Funeral Director Buries Other Occupations in List of Hot Jobs

The best managerial job in the country today? Funeral director, an employment research firm says.

“It pays pretty well, there’s enormous stability, and the population is aging,” said David Birch, president of Cognetics Inc.

“There’s only one demographic constant in the world: one death per person. Birth rates vary, but everybody dies,” Birch said.

In “Hot Jobs: The Best Places to Work in America,” Cognetics ranks the best industries in which to work and the best types of employers for 24 occupational groups.

Funeral director topped the managerial occupations, and funeral services ranked 10th among 219 industries in job security and 49th in pay.

Security brokers, averaging $53,504 a year, topped the pay rankings. Chiropractors were next with $51,250, and physicians were third at $50,859.

Top sales jobs are at large car dealers, followed by mid-size hardware stores and mid-size mobile home dealers.

Rankings were based on the number of job openings, salaries, job security and growth potential.

Birch said his firm also gathered information from the U.S. Census Bureau and Dun & Bradstreet.

Birch said that generally, companies with 20 to 99 workers are the best places to work in terms of security, job openings, growth potential and pay.

The most secure jobs were at the U.S. Postal Service, which retained 95% of its positions during the last four years.