Massage Therapist Pay in the Great Plains Region

The most recently released U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) occupational employment dataset indicates that, as of May 2020, over 85,000 massage therapists were employed in the United States.  Over 4,100 of those massage therapy jobs were in the seven-state Great Plains region of the country.  An examination of BLS data reveals the Great Plains to be a region of much disparity for massage therapist (MT) pay.  About 40% of the region's massage therapists were employed in Minnesota or Nebraska, two states that ranked among the top ten in the nation for MT annual mean wages.  However, at the same time nearly 57% of massage therapists in the region were employed in one of four Great Plains states that ranked among states in the bottom third nationally for MT annual mean wages.  A closer examination of May 2020 BLS data shows us the following about massage therapist pay in the Great Plains region:

Massage Therapist Pay in the Great Plains Region

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
IA	570	$40,720	39th
KS	340	$41,480	37th
MN	1,470	$53,060	10th
MO	1,270	$40,930	38th
NE	180	$55,160	8th
ND	140	$42,890	32nd
SD	150	$32,630	48th
U.S.	85,040	$47,350	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on June 5, 2021