How to become a crematory operator
Official title: Crematory operator
Also called: Crematorium worker, Funeral worker
Crematory operators provide cremation services for funeral homes and crematoriums. They may prepare bodies for cremation and maintain crematory equipment.
Main tasks
- Operate cremation equipment
- Prepare the deceased for cremation
- Monitor and adjust cremation temperatures
- Handle caskets with care and respect
- Explain services to families
- Clean and maintain equipment
- Keep work areas clean and safe
- Keep accurate cremation records
How to become one
You usually learn on the job to become a crematory operator. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a driver licence.
Pay
- Median pay: $78,312 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $108,797 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a crematory operator?
You usually learn on the job to become a crematory operator. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a driver licence.
How much does a crematory operator earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $78,312 a year, before tax.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026