Funeral Attendants
Perform a variety of tasks during funeral, such as placing casket in parlor or chapel prior to service, arranging floral offerings or lights around casket, directing or escorting mourners, closing casket, and issuing and storing funeral equipment.
Most important skills
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Transportation
- Computers and Electronics
- Law and Government
- Communications and Media
- Sales and Marketing
What the work involves
- Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
- Greet people at the funeral home.
- Offer assistance to mourners as they enter or exit limousines.
- Close caskets at appropriate point in services.
- Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
- Place caskets in parlors or chapels prior to wakes or funerals.
- Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
- Carry flowers to hearses or limousines for transportation to places of interment.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (47% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (54.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (36.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Funeral Attendants is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 64% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 73% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 55% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 85% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 66% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 94% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 85% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 8.64%
- Contact with others about half the time: 15.29%
- Contact with others most of the time: 22.22%
- Constant contact with others: 53.85%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 8.89%
- Important: 24.27%
- Very important: 24.4%
- Extremely important: 42.43%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9.32%
- Important: 7.64%
- Very important: 34.56%
- Extremely important: 48.48%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 10.45%
- Limited freedom: 34.31%
- Some freedom: 40.18%
- A lot of freedom: 15.06%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 17.84%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.97%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.13%
- Every day: 35.06%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 31.05%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 47.66%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.13%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.17%
- Every day: 0%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 23.33%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 34.53%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.39%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.74%
- Every day: 0%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 32.86%
- Fairly serious: 11.13%
- Serious: 37.17%
- Very serious: 5.83%
- Extremely serious: 13.01%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 39-4021.00 · SOC 39-4021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8