Montana massage licensing record

State licensure does not replace generally applicable local business, land-use, health, or safety requirements.

• Official application
• Official renewal information
• Official statutes or rules

Local business, facility, zoning, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.

Credential

Licensed Massage Therapist

Minimum education

500 hours

Approved education

Applicants by examination complete at least 500 hours: 200 hours of supervised massage assessment, theory, and application; 150 hours of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and pathology; and 150 hours of business, ethics, and related study.

Examination

The Board accepts MBLEx, NCETMB, NESL, NCETM, or a state examination deemed equivalent; the issuing entity sends the score directly.

MBLEx relationship

MBLEx is an accepted Board examination path, not a substitute for the Montana license.

Application

Submit the Board application, fees, official transcript or program evidence, examination score, high-school evidence, and verification from every jurisdiction where a professional credential has been held.

Application fees

The current application is $140 plus a $5 contingent-litigation-fund fee; active renewal is $90, late renewal $180, and inactive renewal $45.

Background check or fingerprinting

Applicants must establish good moral character and disclose professional history; the reviewed current massage checklist does not identify routine fingerprinting or a separate criminal-history report for every applicant.

Reciprocity or endorsement

An out-of-state applicant may qualify by credential when the current license is active, in good standing, and based on substantially equivalent education, examination, and experience; current law also provides a deficiency review.

Additional requirements

No statewide practitioner liability-insurance mandate was identified. Massage businesses must display each working therapist's license or make it available for mobile practice, but the reviewed statute does not create a separate business credential.

Cycle

Massage licenses renew annually during the Board's July 3 through September 1 renewal window.

Deadline model

The Board identifies September 1 as the renewal deadline and applies the late fee after August 31.

Fees

Active renewal is $90, late renewal $180, and inactive renewal $45.

Continuing education

A licensed massage therapist earns at least 12 continuing-education credits every two consecutive years by the renewal date in even-numbered years.

Required subjects

Qualifying education must relate substantially to massage practice; current rule guidance recognizes varied in-person, online, teaching, publication, and professional activities subject to documentation.

Documentation

Licensees retain completion documentation and provide it if requested in an audit.

Carryover

Education used for one reporting period may not be reused for the next; no general excess-credit carryover was identified.

Late renewal

Late renewal carries the stated late fee; practice after expiration requires an active credential.

Inactive license

The Board offers inactive renewal for $45; inactive status does not authorize practice.

Scope of practice

Montana defines massage therapy as structured touch, pressure, positioning, movement, topical and thermal applications to soft tissues for health and well-being within the statutory limits.

Protected titles

Massage therapist, licensed massage therapist, L.M.T., masseur, and masseuse are protected equivalent titles.

Restrictions

The massage scope excludes diagnosis, high-velocity low-amplitude thrust, specified joint manipulation, exercise prescription, traction for manipulation, injection, laser, diathermy, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, iontophoresis, and phonophoresis.

Municipal or local requirements

Verify generally applicable local business, zoning, public-health, and safety requirements at the practice address.

Establishments and other regulated activities

Massage businesses must display working therapists' licenses and permit specified compliance checks; no separate statewide business license is created by section 37-33-406.

Practitioner notes

Use the Board's license lookup and complaint contacts to verify credentials or report concerns.

• Montana Board of Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-29
• Montana Board — Licensed Massage Therapist · accessed 2026-07-29
• Montana Massage Therapist Licensing Requirements and Application Checklist, rev. 10/30/2025 · accessed 2026-07-29
• Montana Code Annotated Title 37, Chapter 33 — Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-28
• Montana Code Annotated 37-33-403 — Definitions · accessed 2026-07-29
• Montana Code Annotated 37-33-406 — Massage Therapy Businesses · accessed 2026-07-29
• Administrative Rules of Montana Chapter 24.155 — Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-29
• Montana Board — Massage Therapy Continuing Education · accessed 2026-07-29

Future verified changes will be listed from this Git-backed record.