Funeral Home Managers
11-9171.00
Updated 2024

The occupation code you requested, 11-9061.00 (Funeral Service Managers), is no longer in use. In the future, please use 11-9171.00 (Funeral Home Managers) instead.

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.

Sample of reported job titles: Arranging Funeral Director, Funeral Director, Funeral Home Location Manager, Funeral Home Manager, Funeral Home Owner, Funeral Service Manager, Licensed Funeral Director, Location Manager, Mortuary Operations Manager (Mortuary Ops Manager), Prearranged Funeral Sales Manager

Occupation-Specific Information

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.
  • 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.
  • Plan and implement changes to service offerings to meet community needs or increase funeral home revenues.
  • Respond to customer complaints, legal inquiries, payment negotiations, or other post-service matters.
  • Negotiate contracts for prearranged funeral services.
  • Explain goals, policies, or procedures to staff members.
  • Schedule work hours for funeral home or contract employees.
  • Set prices or credit terms for funeral products or services.
  • Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to identify opportunities for cost reductions or service improvements.
  • Interview and hire new employees.
  • Identify skill development needs for funeral home staff.
  • Direct or monitor administrative, support, repair, or maintenance services for funeral homes.
  • Set marketing, sales, or other financial goals for funeral service establishments and monitor progress toward these goals.
  • Attend or make presentations at community events to promote funeral home services or build community relationships.
  • Evaluate the performance of vendors, contract employees, or other service providers to ensure quality and cost-efficiency.
  • Conduct market research and analyze industry trends.
  • Plan and implement sales promotions or other marketing strategies and activities for funeral home operations.
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Technology Skills

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Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Providing Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Communicating with People Outside the Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
  • Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Telephone — 100% responded “Every day.”
  • Electronic Mail — 86% responded “Every day.”
  • Contact With Others — 85% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 79% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 92% responded “Every day.”
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment — 79% responded “Every day.”
  • Deal With External Customers — 79% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 72% responded “Every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 59% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 74% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Physical Proximity — 49% responded “Very close (near touching).”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 83% responded “Every day.”
  • Time Pressure — 57% responded “Every day.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others — 46% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 47% responded “Very important results.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 67% responded “More than 40 hours.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 60% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections — 46% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 41% responded “High responsibility.”
  • Letters and Memos — 34% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Consequence of Error — 54% responded “Extremely serious.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 40% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Outdoors, Exposed to Weather — 56% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Public Speaking — 48% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 47% responded “Moderate responsibility.”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 49% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Very Hot or Cold Temperatures — 55% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations — 58% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 61% responded “About half the time.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 50% responded “About half the time.”
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 47% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — 48% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Exposed to Hazardous Conditions — 34% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Level of Competition — 38% responded “Highly competitive.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Education
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Related Experience
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
SVP Range
(6.0 to < 7.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
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State licenses

Apprenticeship Opportunities

Example apprenticeship titles for this occupation:

  • Director, Funeral

Specific title(s) listed above are vetted by industry and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for use in a Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Start your career and build your skillset. Visit Apprenticeship.gov to learn about opportunities related to this occupation.

Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.

Knowledge

  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  • Economics and Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  • Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Biology — Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  • Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  • Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 50%
     
    Associate’s degree required
  • 26%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 15%
     
    Post-secondary certificate required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Interests

Interest code: ECS
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
  • Enterprising — Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
  • Social — Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Work Values

  • Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Work Styles

  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wages (2023)
$36.37 hourly, $75,660 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2023)
35,800 employees
Projected growth (2023-2033)
Average (3% to 5%)
Projected job openings (2023-2033)
2,900
State trends
Top industries (2023)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 wage data and 2023-2033 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2023-2033). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Professional Associations

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