Acupuncturist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of acupuncturists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $38,830
- Hourly
- $18.67
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of acupuncturists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $55,380
- Hourly
- $26.63
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of acupuncturists earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $76,040
- Hourly
- $36.56
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of acupuncturists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $102,280
- Hourly
- $49.17
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of acupuncturists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $161,470
- Hourly
- $77.63
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Acupuncturists diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. The median pay is $76,040 a year ($36.56 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a master's degree (68% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $76,040
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 7,830
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 68% of workers
Acupuncturists at a glance
Acupuncturists in the United States earned a median annual wage of $76,040 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for acupuncturists in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of acupuncturists in the United States to grow 8.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 7,830 people were employed as acupuncturists in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for Acupuncturists
What acupuncturists do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
- Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
- Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
- Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.
- Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
- Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.
- Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
- Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
Industries that employ it
Data Share of all acupuncturist jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).
- Ambulatory healthcare services46.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +11.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $84,270
- Educational services; state, local, and private2.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.1% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $58,480
- Hospitals; state, local, and private1.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $114,870
- Administrative and support services0.4% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.1% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $77,670
Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Psychology, Biology, English Language, Administrative.
Software acupuncturists use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- AcuPartner ProfessionalMedical software
- Electronic health record EHR softwareMedical software
- Miridia Technology AcuGraphMedical software
- QPuncture IIMedical software
- QchartMedical software
- Qpalm AcupunctureMedical software
- Trigram Software AcuBase ProMedical software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
- Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
Also called: Acupuncture Doctor, Acupuncture Physician, Acupuncture Provider, Chinese Medical Doctor (Chinese MD), Chinese Medicine Doctor.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.