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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Funeral Attendants?
Task-level automation exposure for Funeral Attendants: 24 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
24%
weighted task index
24 of 24 tasks scored
Median Salary
$35,680 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
31,090 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.6%
employment change
5,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 49 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$21,840 – $55,850
Highest medians
New Hampshire $55,850
Rhode Island $53,580
Nevada $51,980
Delaware $46,720
Massachusetts $46,280
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $21,840
Kentucky $29,160
Tennessee $29,600
South Carolina $29,880
Nebraska $30,170
State figures come from the 39-4021 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 24%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 55%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 22%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 14%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 13/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
24 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 19%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 4%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 77%
18 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#4512 · Core · 15% automatable
Greet people at the funeral home.
interpersonal — Physical presence greeting customers
Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.
#4511 · Core · 72% automatable
Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
data analysis — AI analyzes operations to flag efficiency gains
Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
#4514 · Core · 5% automatable
Close caskets at appropriate point in services.
physical manipulation — Physical handling of caskets with care
Handle caskets.
#4517 · Core · 28% automatable
Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
interpersonal — In-person directions need situated human presence
Provide escort or transportation. Provide patrons with directions to locales or attractions.
#4518 · Core · 5% automatable
Place caskets in parlors or chapels prior to wakes or funerals.
physical manipulation — Physical handling of caskets with care
Handle caskets.
#4513 · Core · 5% automatable
Offer assistance to mourners as they enter or exit limousines.
physical manipulation — Physically assisting boarding and exiting
Assist patrons with entering or exiting vehicles or other forms of transportation.
#4521 · Core · 5% automatable
Clean funeral parlors or chapels.
physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of facilities and work areas
Clean facilities or work areas.
#4522 · Core · 6% automatable
Arrange floral offerings or lights around caskets.
physical manipulation — Arranging items is physical placement
Arrange items for use or display.
#4519 · Core · 8% automatable
Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
physical manipulation — Tool cleaning is physical manipulation
Clean tools or equipment. Drive vehicles to transport patrons.
#4527 · Core · 5% automatable
Act as pallbearers.
physical manipulation — Physical handling of caskets with care
Handle caskets.
#20600 · Core · 25% automatable
Supervise funeral processions and assist with cemetery parking.
physical manipulation — Mortuary direction is hands-on and emotionally situated
Direct funeral or mortuary activities.
#20601 · Core · 10% automatable
Deliver floral arrangements or other items to family members of the deceased.
situated mobility — Physical delivery of items in real environments
Deliver items.
#4520 · Core · 10% automatable
Carry flowers to hearses or limousines for transportation to places of interment.
situated mobility — Physical delivery of items in real environments
Deliver items.
#20602 · Core · 15% automatable
Perform general maintenance tasks for funeral homes, such as maintaining equipment or caring for funeral grounds.
physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work
Maintain facilities.
#4525 · Core · 45% automatable
Issue and store funeral equipment.
decision support — Scheduling/allocation logic helps; human resolves conflicts
Assign resources or facilities to patrons or employees.
#4523 · Core · 25% automatable
Provide advice to mourners on how to make charitable donations in honor of the deceased.
interpersonal — Comfort and encouragement need live emotional presence
Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
#20603 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.
physical manipulation — Makeup application requires fine manual dexterity
Apply makeup to alter or enhance appearance. Embalm corpses.
#20607 · Supplemental · 85% automatable
Prepare obituaries for newspapers.
text generation — Write informational material from brief
Write informational material.
#4516 · Supplemental · 80% automatable
Obtain burial permits and register deaths.
text generation — Administrative documents drafted from templates
Prepare administrative documents.
#20597 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Transport the deceased to the funeral home.
physical manipulation — Physical transport of biological materials
Transport biological or other medical materials.
#20605 · Supplemental · 60% automatable
Obtain doctors' signatures on death certificate and complete other paperwork, such as insurance claims forms.
text generation — Broad clerical tasks partly automatable, human oversees exceptions
Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
#4526 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains.
physical manipulation — Hands-on loading of processing equipment
Load materials into equipment for processing. Load items into ovens or furnaces.
#20598 · Supplemental · 25% automatable
Attend to the needs of the bereaved, such as by offering comfort, counseling, or after-care programs.
interpersonal — Comfort and encouragement need live emotional presence
Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
#20599 · Supplemental · 60% automatable
Perform various administrative tasks, such as typing documents or answering telephone calls.
text generation — Broad clerical tasks partly automatable, human oversees exceptions
Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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