By Gary Eaton, LMT

When deciding whether to make pursue a career in massage therapy, it is important to look at the massage industry as a whole to determine if it is right for you.  To help you better understand the “average” massage therapist and who they are, I thought I would throw some statistics at  you about current massage therapists.

Thankfully, the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) has put together a nice compilation of U.S. government statistics, surveys and clinical studies into a nice report that I recently read.  This report paints a broad picture of the massage industry and I thought you readers and future therapists would benefit from this information.

Much of the report concurs with my positive opinion on the massage industry and the future growth, and some of this information will help educate you on what the average therapist looks like, how much they make and what their working life looks like.

To start, it was noted that in 2005 it was estimated that the massage industry was projected to take in anywhere from $6 to $11 billion.  That seemed like a large spread to me, but even $6 billion is an amazing amount of massages.  They also estimated that there were around 300,000 massage therapists and massage therapy students in the U.S.

As for industry growth, the U.S. Department of Labor expected a faster than average growth for the massage industry (compared to all occupations), with an expected 20% growth from 2006 to 2016.  That bodes well for those of you just entering the massage profession or those thinking about going to massage school.  And when it comes to the average American, almost one-fourth (24% to be exact) of adults had a massage at least once between August 2006 and June 2007.  That is about 75 million people!

As for the makeup of the average massage therapist, here are some interesting statistics:

• Massage therapy was most likely to be a second career

• Females make up 85% of professional massage therapists

• Average age is in the early 40’s

• Most therapists are likely to be sole practitioners or independent contractors (76%)

• The average therapist provided 19 hours of hands-on massage a week

• Average rate for a one-hour massage was $60     Average earnings for a massage therapist was $39 per hour (for all work, not just hands on)

• The average therapist provided 41 massages a month

• Seven years was the average length of therapists working in the industry

As for overall income, the average for massage therapists was $30,000 per year, based on providing 15 hours of massage per week.  This compares to other industries such as a healthcare support worker ($28,170 per year), medical assistant ($27,190 per year) and occupational therapist aides ($23,290 per year).  But understand that those other three professions are based on working full time – 40 hours per week.  So massage definitely provides more money for your time.

So hopefully these statistics will help you understand a little of what the average therapist looks like.  Of course, these are just averages, and there are therapists on each end of the spectrum.  But the fact of the matter is that if you work full time as a massage therapist, which averages about 19 hours of massage, you are likely to make an above average wage.  All for under 40 hours of work.

The ability to make a better than average wage while working less was a big factor in my decision to become a massage therapist.  That and performing a much-needed service to people that greatly appreciate what we do.  All that combined makes massage therapy a great career choice for those willing to put in the effort.

Gary Eaton is a licensed massage therapist and writer living and working in Portland, Oregon. He manages a thriving therapeutic massage practice and is a featured writer for Massage Schools Guide.

Tagged as: massage career, massage therapist, massage therapist salary