Georgia·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-9011

Best Massage Therapist programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

Perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints.

9 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 307 people a year. The job pays a median of $50,820 in Georgia across about 1,700 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledMassage TherapistLicensed Massage Therapist (LMT)Certified Massage Therapist (CMT)Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP)RolferMasseurMasseuseMassotherapist
Graduates / yr
307
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$50,820
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,700
people employed
Schools
9
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
63%
across those schools
Median net price
$29,151
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.3501In Georgia
307
100.0%
9$20,079$8,792

Top 9 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 9 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1International School of Skin Nailcare & Massage Therapy
Sandy Springs, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
69Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage$17,629100%$36,205
2Elaine Sterling Institute
Atlanta, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
55Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage67%$24,973
3Gwinnett College - Lilburn
Lilburn, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
44Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage$20,99758%$29,151
4Georgia Career Institute
Conyers, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage$17,29769%$16,052
5Gwinnett College
Roswell, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
39Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage$17,92267%$30,553
6Augusta School of Massage
Evans, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
31Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage$16,77681%$14,371
7Columbus Technical College
Columbus, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
12Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage27%
8Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
Valdosta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
10Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage50%
9Coastal Pines Technical College
Waycross, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage48%

All 9 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
International School of Skin Nailcare & Massage TherapySandy SpringsPrivate for-profit691
Elaine Sterling InstituteAtlantaPrivate for-profit551
Gwinnett College - LilburnLilburnPrivate for-profit441
Georgia Career InstituteConyersPrivate for-profit431
Gwinnett CollegeRoswellPrivate for-profit391
Augusta School of MassageEvansPrivate for-profit311
Columbus Technical CollegeColumbusPublic121
Wiregrass Georgia Technical CollegeValdostaPublic101
Coastal Pines Technical CollegeWaycrossPublic41

What massage therapists earn in Georgia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Georgia
$50,820
Mean annual
$54,950
Jobs in state
1,700
What the range looks like
10th pct$19,010Median$50,82090th pct$83,130
Versus the national median
-13.1%

U.S. median $58,450. Georgia pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.55×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Georgia

Savannah, GA
$67,470median
50 jobs
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$73,330median
60 jobs
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
$58,800median
130 jobs
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$48,610median
1,220 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+15.4%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
24,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
25,900
168,000 → 193,900
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Massage Therapists page.

How to become a Massage Therapist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingWritingCritical ThinkingMonitoringReading Comprehension

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Georgia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Massage Therapists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.3501Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage
  • 51.3502Asian Bodywork Therapy
  • 51.3503Somatic Bodywork
  • 51.3599Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing massage therapists programs in Georgia.

What degree do you need to become a Massage Therapist?+

Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage, which awarded 307 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Massage Therapist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services. Together they graduate about 307 people a year in Georgia.

How much do massage therapists earn in Georgia?+

The median is $50,820 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.1% below the U.S. median of $58,450. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for massage therapists growing?+

BLS projects a +15.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 24,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Georgia?+

9 institutions in Georgia reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do massage therapists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Massage Therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-9011.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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