If you would like to work a career in the criminal justice system, it’s exceptionally vital to take a look at your options and the steps you will need to take to go where you want to go.
You may improve your chances of attaining your job objectives by preparing for your career and conducting the essential study.
Being a coroner could very well be a great option if you want to be a part of the criminal justice system and help solve problems, cases, or issues within the department.
However, coroners are no ordinary officers within the criminal system. They do hefty and sometimes ugly work.
Since it is not easy, the question of how much does a coroner make arises. As per Comparably, Coroners get paid 50% more than the national U.S. avergae in San Francisco.
But what about the national compensation for Coroners? How much do they get paid? Keep reading to find out!
Summary
| Guide | How much do Coroners make? |
|---|---|
| Average Income | $47,080 and $63,225 annually |
| Highest Income | $250,000-$270,000 annually |
| Education Qualification | Required |
| Training Programs | Required |
Who Are Coroners?
Coroners are generally county-level offices that get elected. Their profession is to examine the corpses of the deceased and, based on their knowledge, identify the identification of the deceased as well as the cause and time of death.
They need to write death certificates of the deceased after conducting a comprehensive examination of the body and try to determine the reason for death initially.
Coroners need to be available at all hours of the day and night since one of their expectations is to be present at crime scenes and suspicious deaths.
Coroners also work with police officers to offer thorough reports on their findings and any physical evidence discovered on the deceased.
How Much Do Coroners Make?
You can calculate the average income of a coroner by comparing a few similar employment in the same profession.
Forensic scientists, for example, make $66,181 a year on average, while criminal investigators make $72,088.
Based on these numbers, we may estimate that a coroner’s income is equivalent to or greater than that of these similar occupations.
As an example of what we just said, a deputy coroner in Champaign County, Illinois, makes between $47,080 and $63,225 a year, while coroners in Sacramento County, California, make between $37,062 and $47,293.
How Much Do Coroners Make in an Hour?
Coroners make a minimum of $9.86 an hour and a maximum of $105.05 per hour.
How Much Do Coroners Make in a Month?
Coroners make a minimum of $1,708 per month and a maximum of $18,208 a month.
How Much Do Coroners Make in a Year?
Coroners make a minimum of $20,500 a year and a maximum of $218,500 a year.
Highest Salary Of Coroners In 2023
When you are a coroner, the salaries depend on a lot of things, the most important being your experience in the field and the location you are working at.
Suppose you are working in a high expenditure state like California or New York, and you have at least a decade of experience or a reputation in your profession of how good you are in your job.
In that case, you might get one of the highest salaries. Top 10% of coroners earn something between $250,000-$270,000 annually. Way above the average salary.
Is Being a Coroner Good or Bad?
Being a coroner is no easy feat. It is a hard job that requires seeing hard stuff like murders, bodies, and so many other bad things that many people can not even see for a second.
That is why you have to have a tough stomach and mindset to do this.
However, the job is pretty rewarding with its salaries, so if you think you can handle the hardships that job brings, being a coroner is good, but many people would disagree with this.
Pros And Cons of Being a Coroner
Pros
- High salary
- Get to work independently
- High in demand
- Easy to get into this line
Cons
- Long working hours
- You have to deal with dead bodies
How To Become A Coroner?
There are many differences in educational and professional requirements from one state to another for becoming Coroner.
- In places where the office of coroner takes the throne by-election, you may simply need a high school diploma and extra training, such as death investigator training.
- If becoming a coroner in your state simply requires high school graduation, the next step is to undergo death investigator training. The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) offers a training curriculum that you can complete entirely online.
- If your state requires you to have worked as a physician or forensic scientist before becoming a coroner, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant profession at the very least.
After the necessary education and professional requirements, you need to choose a career path as a coroner, whether you are going to be a physician, medical examiner, or forensic scientist.
Then, as an addition, you can have some industry certifications from certain organizations before starting to work.
How Many Hours Does a Coroner Work?
Being a Coroner is not easy because you will be standing for a lot of hours which might lead to back problems later.
On average, a Coroner works for 40 hours a week. Coroners are also required to work overtime and must be available on later in urgent cases.
What is the Starting Pay of a Coroner?
Coroners have salaries above average and are in high demand.
You can expect to get paid $9.86 an hour or $1,708 a month when you are new to the field. With time you will be able to make as much as $105.05 per hour.
Coroner Training Programs
A coroner must finish a coroner training program in most states and counties after being elected.
Some jurisdictions adopt medicolegal death investigators training programs for basic coroner training, typically involving 40 hours of training and may be finished in as little as a week in some regions.
The causes and manners of death, injury detection, suicides, abuse recognition, crime scene investigations, and death investigation regulations are all a part of these seminars.
As part of a continuous training system, many states and counties require coroners to enroll in continuing education coursework throughout their elected term.
Some coroners attend conferences and seminars sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while others attend courses sponsored by the State Coroners’ Education Board.
Conclusion
As a result, there are many things about being a coroner in general. You need to take some sort of studying and training after getting elected to work as one, and you have to bear a lot of ugly things during your daily life at work.
That is one of the main reasons why many people do not even want to consider being a coroner, but those who do not feel bad seeing those things that coroners do, advocate being in the profession because the pay is very rewarding.
FAQ
How much does a coroner make when they are in training?
It depends, but generally, you either do not get paid, or your salary will be lower than the average coroner’s salary when compared to other coroners who are actually working.
How much does a coroner make right after starting to work?
When you start working right after your training, you might earn closer to the average salary, but it is generally lower than that. However, it won’t be higher than the average in most cases.
How much does a coroner make after spending a good amount of time in the profession?
When you have a good amount of reputation and people know your name, and your skills are at a good level, you earn in six digits, being higher than the majority of the coroners.
Shefali Jain is a Content Writer & Editor at USWorkforce.org
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes. In her time at the organization, she has written and edited content on a range of topics, including employment law, human resources, and business management.
ARTICLE SOURCES
The US Workforce has a policy of producing high-quality content that follows industry standards by using primary sources, such as white papers and government data, alongside original reporting from reputable publishers. We also follow an editorial style where appropriate information about the topic can be found with due credit given when applicable.
- https://hsc.unm.edu/omi/about/faq/coroner.html#:~:text=A%20coroner%20is%20a%20public,into%20deaths%20in%20certain%20categories.[↩]
- https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Coroner-Salary-per-Hour[↩]
- https://learningpath.org/articles/Becoming_a_Coroner_Job_Description_Salary_Info.html[↩]
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-become-coroner[↩]