How To Become A Crematory Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a crematory operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a crematory operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.57 an hour? That's $38,621 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCrematory OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,621

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.69%

Asian 3.65%

Black or African American 7.36%

Hispanic or Latino 11.24%

Unknown 3.47%

White 73.58%

Gender

female 20.30%

male 79.70%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a crematory operator

Explore crematory operator education requirements

Most common crematory operator degrees

Associate

41.2 %

High School Diploma

25.0 %

Bachelor's

22.1 %

Start to develop specific crematory operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Adjacent Facilities	54.55%
PET	19.17%
OSHA	11.24%
EPA	9.44%
General Maintenance	1.91%

Complete relevant crematory operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New crematory operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a crematory operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real crematory operator resumes.

Research crematory operator duties and responsibilities

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Keep accurate maintenance records for OSHA.
Conform to all local, state and federal laws, including OSHA requirements.
Leverage strengths in daily operations running the pet and human cremation division of the crematory at Schoedinger.

Prepare your crematory operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your crematory operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a crematory operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable crematory operator resume templates

Build a professional crematory operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your crematory operator resume.