The 10 States With The Highest Massage Therapist Salaries For 2019

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. Washington
3. Kentucky
4. Oregon
5. Idaho
6. Indiana
7. Texas
8. Minnesota
9. Nebraska
10. Tennessee

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 2018 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 $41460, so our index value would be:

$41,460 * (100 / 135.9) = $30,507

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	$62,761	$82,280	131.1
2	Washington	$59,429	$62,520	105.2
3	Kentucky	$58,519	$52,960	90.5
4	Oregon	$55,674	$64,360	115.6
5	Idaho	$54,896	$50,560	92.1
6	Indiana	$54,357	$48,650	89.5
7	Texas	$54,134	$49,100	90.7
8	Minnesota	$52,490	$52,910	100.8
9	Nebraska	$49,497	$45,340	91.6
10	Tennessee	$49,429	$44,190	89.4
11	Illinois	$48,985	$46,340	94.6
12	Arkansas	$48,094	$41,890	87.1
13	Michigan	$47,988	$42,710	89.0
14	Florida	$47,039	$46,240	98.3
15	Wyoming	$46,906	$43,060	91.8
16	Oklahoma	$46,827	$41,770	89.2
17	Montana	$46,130	$46,500	100.8
18	Colorado	$44,499	$46,190	103.8
19	North Carolina	$44,259	$41,560	93.9
20	Iowa	$43,989	$40,030	91.0
21	Utah	$43,956	$40,880	93.0
22	Wisconsin	$43,842	$42,440	96.8
23	New Mexico	$43,792	$42,260	96.5
24	Arizona	$43,204	$42,340	98.0
25	Pennsylvania	$42,140	$42,730	101.4
26	Ohio	$41,972	$39,370	93.8
27	South Carolina	$41,774	$41,440	99.2
28	Missouri	$41,039	$37,100	90.4
29	Georgia	$40,711	$37,210	91.4
30	New Hampshire	$40,478	$47,360	117.0
31	New York	$40,328	$52,830	131.0
32	Massachusetts	$40,292	$53,750	133.4
33	North Dakota	$39,879	$39,640	99.4
34	Maine	$39,214	$43,450	110.8
35	Virginia	$38,680	$38,990	100.8
36	Alabama	$38,256	$34,890	91.2
37	West Virginia	$37,205	$34,750	93.4
38	Vermont	$36,812	$44,580	121.1
39	Hawaii	$36,777	$61,750	167.9
40	New Jersey	$36,595	$44,610	121.9
41	Rhode Island	$33,943	$40,970	120.7
42	Mississippi	$33,853	$29,080	85.9
43	Maryland	$33,808	$42,430	125.5
44	Connecticut	$33,805	$43,170	127.7
45	South Dakota	$33,124	$34,350	103.7
46	Kansas	$32,669	$29,370	89.9
47	Louisiana	$31,708	$30,060	94.8
48	California	$30,507	$41,460	135.9
49	Nevada	$28,673	$29,620	103.3