How To Become A Licensed Acupuncturist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a licensed acupuncturist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average licensed acupuncturist salary is $75,892. The most common degree is a master's degree degree with an alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a licensed acupuncturist. Licensed acupuncturists with a Diplomate in Acupuncture (Dipl.Ac.) Certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 26,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreLicensed AcupuncturistUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $75,892

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.5

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 20.46%

Black or African American 3.45%

Hispanic or Latino 10.69%

Unknown 6.78%

White 58.38%

Gender

female 65.13%

male 34.87%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a licensed acupuncturist

Explore licensed acupuncturist education requirements

Most common licensed acupuncturist degrees

Master's

46.4 %

Bachelor's

42.0 %

Associate

4.4 %

Start to develop specific licensed acupuncturist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	39.44%
Pain Management	8.57%
Treatment Options	6.42%
Mental Health	4.02%
Private Practice	3.77%

Research licensed acupuncturist duties and responsibilities

Perform historical, physical and behavioral status assessments of patients using appropriate TCM.
Instruct patients on post-treatment procedures, including breathing techniques, exercise and dietary modifications.
Collaborate with an integrative team offering chiropractic, acupuncture, osteopathic, and functional medicine.
Use acupuncture to treat the emaciation, emesis after chemotherapy, and asialia after radiotherapy of cancer patient.

Prepare your licensed acupuncturist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your licensed acupuncturist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a licensed acupuncturist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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Apply for licensed acupuncturist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a licensed acupuncturist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do licensed acupuncturists rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

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1 star

Licensed acupuncturist reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2021

Pros

My practice is very diverse. I have been treating patients for over 32 years in various countries working with indigenous cultures treating the chronically compromise. I truly love my work we just integrated and many fields and disciplines of Medicine

Cons

I'm surprise that within the United States the modalities of traditional medicine specifically Asian medicine is limited primarily to the practice of acupuncture we're everywhere else in many parts of the world it incorporates various disciplines such as nutrition herbs manipulation homeopathy and many more