Average Pay

• In May 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the mean yearly salary across the employment category that contained cosmetologists (including those working in funeral homes), hairdressers and hairstylists was $26,510. This is equivalent to an hourly rate of $12.74. At the time of writing, pay analysis website Indeed.com listed the average annual wage for a mortuary beautician specifically was $33,000.
  
  

Pay by Industry

• The Bureau's survey detailed how salaries for cosmetologists varied across different sectors of the industry. It reported that practitioners working within death care services were amongst the best paid, earning a mean annual salary of $32,360. In comparison, those employed by personal care stores, the sector in which the vast majority of cosmetologists work, earned a mean wage of $26,760. Individuals working for technical and trade schools took home a mean wage of $27,390, while their counterparts employed within department stores received just $21,040.
  
  

Pay by Location

• Wage comparison website SalaryExpert.com conducted a survey of mortuary beautician wage levels in several large U.S. metropolises. At the time of writing, it reported that pay rates averaged highest in New York City, at $45,151. Phoenix and Chicago completed the top three locations with average salaries of $38,983 and $37,287, respectively. Rates were comparable between Dallas and Miami -- $36,829 and $36,022, respectively -- as they were between Houston and Atlanta, at $35,213 and $35,053. The city with the lowest pay level was Charlotte, at just $31,485.
  
  

Duties

• Funeral home cosmetologists usually work to a photograph or oral description supplied by relatives of the deceased. They style the hair and apply make-up to the skin of the cadaver to make it resemble the description as closely as possible. The cosmetologist may also remove facial hair, paint fingernails and reconstruct any deformities caused by an accident or illness, using materials such as cotton and rubber. They position the body in the casket and arrange flowers around it for the private viewing session prior to interment or cremation.