Massage Therapists salary

SOC 31-9011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$58,450

per year, nationally

Middle half

$43,480–$78,320

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

98,790

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+15.4%

24,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$33,640$100,200

10th: $33,640
25th: $43,480
Median: $58,450
75th: $78,320
90th: $100,200

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where massage therapists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Alaska	$134,930	102.4	570	2.78×
2	Washington	$87,360	107.0	3,740	1.66×
3	Oregon	$86,970	103.4	2,250	1.80×
4	Hawaii	$81,280	110.0	1,330	3.34×
5	New Hampshire	$80,360	104.2	270	0.62×
6	Rhode Island	$74,960	102.3	290	0.92×
7	North Dakota	$74,140	89.0	100	0.37×
8	Maine	$73,290	97.0	370	0.91×
9	Michigan	$70,960	96.2	2,410	0.86×
10	District of Columbia	$64,110	109.9	120	0.27×
11	Massachusetts	$63,390	105.8	2,830	1.23×
12	Minnesota	$63,070	98.6	1,690	0.90×
13	New York	$62,630	107.9	4,500	0.73×
14	Arizona	$62,400	100.7	2,530	1.23×
15	Maryland	$62,270	105.0	1,350	0.77×
16	Connecticut	$62,260	103.6	700	0.65×
17	Virginia	$62,220	101.1	2,730	1.04×
18	Utah	$62,130	98.9	1,840	1.66×
19	Missouri	$62,050	90.8	1,500	0.80×
20	Wyoming	$61,980	92.7	150	0.86×
21	Colorado	$61,060	103.1	3,950	2.16×
22	North Carolina	$60,650	94.3	2,460	0.78×
23	Illinois	$60,490	100.0	4,950	1.28×
24	Idaho	$60,420	95.5	170	0.31×
25	Kentucky	$59,790	90.2	780	0.61×
26	Texas	$59,370	97.1	8,630	0.97×
27	Delaware	$58,870	99.8	230	0.75×
28	Pennsylvania	$58,300	97.6	2,990	0.78×
29	Wisconsin	$58,070	94.1	1,520	0.82×
30	South Carolina	$58,000	93.7	1,840	1.25×
31	Iowa	$57,710	87.8	540	0.55×
32	Ohio	$55,990	92.8	1,760	0.50×
33	Indiana	$55,590	93.3	1,480	0.73×
34	Nebraska	$53,950	90.1	270	0.42×
35	Nevada	$53,540	100.0	1,620	1.64×
36	Montana	$53,540	94.6	200	0.60×
37	South Dakota	$52,000	88.6	180	0.63×
38	Georgia	$50,820	96.3	1,700	0.55×
39	New Jersey	$50,150	108.8	2,890	1.06×
40	Tennessee	$50,070	91.9	1,230	0.59×
41	Kansas	$49,990	90.1	780	0.85×
42	Florida	$49,680	103.4	9,280	1.47×
43	Alabama	$48,930	88.8	600	0.45×
44	West Virginia	$46,600	89.5	250	0.57×
45	California	$45,970	110.7	14,600	1.26×
46	Mississippi	$40,490	87.0	230	0.32×
47	Arkansas	$39,990	86.9	430	0.52×
48	New Mexico	$37,840	92.2	360	0.66×
49	Oklahoma	$36,630	87.8	520	0.48×
50	Louisiana	$36,480	88.2	890	0.72×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where massage therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for massage therapists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Fairbanks-College, AK	$130,590	103.2	50	2.12×
2	Pittsfield, MA	$102,120	95.1	50	1.31×
3	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$96,820	109.4	330	7.07×
4	Salem, OR	$96,080	103.6	160	1.33×
5	Grants Pass, OR	$94,610	97.8	40	1.87×
6	Bend, OR	$94,580	103.6	210	3.11×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$94,220	111.1	2,230	1.68×
8	Bozeman, MT	$85,670	102.5	40	0.79×
9	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$84,730	105.4	1,580	2.05×
10	Yakima, WA	$84,100	95.5	60	0.99×
11	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$83,880	101.6	180	1.78×
12	Bellingham, WA	$83,790	103.3	140	2.45×
13	Sheboygan, WI	$83,200	94.0	40	0.96×
14	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$82,690	105.6	60	1.06×
15	State College, PA	$82,490	96.8	40	0.80×
16	Medford, OR	$82,370	101.4	150	2.57×
17	Wilmington, NC	$81,390	96.4	120	0.95×
18	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$81,030	103.9	70	2.11×
19	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$80,360	105.7	110	0.87×
20	Ithaca, NY	$80,340	103.3	40	1.35×
21	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$79,950	100.1	80	0.94×
22	Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ	$79,600	98.3	110	2.47×
23	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$78,320	103.7	200	2.40×
24	Portland-South Portland, ME	$78,090	101.9	230	1.28×
25	Kingston, NY	$77,150	100.7	60	1.66×
26	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$77,150	100.3	370	2.26×
27	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$76,250	92.9	170	0.92×
28	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$76,090	91.7	150	0.58×
29	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$75,340	104.8	1,290	1.04×
30	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$75,160	108.3	2,180	1.27×
31	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$74,880	95.0	130	0.95×
32	Fargo, ND-MN	$74,140	90.9	60	0.65×
33	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$73,540	106.9	190	0.72×
34	Athens-Clarke County, GA	$73,330	93.3	60	0.97×
35	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$73,260	90.3	30	0.41×
36	St. George, UT	$72,780	97.3	160	2.86×
37	Waco, TX	$72,560	92.5	60	0.73×
38	Flint, MI	$72,100	93.0	30	0.39×
39	Boulder, CO	$71,870	105.2	420	3.40×
40	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$71,480	98.2	650	1.39×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where massage therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Medical Assistants$45,690
Dental Assistants$48,070
Phlebotomists$45,230
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers$38,150
Healthcare Support Workers, All Other$48,430
Medical Equipment Preparers$47,700
Medical Transcriptionists$40,410
Pharmacy Aides$37,680