Occupations · Personal Care and Service
Embalmers
Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 39-4011.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
Pay over time
Median up 64% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $60,390 | 150 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $49,970 | 140 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $55,540 | 130 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $58,820 | 80 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $48,810 | 60 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $54,330 | 60 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $60,140 | 50 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $49,360 | 50 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $60,350 | 50 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $56,700 | 50 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $48,470 | 40 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $60,250 | 30 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 12 areas with the most people in this occupation
Typical education to enter: Associate's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
- Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.
- Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
- Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
- Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2021-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2021-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
Tasks O*NET flags as emerging
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
O*NET 25.3 emerging tasks
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning.
Now listed 2
No longer listed 2
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| embalmer | 5163.2 | exact |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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