These Are The 10 Highest Massage Therapist Salaries By State
We used the most recent data to determine the states that pay massage therapists the best.
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do massage therapists get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for massage therapists by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
To better understand how salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for massage therapists by state.
Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.
The state with the best salary for massage therapists after this adjustment? That would be Massage Therapists.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
If you’re interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
How we determined pay by state
As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for massage therapists from the 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’
To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.
We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $42550, so our index value would be:
$42,550 * (100 / 135.9) = $31,309
We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for massage therapists.
Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.
Detailed List Of Massage Therapist Salaries By State
| Rank | State | Adjusted Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | $64,919 |
| 2 | Delaware | $56,213 |
| 3 | Washington | $53,155 |
| 4 | Arkansas | $49,115 |
| 5 | Wyoming | $48,801 |
| 6 | Oregon | $48,347 |
| 7 | Michigan | $48,280 |
| 8 | Iowa | $47,978 |
| 9 | Kentucky | $47,624 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | $47,600 |
| 11 | New York | $47,534 |
| 12 | Vermont | $47,283 |
| 13 | North Carolina | $46,624 |
| 14 | Arizona | $46,204 |
| 15 | Minnesota | $46,170 |
| 16 | Illinois | $46,078 |
| 17 | Colorado | $45,510 |
| 18 | Idaho | $44,788 |
| 19 | Texas | $44,443 |
| 20 | Florida | $44,059 |
| 21 | New Mexico | $43,098 |
| 22 | Louisiana | $41,434 |
| 23 | Maryland | $41,155 |
| 24 | Ohio | $41,098 |
| 25 | North Dakota | $40,130 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $39,752 |
| 27 | Tennessee | $39,429 |
| 28 | Massachusetts | $39,287 |
| 29 | South Carolina | $39,264 |
| 30 | Montana | $39,146 |
| 31 | Nebraska | $38,744 |
| 32 | Connecticut | $38,386 |
| 33 | Maine | $38,258 |
| 34 | New Jersey | $38,211 |
| 35 | Pennsylvania | $37,820 |
| 36 | New Hampshire | $37,418 |
| 37 | Alabama | $37,269 |
| 38 | Missouri | $37,168 |
| 39 | Virginia | $36,994 |
| 40 | West Virginia | $36,241 |
| 41 | Georgia | $35,951 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $35,130 |
| 43 | Utah | $34,569 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | $32,510 |
| 45 | Mississippi | $32,433 |
| 46 | Kansas | $32,402 |
| 47 | Hawaii | $31,941 |
| 48 | California | $31,309 |
| 49 | Nevada | $27,057 |
