Growing Demand for Massage Therapists in Health Care
The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts that massage therapist jobs are going to grow faster than average over the next ten years (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos295.htm).Massage therapists held about 97,000 jobs in 2004, and employment for massage therapists is expected to grow faster than average between 2004 and 2014 as more people learn about the benefits of massage therapy.
After completion of a training program, many massage therapists opt to take the national certification examination administered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). Many of these training programs can be found at http://www.healthcareers.net/. There are roughly 1,300 massage therapy postsecondary schools, college programs, and training programs throughout the country.
Massage therapists work in an array of settings, both private and public. Median hourly wages for massage therapists, including gratuities earned, were $15.36 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent of massage therapists earned between $9.78 and $23.82 an hour. Massage therapists usually earn about 15 to 20 percent of their incomes as gratuities.
