Also called: Funeral Home Proprietor
Owns a funeral home, often a family business passed down for generations, and leads its staff and community reputation.
He meets a grieving family at 9 a.m. to plan a service, checks on an embalming in the prep room, reviews the month's finances, and attends a Rotary lunch. At 2 a.m. he may still take a call about a death at a hospice.
Profits vary a lot with the number of calls (services) per year and how many locations a firm has.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 8 years after high school. Associate's (or bachelor's) degree in mortuary science, a 1-2 year apprenticeship, and a state funeral director and/or embalmer license. Plus years of experience; buying a firm takes significant capital.
Ways in: 2-year college, Apprenticeship, Certification. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Mortuary Science, Business Administration.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). BLS funeral service projection.
Low risk for 10 years. Online arrangements and AI paperwork cut admin; guiding grieving families and the home's reputation stay human.
Classes: Business, Biology, Psychology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9171.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.