Hiring a funeral home manager in Buffalo, NY
Employers in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area pay funeral home managers a median of $97,710, with the middle half of the market between $80,180 and $144,230. Buffalo residents working in management occupations report a median of $60,856, which is 38% below what the metro pays for this role.
What does a funeral home manager earn here?
Place of work
What employers pay
| 25th percentile | $80,180 |
| Median | $97,710 |
| 75th percentile | $144,230 |
Half of funeral home managers in this area earn between $80,180 and $144,230. A band set below $80,180 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.
Place of residence
What Buffalo residents earn
$60,856
Median earnings of Buffalo residents working in management occupations, 10,244 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.
The 38% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.
The role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Buffalo rather than competing for commuters.
What does the role actually involve?
Core tasks
- Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
- Schedule funerals, burials, or cremations.
- Deliver death certificates to medical facilities or offices to obtain signatures from legally authorized persons.
- Offer counsel and comfort to families and friends of the deceased.
- Monitor funeral service operations to ensure that they comply with applicable policies, regulations, and laws.
O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 11-9171.
Tools and technologies in demand
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, CodeJam MemoriesOnTV, CSR Consultants Cemetery Management SC, Email software.
O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.
Is the talent actually in Buffalo?
This is a job zone three: medium preparation needed occupation. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 30.3% of Buffalo adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.
The average Buffalo commute runs 19.9 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 9.6% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.
How often do these jobs turn over?
In Erie County, management of companies and enterprises employs 11,940 and turns over 5.5% a quarter, with 990 hires against 947 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $8,384 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 55.
That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about funeral home managers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.
What does the search cost?
The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $19,542 to $29,313 on the first year salary alone.
One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.
Price this search
Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.
Hiring a funeral home manager somewhere else?
Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Houston, TX
- Phoenix, AZ
- Philadelphia, PA
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
- Fort Worth, TX
- Jacksonville, FL
- Austin, TX
- San Jose, CA
Other management roles in Buffalo
- Administrative Services Managers
- Advertising and Promotions Managers
- Architectural and Engineering Managers
- Chief Executives
- Compensation and Benefits Managers
- Computer and Information Systems Managers
- Construction Managers
- Education Administrators, All Other
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
- Education Administrators, Postsecondary
Related
- Hiring Funeral Home Managers: the role, the pay, the process
- Recruiting services in Buffalo
- Every New York city we cover
Buffalo is the 2th largest of 4 New York cities in this dataset.