Funeral Home Managers
Overview
Funeral Home Managers has a national median salary of $78,790 per year, with +4.1% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists an associate's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.
Description
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.
Work Values
- Relationships
- Achievement
- Independence
Work Styles
Responsibilities
Tasks
- Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
- 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.
- Monitor funeral service operations to ensure that they comply with applicable policies, regulations, and laws.
Work Activities
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems
- Assisting and Caring for Others
- Getting Information
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
- Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others
- Thinking Creatively
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
- Performing Administrative Activities
Detailed Work Activities
- Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
- Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
- Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
- Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
- Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
- Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
- Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
- Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
T-A-S-K
Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge
Technology Skills
- Electronic mail software
- Presentation software
- Data base user interface and query software
- Spreadsheet software
- Accounting software
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension
- Oral Expression
- Written Comprehension
- Written Expression
- Near Vision
Skills
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Time Management
Knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Administrative
- Economics and Accounting
Education
Education Levels of Current Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists an associate's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a bachelor's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Bachelor's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for an associate's degree.
Certificates
Certifications applicable to Funeral Home Managers:
| Certificate name | Certifying Organization | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP) | Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice | D |
| Certified In Thanatology (CT) | Association for Death Education and Counseling | D |
| Certified Preplanning Consultant (CPC) | National Funeral Directors Association | D |
| Cremation Arranger Certification (CAC) | International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association | D |
| National Board Examination (NBE) | International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards | D |
| Crematory Operations Certificaton Program (COCP) | Cremation Association of North America | I |
| Fellow in Thanatology (FT) | Association for Death Education and Counseling | I |
Income & Employability
Income Percentile
The median (50th percentile) is the middle wage; 10% earn less than the low figure and 10% earn more than the high figure.
| Low (10%) | $60,130 |
| Median (50%) | $126,520 |
| High (90%) | $257,310 |
Income by Experience
How pay typically grows from entry level (0–2 yrs) to expert (8+ yrs).
| Entry (0–2 yrs) | $72,311 |
| Mid (3–5 yrs) | $77,679 |
| Senior (6–8 yrs) | $82,692 |
| Expert (8+ yrs) | N/A |
Employability
There are currently 34,800 jobs in this career path (2025). That number is projected to grow to 36,200 by 2035, a +4.1% change.
+4.1% growthVideo Resources
Training Programs
8 programs at 4 schools on Career School App prepare students for a career as Funeral Home Managers, including Funeral / Mortuary Science (8).
- Funeral Directing – OnlineCommonwealth Institute of Funeral Service · Houston, TXCertificate · 48 quarter credit hours — 9 months (three quarters)
- Funeral DirectorDallas Institute of Funeral Service · Dallas, TXCertificate · 45 quarter credit hours — two 11-week quarters (6 months)
- Funeral ServiceEastwick College · Hackensack, NJAssociate Degree · 24 months
- Associate of Applied Science in Funeral ServiceFINE Mortuary College · Norwood, MAAssociate Degree · 2 years
- Funeral Service – CampusCommonwealth Institute of Funeral Service · Houston, TXAssociate Degree · 98 quarter credit hours — 15 months (12 with general education transferred)
- Funeral Director – OnlineDallas Institute of Funeral Service · Dallas, TXCertificate · 45 quarter credit hours — four 11-week quarters (12 months)
- Funeral Service – OnlineCommonwealth Institute of Funeral Service · Houston, TXAssociate Degree · 98 quarter credit hours — 15 months (12 with general education transferred)
- Funeral ServiceDallas Institute of Funeral Service · Dallas, TXAssociate Degree · 100 quarter credit hours — eight 11-week quarters (24 months)
Related Careers
This site incorporates information from O*NET Web Services by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Certification, licence and career video information is sourced from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
Wage, employment and outlook figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and the Employment Projections program. Figures describe the occupation, not any particular program or graduate.
Career cluster definitions are from Advance CTE.
Pay-by-experience bands are from Lightcast (as recent as July 2025).