Massage Therapy Career Statistics

Massage Therapy Career Statistics can help you get a better idea of what it will be like for you as a massage therapist and what will it be like to be a massage therapists.

Some of the most commonly asked questions are:

The answer to these questions is not straight forward. The best resource for such questions is the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) in their Metrics Section on their website. Some of the problems in getting accurate job statistics is that most massage therapists start their own business so there are no massage business statistics being reported.

This ABMP Fact Sheet talks about how much massage is growing and how the profession is responding. More people than ever are getting massage for various reasons. Massage is being more accepted as a health care profession.

Massage Therapist salaries vary widely and the statistics are not that impressive.

ABMP Reports that "Average massage-related income for massage therapists in 2005 was $18,950, with a median income of $14,500 (2005 ABMP Member Survey)" - that is for an employee.

While there are a great number of massage therapists being trained every year (approximately 63,000 per year) but that doesn't necessarily mean that there are too many massage therapists or that there is too much competition in this profession. You have to look at the whole picture the other part of which is the number of people leaving the profession is reported to be around 50,000 a year (ABMP Metrics Growth) The reasons why so many are leaving are varied with inability to run a business and professional burnout (which includes the physical demands that end up in career ending injuries as well as emotional burnout from overgiving) considered to be high in this area (but there are not any statistics to show the reasons for leaving.)

The latest report from ABMP states that there has been a recent drop in the number of people going to massage school as outlined in their press release from April 2007- Massage School Enrollment SurveySo with all of this information, can you be successful in the massage profession is one of the big questions that will challenge you to really think about yourself and what you really want.

While the statistics don't really look that good in my view (why would someone want to pay $12,000 for massage school to get a job making $15 and hour at Massage Envy or some other place?), why do you really want to do this type of work? What is the underlying reason? It is more than just helping others. It is more about what you are needing to feel whole as a person. What is it that you want to be doing that will make you feel more alive? What is it that you want to be doing that will make your heart sing each day, even when you are faced with the challenges of not having clients, dealing with insurance companies, and everything else along the way of being a successful massage therapists?

You can also learn more about careers in massage therapy by purchasing my Ebook - "The Massage Therapy Career Guide - The truth about Becoming a Massage Therapist."