THE MASSAGE THERAPY PROFESSION

Research estimates that massage therapy was an $11.7 billion industry in the country in 2014. By comparison in 2005, massage therapy was projected to be a $6 to $11 billion a year industry.

It is estimated that there are 300,000 to 350,000 massage therapists and massage school students in the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor in 2012, employment for massage therapists is expected to increase 23 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than average for all occupations.

Between July 2013 and July 2014, roughly 32.6 million adult Americans (15 percent) had a massage at least once.

Who Is Today’s Massage Therapist?

Today’s massage therapists are…

• Most likely to enter the massage therapy profession as a second career.
• Predominantly female (88 percent).
• At a median age of 45 years old. Thirty-one percent were younger than 35 in 2014.
• Most likely to be members of a professional organization.
• Most likely to be sole practitioners.
• Working an average of 18 hours a week providing massage. (Excludes time spent on other business tasks such as billing, bookkeeping, supplies, maintaining equipment, marketing, scheduling, etc.)
• Charging an average of $68 for one hour of massage vs. $65 in 2013.
• Earning an average wage of $43 an hour (including tips) for all massage-related work.
• Heavily dependent on repeat clients.
• Likely to provide massage therapy in a number of settings, including clients home/office, spa/salon, their own office, a health care setting, health club/athletic facility, or massage therapy only franchise or chain.

Massage Therapy as a Career

• In 2014, the average annual income for a massage therapist (including tips) was estimated to be $22,165.
  
• While massage therapists work in a variety of work environments, sole practitioners account for the largest percentage of practicing therapists (60 percent). Of all therapists, 59 percent work at least part of their time at a client’s home/business/corporate setting, 36 percent at their office, 37 percent at their home, 25 percent in a health care setting, and 28 percent in a spa setting.
  
• Eighty percent of massage therapists started practicing massage therapy as a second career.
  
• Fifty percent of massage therapists say they would like to work more hours of massage than they presently do.
  
• Fifty percent of massage therapists also earn income working in another profession.
  
• Of those massage therapists who earn income working in another profession, 12 percent practice other forms of bodywork, 9 percent work in other forms of health care, 7 percent teach/write/lecture about massage therapy and 4 percent do movement therapy.
  

Education and Credentials in the Massage Therapy Profession

• There are more than 310 accredited massage therapy schools and programs in the United States.
  
• Massage therapists have an average of 661 hours of initial training.
  
• The vast majority of massage therapists (90 percent) have taken continuing education classes.
  
• Massage therapists take an average of 21 hours of continuing education per year.
  

State Regulation of the Massage Therapy Profession

• Currently, 44 states and the District of Columbia regulate massage therapists or provide voluntary state certification.
• In states that regulate massage therapy, massage therapists must meet the legal requirements to practice, which may include minimum hours of initial training and passing an exam.
• In states that do not regulate massage therapy; this task may fall to local municipalities. Most states that license massage therapists require a passing grade on the Massage & Bodywork Licensing Exam (MBLEx) or one of two exams provided by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork.
• The American Massage Therapy Association and most other massage therapy organizations prefer the MBLEx, administered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Board (FSMTB), as a state licensing exam. However, AMTA supports the authority of regulatory boards to determine examination(s) appropriate for their state.
• AMTA supports fair and consistent licensing of massage therapy in all states.

Who Gets Massage, Where and Why?

• According to the AMTA 2014 consumer survey, an average of 15 percent of adult Americans received at least one massage between July 2013 and July 2014, and an average of 29 percent of adult Americans received a massage in the previous five years.
  
• In July 2014, 18 percent of women and 13 percent of men reported having a massage in the past twelve months.
• Spas are where most people continue to receive massage, with 21 percent of those surveyed in July 2014 saying they had their last massage at a spa.

The primary reason people received massage was for health and wellness reasons.⁴

• Fifty-four percent of adult Americans who had a massage between July 2013 and July 2014 received it for medical or health reasons such as pain management, soreness/stiffness/spasms, injury rehabilitation, or overall wellness, an increase from 2013 data.
• Ninety-two percent agree that massage can be effective in reducing pain.
• Twenty-three percent of massage consumers had a massage for relaxation/stress reduction between July 2013 and July 2014.

Massage and Health Care-More Americans discussing massage with their doctors or health care providers.

• In July 2014, more than fifty-four million American adults (17 percent) had discussed massage therapy with their doctors or health care providers in the previous year, a slight increase from 2013.
• Of those 17 percent who discussed massage with their doctor or healthcare provider, 71 percent of their doctors or health care providers referred them to a therapist/strongly recommended massage therapy/encouraged them to get a massage. While physicians led the way in recommending massage (59 percent vs. 53 percent in 2013), chiropractors (49 percent vs. 42 percent in 2013) and physical therapists (43 percent vs. 41 percent in 2013) also recommended massage therapy when their patients discussed it with them.
  
• More referrals come from chiropractic offices than other sources, with 13% of respondents reporting receiving referrals at least once per week, and another 24% receiving referrals several times per month. Fifty-two percent of massage therapists received at least one referral every 6 months or less from a hospital or medical office in 2014.

Massage therapists and consumers favor integration of massage into health care.

• Nearly three-fourths of adult Americans (71 percent) would like to see their insurance cover massage therapy.
  
• The vast majority of massage therapists (96 percent) unchanged believes massage therapy should be considered part of the health care field.

Source:  American Massage Therapy Association