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Role hub · Coroners

Coroner: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

BLS does not publish pay for coroners separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (SOC 13-1041), which includes coroners and other jobs; it is not a figure for coroners alone.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$80,730
Hourly
$38.81
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Coroners direct activities such as autopsies, pathological and toxicological analyses, and inquests relating to the investigation of deaths occurring within a legal jurisdiction to determine cause of death or to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained deaths. The median pay is $80,730 a year ($38.81 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (35% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$80,730
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
417,070
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
35% of workers
Key facts

Coroners at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (which includes coroners) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $80,730 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for coroners in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of coroners in the United States to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimates that 64.4% of compliance officers in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.

    Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Coroners

SalaryCoroner salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeCoroner how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

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The work

What coroners do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Complete death certificates, including the assignment of cause and manner of death.
  2. Perform medicolegal examinations and autopsies, conducting preliminary examinations of the body to identify victims, locate signs of trauma, and identify factors that would indicate time of death.
  3. Interview persons present at death scenes to obtain information useful in determining the manner of death.
  4. Observe and record the positions and conditions of bodies and related evidence.
  5. Provide information concerning the circumstances of death to relatives of the deceased.
  6. Remove or supervise removal of bodies from death scenes, using the proper equipment and supplies, and arrange for transportation to morgues.
  7. Inquire into the cause, manner, and circumstances of human deaths and establish the identities of deceased persons.
  8. Observe, record, and preserve any objects or personal property related to deaths, including objects such as medication containers and suicide notes.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. This TryHired page covers a specialty within that occupation; the figures describe the whole occupation.

Telework available
64.4%
of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting
85.0%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Sedentary
84.0% of workers
Can pause work
97.8%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
57.5%
of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules
10.4%
of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

On TryHired lists: Remote careers · Desk jobs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all coroner jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), the broader occupation.

  1. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals35.1% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $86,850
  2. Professional, scientific, and technical services9.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $100,520
  3. Insurance carriers and related activities5.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $83,630
  4. Management of companies and enterprises5.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $96,620
  5. Administrative and support services4.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $72,690
  6. Credit intermediation and related activities4.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $94,090

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

SpeakingcoreCritical ThinkingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningCoordinationSocial PerceptivenessWritingJudgment and Decision MakingComplex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas: English Language, Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, Law and Government, Administration and Management, Biology.

Tools and technology

Software coroners use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • GitFile versioning softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services SSRSData base reporting softwareHot technology
  • 3D graphics softwareGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Bite analysis softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Graphics softwareGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Mideo Systems EZDoc PlusGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareIn demand
  • Google AndroidOperating system softwareHot technology
  • LinuxOperating system softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology

Also called: Autopsy Facilities Manager, County Coroner, Death Investigator, Forensic Pathologist, MDI (Medicolegal Death Investigator).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.