Massage therapists rate their happiness above average.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, massage therapists rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 35% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy massage therapists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Midwife
3.7
$59k
Personal trainer
3.5
$35k
Health educator
3.5
$61k
Naturopathic physician
3.5
$74k
Recreation worker
3.4
$30k
Massage therapist
3.4
$47k
Recreational therapist
3.4
$48k
Exercise physiologist
3.3
$48k
Kinesiologist
3.3
$31k
Esthetician
3.3
$37k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are massage therapists happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do massage therapists find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as massage therapists?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are massage therapist’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are massage therapists making the best use of their abilities?

Are massage therapists happy with their salary?

Massage therapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most massage therapists having generally positive views of their salary.

We asked massage therapists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

1590 massage therapists

5 Star
14%

14% of massage therapists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of massage therapists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of massage therapists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of massage therapists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of massage therapists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do massage therapists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, massage therapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, massage therapists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become massage therapists.

We asked massage therapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.5 out of 5 stars

1601 massage therapists

5 Star
26%

26% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as massage therapists?

Massage therapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of massage therapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked massage therapists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.1 out of 5 stars

1756 massage therapists

5 Star
47%

47% of massage therapists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of massage therapists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of massage therapists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of massage therapists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of massage therapists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a massage therapist’s work environment?

As a whole, massage therapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of massage therapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a massage therapist.

We asked massage therapists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.8 out of 5 stars

1754 massage therapists

5 Star
34%

34% of massage therapists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of massage therapists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of massage therapists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of massage therapists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of massage therapists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are massage therapists making the best use of their abilities?

Former massage therapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.4/5. Most massage therapists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a massage therapist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked massage therapists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

1751 massage therapists

5 Star
26%

26% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars