. 11. Direct preparations and shipment of bodies for out-of-state burial
  12. 12. Discuss and negotiate prearranged funerals with clients

Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 39-4031 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.1
  2. 2. Social Perceptiveness 4.1
  3. 3. Service Orientation 3.9
  4. 4. Speaking 3.8
  5. 5. Coordination 3.8
  6. 6. Time Management 3.4
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 3.3
  8. 8. Writing 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.7
  2. 2. English Language 3.8
  3. 3. Administrative 3.7
  4. 4. Administration and Management 3.6
  5. 5. Psychology 3.4
  6. 6. Personnel and Human Resources 3.2
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$33,350 to $88,620
median $55,010 · ~2.7× spread
$55K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
3,200
Annual openings
25,100
Estimated US jobs
Embalmers
Highest-pay peer · $59K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Associate's degree

Top Paying States for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers

1. Iowa $63,700
2. New York $63,090
3. Massachusetts $62,120
4. Delaware $81,530
5. New Jersey $69,110
6. Pennsylvania $63,580
7. Illinois $69,600
8. Nebraska $64,310
9. Indiana $60,890
10. Utah $72,800

Other Personal Care and Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors $47,160
  2. 2. Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other $41,600
  3. 3. Embalmers $58,780
  4. 4. Concierges $38,950
  5. 5. Skincare Specialists $45,330
  6. 6. First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services $48,560

The OEWS band for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers runs from $33,350 (10th) to $88,620 (90th), about 2.7× wide, with median $55,010. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 3,200 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Associate's degree 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: Iowa at $63,700. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Embalmers at $58,780. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers pay-rank #4 in Personal Care and Service Occupations

Among 32 detailed Personal Care and Service Occupations with a published OEWS median, Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers is pay-rank #4, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-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.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 39-4031

Iowa · top state for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers

$64K published median

New York · #2 state pay

$63K · behind Iowa

Embalmers

Highest-pay peer vs Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers · $59K

Concierges

Lower-pay peer beside Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers · $39K

Compare Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Personal Care and Service Occupations titles sit near Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers is pay-rank #4 of 32 detailed Personal Care and Service Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Embalmers ($59K), Costume Attendants ($50K), First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers ($49K), First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services ($49K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers. Leading ones include: Oversee the preparation and care of the remains of people who have died; Obtain information needed to complete legal documents, such as death certificates or burial permits; Perform embalming duties, as necessary; Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers? ▼
For SOC 39-4031, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.1), Social Perceptiveness (4.1), Service Orientation (3.9), Speaking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $33,350 and the 90th at $88,620 for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers (2.7× spread). The national median is $55,010. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 3,200. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers? ▼
BLS assigns Associate's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers? ▼
Iowa ($63,700), New York ($63,090), Massachusetts ($62,120) 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 Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 39-4031. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers. 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