Funeral service employment is up over the past year and job growth within the industry is projected to be steady but unspectacular over the next 10 years, according to federal statistics.
The number of funeral service jobs stood at 61,500 in 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, marking an increase in employment over the 2024 number, when 59,600 jobs were tallied. The 2025 number, released in August 2026, shows that funeral service is also above the 2023 figure, when 61,000 jobs were reported.
Key Takeaways
- Funeral service employment reached 61,500 jobs in 2025, with 4 percent growth projected through 2035
- About 5,600 annual job openings are expected, largely due to worker turnover and retirements
- Rising cremation rates may constrain hiring and profitability, despite higher New Jersey funeral service salaries
Funeral service employment is projected to grow by 4 percent each year through 2035, the BLS said. That level is considered average among all industries and sectors. A total increase of 2,200 jobs over the next 10 years is expected, but the BLS also noted that there will be significant turnover in employment over the next 10 years.
“About 5,600 openings for funeral service workers are projected each year, on average, over the decade,” the BLS report stated. “Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.”
Nationwide, salaries for funeral home managers remains steady as well, with the BLS estimating that the median wage for a manager is $78,790 as of May 2025. For “morticians, undertakes and funeral arrangers, the median is $55,010.
On the East Coast, however, salaries remain higher. The 2025 Thanexus Year in Review indicates that the 2025 average salary of a licensed non-owner in New Jersey is $90,102. Newly licensed non-owners earn an average of $75,913. Median salaries are approximately $4,000 to $5,000 lower.
Thanexus gathers information that details average yearly compensation for employees of shareholders for whom Thanexus provides payroll and benefits services.
The cooperative uses actual W-2 wage data to calculate average and median salaries for several categories of employees, making it one of the most accurate barometers of funeral home employee compensation available.
The BLS acknowledges that the need for funeral service workers will remain, simply because they will be needed to handle arrangements for people when they die, but the bureau cautioned that the “demand will be constrained by consumers increasingly preferring cremation, which costs less and requires fewer workers than do traditional funeral arrangements.”
The rate of cremation in New Jersey lags behind national figures, but the state is projected to see a substantial growth in the number of cremations over the next 10 years. Cremation Association of North America statistics show that the rate of cremation will increase from about 55 percent in 2025 to nearly 70 percent in 2035. The U.S. rate is projected to be 73.8 percent in 10 years.
CANA has noted that the rate of increase for cremations will slow as the market share for cremation moves to even higher levels, but the trend away from traditional burial will not reverse itself.
The rise in cremations also has an impact on the profitability of funeral homes. Typically, traditional burials cost more than cremations. This impact on the bottom line at funeral establishment could affect hiring as well.