Massage Therapist: 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 massage therapists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $33,640
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of massage therapists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $43,480
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of massage therapists earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $58,450
- Hourly
- $28.10
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of massage therapists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $78,320
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of massage therapists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $100,200
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Massage Therapists perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints. The median pay is $58,450 a year ($28.10 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).
- Median pay
- $58,450
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 98,790
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- medium preparation
Every page for Massage Therapists
What massage therapists do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance.
- Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body.
- Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful.
- Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment.
- Treat clients in professional settings or travel to clients' offices and homes.
- Develop and propose client treatment plans that specify which types of massage are to be used.
- Provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and rehabilitative exercises.
- Maintain treatment records.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Biology, Medicine and Dentistry.
Software massage therapists use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- ICS Software SammyUSAMedical software
- Land Software Customer Pro-FileMedical software
- Massage SuiteMedical software
- WinCity Custom Software WinCity Massage SOAP NotesMedical software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
- AppointmentQuest Online Appointment ManagerCalendar and scheduling software
- Scheduling softwareCalendar and scheduling software
Also called: BCMT (Board Certified Massage Therapist), Bodywork Therapist, Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), Clinical Massage Therapist, Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP), Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT).
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 correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. 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).