Management · Holland code ECS

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: Funeral Director, Funeral Home Manager, Funeral Service Manager, Location Manager, Arranging Funeral Director, Funeral Home Location Manager, Funeral Home Owner, Licensed Funeral Director.

O*NET 11-9171.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $78,790; Middle half earn $61,890 to $103,940. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree; 50% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Direct and supervise work of embalmers, funeral attendants, death certificate clerks, cosmetologists, or other staff.
Complete and maintain records, such as state-required documents, tracking documents, or product inventories.
Sell funeral services, products, or merchandise to clients.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
Speaking3.5 / 5
Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Monitoring3.4 / 5
Writing3.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.7 / 5
Administration and Management4.4 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Administrative4.0 / 5
Economics and Accounting3.7 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic30
Investigative22
Artistic15
Social56
Enterprising90
Conventional59

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

funeral services director · DE Bestattungsleiter/Bestattungsleiterin · FR entrepreneur de pompes funèbres/entrepreneuse de pompes funèbres

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants (6138)16,700 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Service and sales workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€32,957
Sweden	€32,596
Netherlands	€29,198
Austria	€29,068
Germany	€27,471
Ireland	€26,978
Italy	€24,995
France	€24,971
Spain	€18,303
Portugal	€10,656
Poland	€7,579

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test