Coroner Salary

A coroner is a forensic professional who helps in investigation of crime. The article given below, discusses the job description and a coroner’s salary per year. Read on…

Investigation of a crime or accident is certainly a herculean job, requiring professional efforts from the law sector as well as the forensic field. An investigation becomes easy if the cause and manner of death is known and professionals like coroners, help the law enforcement bodies with this task. A coroner should not be confused with medical examiner. A medical examiner is a qualified medical professional who possesses a medical degree. However to become a coroner, one need not have a medical degree. Coroners are licensed forensic professionals who can help in crime investigation by working in conjunction with law enforcement professionals.

Before knowing about the coroner salary, let us take a look at the job description of a coroner.

Coroner Job Description

To become a coroner, a student has to obtain an undergraduate degree with a major subject of medical science. A Bachelor’s degree in forensic science, criminology or biology, is always helpful to start a career as coroner. Thus, the educational requirements for coroner are not fixed, and can vary from one state to another. Many students opt for a post-graduate degree in medicine or law and this post-graduate degree certainly helps to enhance further career opportunities. A student can also go for certificate courses and training courses to further improve their coroner skills.

The skills required to become a coroner include, knowledge of living organisms, awareness of different laws related to crime, good analytical skills, ability to work in stressful situations and attention toward details. The chief duty of a coroner is to find out the cause of death, which can be due to accident or a murder, or any other cause of death, which is not due to natural cause. A coroner is assisted by a deputy coroner and he has to supervise the deputy coroners working under his guidance. A coroner also performs autopsies, conducts pathological and toxicological analysis, investigates the circumstances and finds out causes for unexplained, unnatural deaths.

Salary of a Coroner

When it comes to the income earned by a coroner, coroners are amongst the highest paid forensic professionals. A coroner’s average salary is $52,072; the figure may vary depending on the crime rate in the area, allotted to the coroner. Coroners who are employed in areas with high crime rates can earn an annual median salary of $200,000, while a coroner working in an area with very low crime rate, earns $40,000 per year. Moreover, as any other profession, there are certain factors that affect the range for coroner salary per year, which include work experience, educational qualification, geographical location and the type of employer. According to some salary surveys, coroners who work for hospitals earn more, as compared to coroners who are employed by private companies or government agencies. Some coroners have fixed income and are not paid annually. Such coroners are paid only when they perform their service. A deputy coroner, who assists a coroner ensures the crime safety of a particular case and the average salary of a deputy coroner is $40,000. Given below are tables that provide approximate figures related to a coroner’s salary.

Aforementioned figures related to a coroner’s salary are approximate and may vary in relation to the geographical location and circumstance. I hope this article on the coroner’s salary range will prove useful to you.