I’m kind of tired of people thinking America is on the downhill and that we don’t take care of each other. I can prove that they are wrong at the same time, by looking at the trend of the average massage therapist salary. The massage therapy field helps elderly citizens (caring) and is exploding in jobs and salary.
I know that one thing you’re probably concerned about is the future of the field and how bright the career looks down the road. There are two things that are considered most important: massage therapy salary and job availability.
Job Availability
This is the most important aspect of any field when looking into the future and making predictions. The demand for massage therapy is expected to grow substantially over the next 10 years. From 2010 to 2012 the demand is expected to increase 20%! The average growth for all jobs is only 14%, and while 6% seems like a small difference, think of how many people there are in North America and you’ll quickly see why the field of massage therapy is considered so hot right now.
Massage Therapy Jobs Available:
2008
- 52,000
2009
- 55,920
2011
- 63,810
We can break down the reason for this predicted increase and it makes perfect sense. First of all, the population is aging rapidly as the ‘baby boomers’ begin to reach old age. Massage therapy is a great service to these people, which can help them with the increased body troubles that people face in old age. If you are interested in this you might even be able to secure a position at a large retirement home, which would cut out any marketing you would have to do.
Secondly, the practice is becoming more regulated as more states adopt licensing rules. What this does is add to the legitimacy of the profession and more people will realize that it is a very beneficial practice and can help them.
The third factor relates in part to the second, which is that massage therapy is becoming more popular, which means people are investing effort and money into making it more accessible to the general public. Through spas and massage clinics, there are more outlets than ever that are being put into place which will make it easier for people to get treatment.
Massage Therapist Salary in the Future
If you have ever studied or heard about economics you have probably heard about supply and demand. The principle is simple: when the demand increase outpaces supply increase, prices will rise. This is the situation that is happening right now because of that enormous growth noted above. Looking at the average salary of a massage therapist’s graph, you can see that there is an upward trend, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Keep in mind that this still includes massage therapists working part time! Not only are the massage therapist salaries here are only just below the average American salary (41,673.83 in 2010), but if we converted to hourly rates a massage therapist salary would make far more in comparison to most professions. So in response to how much do massage therapists make it will vary depending on the hours worked, and if you work a lot you will make much more than the average salary.