Best degree programs for Embalmers, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 65 schools train Embalmers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $58,780 median wage, 3,890 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 65 schools train embalmers, graduating 2,389 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General. The job pays a median of $58,780 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About embalmers
Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
2 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 12.0301 | 2,338 | 97.9% | 62 | $45,532 | $22,244 |
| 2 | CIP 12.0303 | 51 | 2.1% | 6 | $45,532 | $22,244 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What embalmers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texasmoderate | $57,350 | 680 | 1.92× | 4 | 510 |
| Illinoismoderate | $61,730 | 60 | 0.39× | 4 | 156 |
| Pennsylvania | $69,950 | 50 | 0.32× | 5 | 148 |
| North Carolinalimited | $68,550 | 70 | 0.58× | 1 | 131 |
| Alabamalimited | $53,080 | 90 | 1.63× | 1 | 123 |
| Floridamoderate | $60,170 | 300 | 1.19× | 3 | 117 |
| Georgiamoderate | $55,000 | 50 | 0.43× | 3 | 114 |
| Indianamoderate | $62,400 | — | — | 3 | 114 |
| Ohiomoderate | $71,550 | 80 | 0.60× | 3 | 97 |
| Iowalimited | $39,490 | — | — | 1 | 75 |
| Californiamoderate | $60,060 | 520 | 1.14× | 3 | 73 |
| Virginialimited | $63,810 | 120 | 1.13× | 2 | 70 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $54,320 | 100 | 1.05× | 3 | 53 |
| Coloradolimited | $57,100 | 70 | 1.02× | 1 | 48 |
| South Carolinalimited | $61,820 | 140 | 2.50× | 1 | 39 |
| Tennesseelimited | $55,170 | 180 | 2.18× | 2 | 37 |
| Oklahomalimited | $49,120 | 90 | 2.20× | 1 | 30 |
| Kansaslimited | $63,160 | 120 | 3.20× | 1 | 21 |
| Oregonlimited | $57,170 | 70 | 1.51× | 1 | 18 |
| Missourilimited | $66,490 | 160 | 2.17× | 1 | 17 |
| Arkansaslimited | $58,250 | 90 | 2.66× | 2 | 14 |
| Mississippilimited | $58,900 | 40 | 1.40× | 2 | 12 |
| Louisianalimited | $54,890 | 150 | 3.05× | 1 | 10 |
| New Mexicolimited | $45,340 | 30 | 1.39× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
Skills
- Speaking3.9
- Active Listening3.8
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Writing3.1
- Monitoring3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Science2.6
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.7
- Chemistry3.6
- Psychology3.6
- English Language3.5
- Law and Government3.4
- Biology3.2
Abilities
- Near Vision4.0
- Oral Comprehension3.6
- Problem Sensitivity3.6
- Oral Expression3.4
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.4
- Speech Recognition3.4
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.5
- Documenting/Recording Information4.4
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Handling and Moving Objects4.3
- Getting Information4.2
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Embalmer
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
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.
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Embalmers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 12.0301Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General
- 12.0303Mortuary Science and Embalming/Embalmer
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Embalmer?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General, which awarded 2,338 degrees in 2024-25, 97.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Embalmer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Funeral Service and Mortuary Science. Together they graduate about 2,389 people a year.
How much do embalmers earn?+
The median is $58,780 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $38,310 at the 10th percentile to $77,570 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for embalmers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
65 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do embalmers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Embalmer, Trade Embalmer, Licensed Embalmer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-4011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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