Hiring a funeral home manager in Seattle, WA

Employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area pay funeral home managers a median of $107,820, with the middle half of the market between $101,910 and $123,750. Seattle residents working in management occupations report a median of $125,490, which is 16% above what the metro pays for this role.

What does a funeral home manager earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$101,910
Median	$107,820
75th percentile	$123,750

Half of funeral home managers in this area earn between $101,910 and $123,750. A band set below $101,910 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Seattle residents earn

$125,490

Median earnings of Seattle residents working in management occupations, 71,077 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 16% 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.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

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 Seattle?

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, 67.5% of Seattle adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Seattle commute runs 26.6 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 31.3% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In King County, management of companies and enterprises employs 86,403 and turns over 6.0% a quarter, with 5,212 hires against 6,743 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $13,215 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 $21,564 to $32,346 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.

Other management roles in Seattle

Seattle is the largest of 3 Washington cities in this dataset.