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Role hub · Embalmers

Embalmer: 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.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of embalmers earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$58,780
Hourly
$28.26
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Embalmers prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements. The median pay is $58,780 a year ($28.26 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is an associate's degree (86% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$58,780
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
3,890
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
86% of workers
Key facts

Embalmers at a glance

  • Embalmers in the United States earned a median annual wage of $58,780 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 an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for embalmers in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of embalmers in the United States to grow 0.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 700 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 3,890 people were employed as embalmers in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Embalmers

SalaryEmbalmer salary

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

Open →How to becomeEmbalmer how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

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The work

What embalmers do day to day

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

  1. Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
  2. Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
  3. Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
  4. Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
  5. Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
  6. Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
  7. Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
  8. Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

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

SpeakingcoreActive ListeningcoreSocial PerceptivenesscoreService OrientationTime ManagementWritingCritical ThinkingCoordinationJudgment and Decision Making

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Chemistry, Psychology, English Language, Law and Government, Biology.

Tools and technology

Software embalmers use

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

  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • Belmar & Associates MortwareData base user interface and query software
  • Corel WordPerfect Office SuiteOffice suite software
  • Custom Data Systems Sterling Management SoftwareData base user interface and query software
  • FPA Software MACCSData base user interface and query software
  • HMIS AdvantageData base user interface and query software
  • Twin Tier Technologies MIMSData base user interface and query software
  • Web browser softwareInternet browser software

Also called: Licensed Embalmer, Trade Embalmer.

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.