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Alamo Colleges DistrictCareer Explorer

Embalmers

Part of Human Services, in the Personal Care Services pathway.

Job zone 3: medium preparationO*NET 39-4011.00

What the work is

Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.

On a typical day

  • 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.
  • Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
  • Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
  • Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
  • Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.

What it pays

$57,350
Median pay per year, Texas (no San Antonio figure published)
New workers start near $38,960
Experienced workers reach $66,960
  1. $39k10th
  2. $49k25th
  3. $57kMedian
  4. $61k75th
  5. $67k90th
Wage percentiles: 10th $38,960, 25th $48,880, Median $57,350, 75th $61,330, 90th $66,960

Job outlook

U.S. projection, 2024 to 2034.

+1%

U.S. employment change

600

openings a year nationwide, from growth and people leaving

3,600

employed nationwide in 2024

Typical entry education: Associate's degree · Training: Long-term on-the-job training

Skills this career uses

The skills O*NET rates most important for the job, with how much of each the work needs on a 1 to 7 scale.

  1. Speaking3.8
  2. Active Listening3.8
  3. Social Perceptiveness3.9
  4. Critical Thinking3.1
  5. Time Management3.1
  6. Writing3.0
  7. Service Orientation3.0
  8. Reading Comprehension3.4

Education people in this job have

Share of workers by highest education, from O*NET surveys. It shows what others did, not what you must do.

  1. Associate degree86%
  2. Bachelor's degree14%

Job zone 3, medium preparation: Training, an associate degree, or a few years of related experience.

Alamo programs that lead here

  • San Antonio
  1. Mortuary Science

    Degree · Certificate · Public Service

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