Massage Therapists

Low Risk
25%

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Vote Comments (20)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
21%
(Low Risk)
POLLING
30%
(Low Risk, Based on 213 votes)
Average: 25%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
17.7%
by year 2033
WAGES
$55,310
or $26.59 per hour
Volume
92,650
as of 2023
SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
7.2/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

People also viewed

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Calculated automation risk

21% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): Jobs in this level have a limited risk of automation, as they demand a mix of technical and human-centric skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some very important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Manual Dexterity

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Finger Dexterity

User poll

30% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 21% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Massage Therapists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

The following graph is shown where there are enough votes to produce meaningful data. It displays user poll results over time, providing a clear indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Massage Therapists' job openings is expected to rise 17.7% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Massage Therapists' was $55,310, or $27 per hour

'Massage Therapists' were paid 15.1% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 92,650 people employed as 'Massage Therapists' within the United States.

This represents around 0.06% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Massage Therapists'.

Job description

Perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints. May assist in the assessment of range of motion and muscle strength, or propose client therapy plans.

SOC Code: 31-9011.00

Comments (20)

Leave a comment
Maggie (No chance)
21 May 2025 01:04
Massage therapy is more complex than the massage chairs at the mall. There is an element of touch that comes from another person that plays a role. Further more, sensory processing is an essential component of being a massage therapist. Our nervous system is so complex in its ability to sense things that robots are not equipped to sense. Palpation and other sensory assessments are crucial to providing a quality a massage and that cannot be effectively emulated by a robot.
Lynn (Low)
14 Oct 2024 21:05
Massage therapy is more that just human to human contact. It requires the ability to read body language of clients and being able to express empathy that is genuine from lived experience- two things that won't be possible for AI to ever TRULY express.
Sagedreamz (Uncertain)
03 Feb 2024 18:21
Nothing is Greater than human touch human connection we are vibrational beings not data input output HDMI pugs. Our download is Reiki Energy healing from one human to the other the connection comes in a cycle of giver and receiver. No AI machine would ever transmit that.
Tiffini (Low)
25 Apr 2023 19:05
This job requires the ability to accurately read and interpret the nuances of what it takes to make a human comfortable across different personality types and cultural differences. There is a mysterious element of manipulating energy, acute awareness and ability to change tactics to match the needs of each individual that I very much doubt a robot could emulate. A machine massage is ok but a human massage seems irreplaceable.
Dex (No chance)
18 Sep 2022 22:52
The massage robots I’ve seen simply roll different tools back and forth over the body… which in no way comes close to what a skilled massage therapist does. Plus many clients seek massage specifically because they are craving HUMAN contact.
Kristine (No chance)
04 May 2022 10:51
It's customized and complicated for each person and personality. No way a robot could be proficient in it.
Noel Masip
22 Sep 2021 10:55
The reason why robots can't do this job? The first fundamental rules of the robots: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. There are the "Hard massages", when people want to feel the pain to feel better Hard massages, Ventusa, Thai massage, Scrubs and others, do "pain" to feel better later. And also, there are people who when you do the massage, want it harder, in that moment the robot, will blow up and fail to do the massage to the customer. Unless AI is very well developed, but not in this century...
anika (No chance)
28 Dec 2020 08:46
becauseeeee how is steel and metal going to make massages feel good
Greg Dahlen (No chance)
08 Oct 2020 14:27
think people want the interaction with another human
Greg Dahlen
08 Oct 2020 14:25
Don't know if robots can do the tiny changes in hand movement that make a good massage
Elle
24 Mar 2020 16:16
Robots could absolutely do this job. It would feel the same as regular fingers, pressure could be adjusted by voice requests, and as an added bonus it could likely analyze data while performing the massage to make medical recommendations such as how someone should stretch, moles they should have checked, or other health analysis to check for various conditions.
Phil (Low)
12 Feb 2020 20:23
The human body works off of emotion and continual feedback to shape it. Even if a machine were to precisely target muscle tension and release it, it does not account for the mind-body influence. Maybe in the far future a direct electric connection to the brain might be possible, but not in the next 20 years. Even then, a robot does not offer the social support that is instrumental in the body's reaction.
Monica League
02 Aug 2019 09:17
Massage therapies work is about human touch. Its make you feel more comfortable. Am not in the favor of robotics touch as its make your body more tired. Robots don't have feeling and they don't know anything about human touch.
Sarah (No chance)
02 Jul 2019 03:00
Massage therapy would never be done by robots. So this job should never be taken over by robots or artificial intelligence.
Vernon Burgess
08 May 2019 16:02
No robot will understand how to rehabilitate muscles, tendons, connective tissues, mitigate injuries. No way a robot will ever achieve that.
Tony Giglio
09 May 2019 17:55
I disagree, they can learn ANYTHING.... they are already making cancer surgeries instead of surgeons and have better ways to indentify cancers.... and this is just the beginning...
Nohar (No chance)
22 Sep 2021 11:03
You compare surgeries to massage? They are way too different! A massage, it's not only pressures, manipulations and stretching, it's also human contact, psychology and trusting someone. A robot malfunctioning could harm, an ill therapist, it's resting on a bed.
Mike
30 Mar 2019 20:59
Robotic massage will have some niches. We already have massage chairs of varying levels of sophistication, but they lack the human touch, the skin on skin contact that can also release endorphins and satisfy a primal urge to be groomed.
Aleksi Korhonen
20 Mar 2019 19:13
There will always be demand for massage therapists and sex workers etc. You can't make skin-to-skin contact and pheromones artificially.
Matthew Watson
19 Mar 2019 04:33
This occupation requires the human touch. A person would have to help others relax. While some tasks can be automated. Most of it will require someone to do the work
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