Personal Care
Funeral Directors
SOC 39-4011
Plan and conduct funeral services while supporting bereaved families.
The job
Median pay
$59k
$48k to $66k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Stable
+0.7% projected
Openings a year
700
BLS projection
Typical education
Associate's plus license
Our model
AI displacement risk
Very low
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
32/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
30th pct
More exposed than 30% of occupations · modeled estimate · 5th pct in Microsoft's data
Future-proof
56/100
Key skills
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 680 | 0.0 | 1.9× | $57k |
| California | 520 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $60k |
| Florida | 300 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $60k |
| Kentucky | 280 | 0.1 | 5.6× | $50k |
| New York | 252 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $62k~ |
| Tennessee | 180 | 0.1 | 2.2× | $55k |
| Missouri | 160 | 0.1 | 2.2× | $66k |
| Louisiana | 150 | 0.1 | 3.1× | $55k |
| New Jersey | 142 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $59k~ |
| South Carolina | 140 | 0.1 | 2.4× | $62k |
All 51 states
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 120 | 0.1 | 3.3× | $63k |
| Virginia | 120 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $64k |
| Massachusetts | 100 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $54k |
| Michigan | 98 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $55k~ |
| Alabama | 90 | 0.0 | 1.7× | $53k |
| Arkansas | 90 | 0.1 | 2.8× | $58k |
| Oklahoma | 90 | 0.1 | 2.1× | $49k |
| Arizona | 82 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $59k~ |
| Minnesota | 81 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $59k~ |
| Maryland | 80 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $61k~ |
| Ohio | 80 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $72k |
| Nevada | 77 | 0.0 | 2.0× | $53k~ |
| Colorado | 70 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $57k |
| North Carolina | 70 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $69k |
| Oregon | 70 | 0.0 | 1.4× | $57k |
| Indiana | 68 | 0.0 | 0.8× | $62k~ |
| Wisconsin | 66 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $58k~ |
| Illinois | 60 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $62k |
| Connecticut | 56 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $60k~ |
| Georgia | 50 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $55k |
| Pennsylvania | 50 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $70k |
| Utah | 50 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $56k~ |
| West Virginia | 50 | 0.1 | 2.9× | $54k |
| Mississippi | 40 | 0.0 | 1.4× | $59k |
| Rhode Island | 40 | 0.1 | 3.2× | $60k |
| Washington | 40 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $51k |
| Iowa | 38 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $39k~ |
| Nebraska | 30 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $51k~ |
| New Mexico | 30 | 0.0 | 1.4× | $45k |
| Idaho | 24 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $56k~ |
| Hawaii | 21 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $66k~ |
| New Hampshire | 19 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $60k~ |
| Maine | 18 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $61k~ |
| Montana | 17 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $56k~ |
| Washington DC | 14 | 0.0 | 0.8× | $65k~ |
| North Dakota | 14 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $54k~ |
| South Dakota | 14 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $56k~ |
| Delaware | 13 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $56k~ |
| Alaska | 10 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $67k~ |
| Vermont | 8 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $63k~ |
| Wyoming | 7 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $54k~ |
Top metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA210 jobs · $62k median
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX180 jobs · $58k median
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX160 jobs · $58k median
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN80 jobs · $46k median
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL80 jobs · $62k median
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA70 jobs · $61k median
- St. Louis, MO-IL60 jobs · $63k median
- Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN50 jobs · $57k median
Explore the rankings
Explore Funeral Directors interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.