Crematory Operators
Operate crematory equipment to reduce human or animal remains to bone fragments in accordance with state and local regulations. Duties may include preparing the body for cremation and performing general maintenance on crematory equipment. May use traditional flame-based cremation, calcination, or alkaline hydrolysis.
2,970 people do this job in the US. $43,650 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 24%
- 0%
- 76%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 24%. Today's estimate: 24%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 12 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embalm, dress, or otherwise prepare the deceased for viewing. | 22% | 1.3 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Transport the deceased to a funeral home or crematory using a van, hearse, or other vehicle. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean the crematorium, including tables, floors, and equipment. | 11% | 38 min25 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Offer counsel and comfort to bereaved families or friends. | 10% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Explain the cremation process to family or friends of the deceased. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Place corpses into crematory machines to reduce remains to bone fragments using flame, heat, or alkaline hydrolysis. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Sweep or vacuum the cremation chamber to retrieve remains for storage in an urn or other container. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Pulverize remaining bone fragments into smaller pieces, using specialized equipment, such as a cremulator or grinder. | 6% | 21 min13 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Document divided remains to ensure parts are not misplaced. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Pick up and handle human or pet remains in a respectful manner. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove jewelry, watches, or other personal items from the deceased prior to cremation. | 4% | 13 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Read documentation to confirm the identity of the deceased. | 2% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).