Healthcare Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 31-9011

Massage Therapists

Projected +15% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Occupational Therapy Assistants, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Phlebotomists, Medical Transcriptionists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Massage Therapists: Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72K) , Home Health and Personal Care Aides ($36K) , Phlebotomists ($45K) , Medical Transcriptionists ($40K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Massage Therapists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 31-9011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful
  2. 2. Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance
  3. 3. Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment
  4. 4. Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body
  5. 5. Develop and propose client treatment plans that specify which types of massage are to be used
  6. 6. Maintain treatment records
  7. 7. Assess clients' soft tissue condition, joint quality and function, muscle strength, and range of motion
  8. 8. Provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and re…
  9. 9. Treat clients in professional settings or travel to clients' offices and homes
  10. 10. Refer clients to other types of therapists when necessary
  11. 11. Prepare and blend oils and apply the blends to clients' skin
  12. 12. Consult with other health care professionals, such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, physicians, and psychologists, to develop treatmen…

Massage Therapists: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 31-9011 - lead skill Active Listening at 3.6 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 3.6
  2. 2. Speaking 3.6
  3. 3. Social Perceptiveness 3.3
  4. 4. Service Orientation 3.3
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 3.1
  6. 6. Reading Comprehension 3.0
  7. 7. Writing 3.0
  8. 8. Critical Thinking 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.6
  2. 2. Biology 3.3
  3. 3. English Language 3.3
  4. 4. Psychology 3.3
  5. 5. Medicine and Dentistry 3.1
  6. 6. Sales and Marketing 3.0
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +15%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $58,450/yr
$58K
National median
24,700
Annual openings
98,790
Estimated US jobs
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $72K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Postsecondary nondegree award

Top Paying States for Massage Therapists

1. North Dakota $74,140
2. Oregon $86,970
3. Washington $87,360
4. New Hampshire $80,360
5. Maine $73,290
6. Michigan $70,960
7. District of Columbia $64,110
8. Hawaii $81,280
9. Rhode Island $74,960
10. Alaska $134,930

Other Healthcare Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Occupational Therapy Assistants $72,300
  2. 2. Phlebotomists $45,230
  3. 3. Home Health and Personal Care Aides $35,800
  4. 4. Medical Transcriptionists $40,410
  5. 5. Nursing Assistants $42,260
  6. 6. Occupational Therapy Aides $39,160

BLS projects +15% employment change for Massage Therapists (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $58,450.

BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: North Dakota at $74,140. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Occupational Therapy Assistants at $72,300. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Massage Therapists pay-rank #3 in Healthcare Support Occupations

Among 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations with a published OEWS median, Massage Therapists is pay-rank #3, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 31-9011 · national median $58,450 · upper third of Healthcare Support Occupations (#3/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Massage Therapists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 31-9011

North Dakota · top state for Massage Therapists

$74K published median

Oregon · #2 state pay

$87K · behind North Dakota

Occupational Therapy Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Massage Therapists · $72K

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Lower-pay peer beside Massage Therapists · $36K

Compare Massage Therapists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Massage Therapists with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Healthcare Support Occupations titles sit near Massage Therapists at the top of the pay table? ▼
Massage Therapists is pay-rank #3 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Physical Therapist Assistants ($68K), Healthcare Support Workers, All Other ($48K), Dental Assistants ($48K), Medical Equipment Preparers ($48K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do massage therapists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Massage Therapists. Leading ones include: Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful; Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance; Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment; Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for massage therapists? ▼
For SOC 31-9011, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (3.6), Speaking (3.6), Social Perceptiveness (3.3), Service Orientation (3.3). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Biology, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Massage Therapists? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $58,450 as the national median for Massage Therapists. The published 10th-90th range is $33,640 to $100,200. Beside Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72,300), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Massage Therapists projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Massage Therapists at +15% change for 2024-2034, with about 24,700 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Massage Therapists? ▼
BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Massage Therapists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Massage Therapists? ▼
North Dakota ($74,140), Oregon ($86,970), Washington ($87,360) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Massage Therapists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 31-9011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Massage Therapists. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics