Funeral Service Workers

How to become an Embalmer

Official title: Embalmers

Also called: Embalmer, Licensed Embalmer, Trade Embalmer

Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.

Main tasks

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.

How to become one

Typical education to start: Associate's degree

Ways in

Apprenticeship: Embalmer (Per Ser).
Certificate or associate's degree: Associate's degree. Programs such as Funeral Service and Mortuary Science, General; Mortuary Science and Embalming/Embalmer
Licence: A licence is required in 30 states.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: $58,780 a year The middle half earn $48,010 to $66,130.
About 3,900 people work in this job now, and about 4,000 are projected by 2035. (+0.7%)
People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Questions people ask

How do I become an Embalmer?

Ways in include: Associate's degree; Embalmer (Per Ser).

How much does an Embalmer earn in the US?

Median full-time pay is $58,780 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The middle half earn $48,010 to $66,130.

Is an Embalmer a growing career in the US?

Employment is projected to stay about the same by 2035: about 3,900 people now and 4,000 later (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become an Embalmer?

Not always. 28% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Associate's degree; Embalmer (Per Ser).

Will AI change the work of an Embalmer?

People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Sources

Microsoft Research: Working with AI: AI applicability by occupation (2025-12-22 (built on O*NET 29.0)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Projections (2025-35 (released 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database 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.