Embalmers — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$58,780
United States, 2025
Employment
3,890
United States, 2025
Typical education
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
Job Zone 3
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
- O*NET code
- 39-4011.00
- Job zone
- 3
- Experience required
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years
Typical tasks
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$38,310
25th percentile
$48,010
75th percentile
$66,130
90th percentile
$77,570
Most important skills
- Speaking3.9
- Active Listening3.8
- Service Orientation3.1
- Writing3.1
- Time Management3.1
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Social Perceptiveness3.1
- Active Learning3.0
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0
- Monitoring3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Coordination3.0
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 12 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
12
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaking | 3.9 | 3.8 | Not selected | 3.8 |
| Active Listening | 3.8 | 3.8 | Not selected | 3.8 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.1 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.0 | 3.4 | Not selected | 3.4 |
| Time Management | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Service Orientation | 3.1 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Writing | 3.1 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Active Learning | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Coordination | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
Related careers
How salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC | $73,450 | 40 | 2025 |
| OH | $71,550 | 80 | 2025 |
| PA | $69,950 | 50 | 2025 |
| NC | $68,550 | 70 | 2025 |
| MO | $66,490 | 160 | 2025 |
| VA | $63,810 | 120 | 2025 |
| KS | $63,160 | 120 | 2025 |
| St. Louis, MO | $63,130 | 60 | 2025 |
| IN | $62,400 | — | 2025 |
| Columbia, SC | $61,880 | 30 | 2025 |
| SC | $61,820 | 140 | 2025 |
| IL | $61,730 | 60 | 2025 |
| Miami, FL | $61,680 | 80 | 2025 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $61,570 | 210 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $60,890 | 70 | 2025 |
| RI | $60,310 | 40 | 2025 |
| Tampa, FL | $60,300 | 50 | 2025 |
| FL | $60,170 | 300 | 2025 |
| Providence, RI | $60,140 | 50 | 2025 |
| CA | $60,060 | 520 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Embalmers to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.