Funeral attendants
SOC Code: 39-4021
Funeral attendants carries a 25% AI exposure score (Medium automation risk), with a median annual wage of $34,610 and +3.1% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 32,500 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 25% AI exposure, Funeral attendants sits 12 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 15% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
46/100
Funeral attendants, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $34,610
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth C +3.1%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) A 25% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Funeral attendants in the Medium band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Funeral attendants keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Average (378 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Funeral attendants sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Funeral attendants sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
25% Among the lowest lower than 85% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Funeral attendants vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Funeral attendants is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Funeral attendants's Medium automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score below 40% reflects tasks anchored in physical dexterity, unstructured environments, or high-touch human interaction that current AI cannot reliably replicate.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 39-4021) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Funeral attendants be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Funeral attendants. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.
- 2. Prepare obituaries for newspapers.
- 3. Obtain burial permits and register deaths.
- 4. Transport the deceased to the funeral home.
- 5. Obtain doctors' signatures on death certificate and complete other paperwork, such as insurance claims forms.
- 6. Greet people at the funeral home.
- 7. Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains.
- 8. Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
- 9. Close caskets at appropriate point in services.
- 10. Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
Key Skills Required
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Time Management
Knowledge Areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Transportation
- Computers and Electronics
- Law and Government
- Communications and Media
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Funeral attendants?
Funeral attendants has an AI exposure score of 25%, indicating a medium level of automation risk. The majority of tasks in this role require human judgment, creativity, or physical presence that AI cannot easily replicate.
What is the job outlook for Funeral attendants?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Funeral attendants is projected to grow by 3.1% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 32,500 workers.
What skills are needed for Funeral attendants?
Key skills for Funeral attendants include Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Active Listening, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Funeral attendants earn?
The median annual wage for Funeral attendants is $34,610, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Funeral attendants?
The typical entry-level education for Funeral attendants is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Short-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Funeral attendants?
Funeral attendants roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
Medium automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. Most tasks require human judgment and are resistant to automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Funeral attendants: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (25% here).
- Dermatologists · AI exposure 25%
- Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors · AI exposure 25%
- Firefighters · AI exposure 25%
- Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters · AI exposure 25%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+3.1% here).
- Financial specialists, all other · growth +3.1%
- First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers · growth +3.1%
- Morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers · growth +3.1%
- Parts salespersons · growth +3.1%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 23 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Funeral attendants' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Funeral attendants side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).