These Are The 10 Highest Massage Therapist Salaries By State

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:

1. Alaska
2. Delaware
3. Washington
4. Arkansas
5. Wyoming
6. Oregon
7. Michigan
8. Iowa
9. Kentucky
10. Oklahoma

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:

• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Alaska
• These Are The 100 Largest Companies In Alaska

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	Average Wage	Cost Of Living
1	Alaska	$64,919	$85,110	131.1
2	Delaware	$56,213	$57,000	101.4
3	Washington	$53,155	$55,920	105.2
4	Arkansas	$49,115	$42,780	87.1
5	Wyoming	$48,801	$44,800	91.8
6	Oregon	$48,347	$55,890	115.6
7	Michigan	$48,280	$42,970	89.0
8	Iowa	$47,978	$43,660	91.0
9	Kentucky	$47,624	$43,100	90.5
10	Oklahoma	$47,600	$42,460	89.2
11	New York	$47,534	$62,270	131.0
12	Vermont	$47,283	$57,260	121.1
13	North Carolina	$46,624	$43,780	93.9
14	Arizona	$46,204	$45,280	98.0
15	Minnesota	$46,170	$46,540	100.8
16	Illinois	$46,078	$43,590	94.6
17	Colorado	$45,510	$47,240	103.8
18	Idaho	$44,788	$41,250	92.1
19	Texas	$44,443	$40,310	90.7
20	Florida	$44,059	$43,310	98.3
21	New Mexico	$43,098	$41,590	96.5
22	Louisiana	$41,434	$39,280	94.8
23	Maryland	$41,155	$51,650	125.5
24	Ohio	$41,098	$38,550	93.8
25	North Dakota	$40,130	$39,890	99.4
26	Wisconsin	$39,752	$38,480	96.8
27	Tennessee	$39,429	$35,250	89.4
28	Massachusetts	$39,287	$52,410	133.4
29	South Carolina	$39,264	$38,950	99.2
30	Montana	$39,146	$39,460	100.8
31	Nebraska	$38,744	$35,490	91.6
32	Connecticut	$38,386	$49,020	127.7
33	Maine	$38,258	$42,390	110.8
34	New Jersey	$38,211	$46,580	121.9
35	Pennsylvania	$37,820	$38,350	101.4
36	New Hampshire	$37,418	$43,780	117.0
37	Alabama	$37,269	$33,990	91.2
38	Missouri	$37,168	$33,600	90.4
39	Virginia	$36,994	$37,290	100.8
40	West Virginia	$36,241	$33,850	93.4
41	Georgia	$35,951	$32,860	91.4
42	South Dakota	$35,130	$36,430	103.7
43	Utah	$34,569	$32,150	93.0
44	Rhode Island	$32,510	$39,240	120.7
45	Mississippi	$32,433	$27,860	85.9
46	Kansas	$32,402	$29,130	89.9
47	Hawaii	$31,941	$53,630	167.9
48	California	$31,309	$42,550	135.9
49	Nevada	$27,057	$27,950	103.3