Embalmer

Explore This Path

Ideal for those passionate about honoring life and providing comfort to families.
Play a vital role in ensuring respectful and dignified farewells for loved ones.
Unique opportunity to blend artistry with science in preserving memories.

💰 Earn $55K-$73K

📚 Associate Degree

⏱️ 12–24 MONTH TRAINING

📈 1.2% JOB GROWTH

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What You’ll Do

Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.

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.

Scoop

Minimum Education

Associate Degree

Career Prospects

Good (Increasing by 1-5%)

Training Time

1 to 2 years

Job Openings

500 Annually

Median Earnings

$61,910 in California

$54,090 Nationally

$25K

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Real Talk Reel

Want to see what it's like to be a Embalmer? We've curated a playlist for you to get a glimpse into a day in the life.

@jasminethemortician

Best For You If...

YOU Like 💕

Thinking and problem solving
Using data or completing tasks
Working with my hands

You are skilled in 💫

Active Listening
Coordination
Service Orientation
Social Perceptiveness
Speaking

You value 🙏

Having support
Having freedom
Personal relationships

Deep Dive

Embalmer

Explore career pathways, key skills, and what each role has to offer.

Pathways to this Career

Learn about the education and training paths that can lead to this career — and what to expect from each one.

Associate's Degree

An associate's degree typically provides graduates with foundational knowledge and skills for entry-level jobs in the graduate's industry, or serves as a stepping stone towards further education.

🎓 College

⏱️ FINISH IN 2-3 years

Bachelor's Degree

A bachelor's degree typically results in increased knowledge about a variety of academic subjects, specialized knowledge in a focused field of study, and is considered the foundational qualification for many careers.

🎓 College

⏱️ FINISH IN 4-5+ years