Funeral Home Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate the services or resources of funeral homes. Includes activities such as determining prices for services or merchandise and managing the facilities of funeral homes.
Also called: Advanced Planning Director, Arranging Funeral Director, Funeral Counselor, Funeral Director, Funeral Home Director, Funeral Home GM (Funeral Home General Manager)
Median pay
$78,790
per year, U.S.
Pay range (10th–90th)
$49,700 – $156,400
People employed
13,910
Holland code
ECS
Enterprising · Conventional · Social
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Is this career right for you?
These are the things that stand out in this job compared with other U.S. jobs (O*NET 31.0 work context). Answer honestly.
- 1.Do you enjoy serving customers or the public?
- 2.Do you want to lead or coordinate other people’s work?
- 3.Are you happy talking and working with people most of the day?
- 4.Do you work well under tight deadlines?
- 5.Do you want a lot of freedom to make your own decisions?
- 6.Are you OK working more than 40 hours a week?
- 7.Are you OK with hours that change?
- 8.Are you OK working outdoors in all kinds of weather?
The hard parts
- Tight deadlines are common
- Exposure to disease or infection
- Mistakes can have serious consequences
Funeral Home Managers pay by state
Highest-paying states
Annual median pay by state (43 states with published data). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025.
What funeral home managers do
- 01Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
- 02Schedule funerals, burials, or cremations.
- 03Deliver death certificates to medical facilities or offices to obtain signatures from legally authorized persons.
- 04Offer counsel and comfort to families and friends of the deceased.
- 05Monitor funeral service operations to ensure that they comply with applicable policies, regulations, and laws.
- 06Direct and supervise work of embalmers, funeral attendants, death certificate clerks, cosmetologists, or other staff.
Skills that matter most
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Writing
Knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Administrative
- Economics and Accounting
Work styles that stand out
- Cautiousness
- Cooperation
- Social Orientation
- Self-Control
- Stress Tolerance
Education and first steps
Share of workers by required education, as reported to O*NET.
How people get started
- Usually needs vocational training or an associate degree (O*NET Job Zone 3).
- Related work experience: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years.
- On-the-job training: over 3 months, up to and including 6 months.
- A professional certification is often expected.
Most common answers from O*NET 31.0 Education, Training and Experience.
Interest fit (Holland code)
O*NET occupational interest scores, scale 1–7. Take the Free Career Test to compare with your own.
Career changes
Change from funeral home managers
- Administrative Services Managers82% · +45%
- Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers80% · −30%
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers77% · −12%
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants76% · −3%
- General and Operations Managers75% · +34%
Change into funeral home managers
Jobs whose skills carry over best (skill match, their median pay).
- Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers92% · $55,010
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers78% · $69,500
- First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers78% · $48,590
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants76% · $76,590
- Residential Advisors74% · $42,240
Majors that lead here
- Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General
- Funeral Direction/Service
- Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, Other
From the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk.