Best programs to become a mortician
BLS lists an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, as well as Thanatology (IPEDS completions).
4 college programs at 72 schools train morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers, graduating 2,614 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $55,010 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers
Perform various tasks to arrange and direct individual funeral services, such as coordinating transportation of body to mortuary, interviewing family or other authorized person to arrange details, selecting pallbearers, aiding with the selection of officials for religious rites, and providing transportation for mourners.
Best programs to study to become a mortician
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 | 89.4% | 62 | $45,532 | $22,244 |
| 2 | CIP 12.0302 | 232 | 8.9% | 11 | $45,532 | $22,244 |
| 3 | CIP 12.0399 | 25 | 1.0% | 3 | $45,532 | $22,244 |
| 4 | CIP 30.5301 | 19 | 0.7% | 2 | — | — |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
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.
What morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers 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 | $46,630 | 1,500 | 0.66× | 4 | 510 |
| Pennsylvania | $63,580 | 910 | 0.93× | 5 | 148 |
| Illinoismoderate | $69,600 | 1,320 | 1.34× | 3 | 144 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $63,090 | 1,030 | 0.66× | 4 | 132 |
| North Carolinalimited | $60,730 | 1,000 | 1.25× | 1 | 131 |
| Indianamoderate | $60,890 | 630 | 1.23× | 3 | 126 |
| Alabamalimited | $44,930 | 420 | 1.24× | 1 | 123 |
| Floridamoderate | $48,510 | 1,510 | 0.94× | 3 | 117 |
| Georgiamoderate | $49,990 | 780 | 0.99× | 3 | 114 |
| Ohio | $57,800 | 1,370 | 1.53× | 5 | 99 |
| Iowalimited | $63,700 | 640 | 2.54× | 1 | 75 |
| South Carolinalimited | $40,020 | 400 | 1.07× | 1 | 74 |
| Californiamoderate | $50,750 | 2,240 | 0.76× | 3 | 73 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $62,120 | 430 | 0.73× | 4 | 55 |
| Coloradolimited | $60,850 | 320 | 0.68× | 1 | 48 |
| New Jerseylimited | $69,110 | 580 | 0.84× | 2 | 47 |
| Tennesseelimited | $46,180 | 550 | 1.04× | 2 | 47 |
| Arkansaslimited | $36,120 | 360 | 1.69× | 2 | 43 |
| Michiganlimited | $60,450 | 810 | 1.15× | 1 | 37 |
| Minnesotalimited | $49,760 | 500 | 1.05× | 1 | 37 |
| Oklahomalimited | $47,780 | 380 | 1.37× | 1 | 30 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $58,250 | 580 | 1.23× | 2 | 28 |
| Arizonalimited | $41,870 | 360 | 0.70× | 1 | 27 |
| Marylandlimited | $58,060 | 500 | 1.13× | 1 | 27 |
| Utahlimited | $72,800 | 240 | 0.86× | 1 | 27 |
| Washingtonlimited | $59,700 | 400 | 0.71× | 1 | 26 |
| Louisianalimited | $46,730 | 440 | 1.40× | 1 | 25 |
| Kansaslimited | $58,580 | 230 | 0.98× | 1 | 21 |
| Connecticutlimited | $59,710 | 300 | 1.10× | 1 | 18 |
| Oregonlimited | $48,630 | 220 | 0.68× | 1 | 18 |
| Missourilimited | $42,940 | 790 | 1.66× | 1 | 17 |
| Mississippilimited | $48,350 | 320 | 1.71× | 2 | 12 |
| Vermontlimited | $48,740 | 40 | 0.74× | 1 | 5 |
| Nebraskalimited | $64,310 | 210 | 1.26× | 1 | 3 |
| New Mexicolimited | $50,380 | 100 | 0.70× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and knowledge
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
- Oversee the preparation and care of the remains of people who have died.
- Obtain information needed to complete legal documents, such as death certificates or burial permits.
- Perform embalming duties, as necessary.
- Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
- Remove deceased remains from place of death.
- Contact cemeteries to schedule the opening and closing of graves.
- Plan, schedule, or coordinate funerals, burials, or cremations, arranging details such as floral delivery or the time and place of services.
- Close caskets and lead funeral corteges to churches or burial sites.
Skills
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking3.8
- Reading Comprehension3.3
- Writing3.3
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Monitoring3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Mathematics2.8
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.7
- English Language3.8
- Administrative3.7
- Administration and Management3.6
- Psychology3.4
- Personnel and Human Resources3.2
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.0
- Oral Comprehension3.8
- Speech Recognition3.8
- Speech Clarity3.8
- Problem Sensitivity3.6
- Near Vision3.3
Core activities
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.7
- Getting Information4.6
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.5
- Documenting/Recording Information4.5
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.4
- Scheduling Work and Activities4.4
How to get in
How to become a mortician
- 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 4 majors mapped to Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 12.0301Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General
- 12.0302Funeral Direction/Service
- 12.0399Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, Other
- 30.5301Thanatology
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 a mortician?+
BLS lists an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, as well as Thanatology (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a mortician?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, as well as Thanatology (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this job, which together graduate about 2,614 people a year.
How much do morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers earn?+
The median is $55,010 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $33,350 at the 10th percentile to $88,620 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 morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers growing?+
BLS projects a +3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
72 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Mortician, Funeral Arranger, Funeral Director, Funeral Counselor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-4031.
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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