According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of May 2021, there were about 81,000 massage therapists employed in the United States. Massage therapists are employed in a variety of settings, including spas, franchised clinics, physicians’ offices, hotels, and fitness centers. Most massage therapy jobs require postsecondary education and certain technical skills, but the massage therapist wage scale is considerably lower than it is for workers in most occupations. According to BLS estimates, as of May 2021, the national mean wage for massage therapists was $49,260 per year. The pay scale for the profession varies widely, with practitioners in some regions earning double what their peers make elsewhere. This variation in pay is readily seen in May 2021 data from the BLS, which reveals the following about massage therapist pay in the top 20 metropolitan markets in the United States:
Massage Therapist Pay in the Top 20 Metropolitan Markets
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Mean Annual Wage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City | 5,310 | $49,930 | ||
| 2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | 3,610 | $52,810 | ||
| 3 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | 2,930 | $56,880 | ||
| 4 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 2,990 | $45,430 | ||
| 5 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | 2,220 | $43,350 | ||
| 6 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 1,240 | $57,500 | ||
| 7 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 1,260 | $48,560 | ||
| 8 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach | 2,320 | $45,470 | ||
| 9 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta | 1,430 | $39,830 | ||
| 10 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | 1,570 | $61,170 | ||
| 11 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | 2,050 | $46,390 | ||
| 12 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley | 1,380 | $64,030 | ||
| 13 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | 850 | $51,950 | ||
| 14 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn | 680 | $59,420 | ||
| 15 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | 1,470 | $67,950 | ||
| 16 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | 1,030 | $49,630 | ||
| 17 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | 1,120 | $49,940 | ||
| 18 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | 1,000 | $43,720 | ||
| 19 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood | 2,420 | $48,770 | ||
| 20 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | 490 | $56,160 | ||
| National | 81,030 | $49,260 | |||
Report Period: May 2021
Top 20 U.S. Metro areas from the 2020 Census
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Occupational Statistics
Data extracted on October 19, 2022