Washington massage licensing record

This record covers Washington's statewide practitioner credential. A city, code city, or county may require a license to operate a massage business, but state law limits the fee and bars additional therapist-licensing requirements not imposed on similar health care providers. Separate general business or tax obligations are not determined here.

• 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 (LMT)

Minimum education

625 hours

Approved education

The standard pathway requires at least 625 hours completed in no fewer than 24 weeks through a Board-approved massage school, program, transfer program, or apprenticeship. The current curriculum allocates 90 hours to anatomy and physiology, 60 to kinesiology, 70 to pathology, 260 to massage theory and practice, 50 to student clinic, 55 to clinical and business practices, and 40 to professional ethics. A transition rule applies to students enrolled before September 1, 2021.

Examination

Applicants must pass the Washington massage jurisprudence examination and one of the examinations accepted by rule: the FSMTB Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx), the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, or another Board-approved examination. Direct score verification is required.

MBLEx relationship

The MBLEx is one examination expressly accepted by Washington rule; it is not the only examination category stated in the rule. The separate Washington massage jurisprudence examination is also required for the standard application pathway.

Application

Apply online or by paper, arrange for the approved program to send education records directly to the Department, arrange direct national-examination verification, complete the Washington massage jurisprudence examination, submit verification from every jurisdiction where a health credential was held or sought, provide current first-aid and CPR documentation, answer personal-data questions, and respond to any Department request for additional review materials.

Application fees

The current application and initial-license fee is $226, including the $16 HEALWA assessment. Fees are nonrefundable. Applicants should confirm the fee schedule immediately before submitting because the Department may revise it by rule.

Background check or fingerprinting

The Department processes a background check for every applicant. It may require a Washington State Patrol and FBI fingerprint-based check after reviewing the application; applicants contacted for fingerprints are responsible for completing the required steps.

Reciprocity or endorsement

An applicant with an active license in good standing may qualify by endorsement when the other jurisdiction's education and training are substantially equivalent. Current rules recognize either a 625-hour approved course or a 500-hour approved course plus at least two years of experience and 24 hours of recent continuing education. An applicant with a practice gap of three or more years must document 24 hours of hands-on continuing education within the two years before applying. Educational endorsement through a Board-approved transfer program is a separate option.

Additional requirements

Applicants must be at least 18 and submit proof of current first-aid and CPR certification for initial licensure. CPR training for initial licensure must include an in-person skills component; a hybrid course may qualify. Applicants must disclose other credentials and specified personal-history information for Department review.

Cycle

Massage therapist licenses renew annually.

Deadline model

The credential expires on the licensee's birthday and may be renewed within 90 days before expiration. Renewal is required on or before the expiration date even if a courtesy notice is not received.

Fees

The current annual renewal fee is $166, including the $16 HEALWA assessment. The listed late-renewal penalty is $75, and expired-license reissuance is $50 in addition to other applicable fees.

Continuing education

Licensees complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years while renewing the credential annually. The Department states that the full rule requirements again apply after expiration of the temporary COVID-era hands-on waiver.

Required subjects

Within each two-year CE reporting period, at least 8 of the 24 hours must be in-person, directly supervised hands-on massage; at least 4 hours must cover ethics, client or patient communication, professional roles and boundaries, or Washington massage laws and rules; and at least 2 hours must cover health equity. Current CPR certification must be maintained and may account for no more than 4 hours per reporting period.

Documentation

Licensees attest to compliance at renewal and must retain acceptable documentation for possible audit. WAC 246-830-475 specifies the required evidence elements, including participant and course details, delivery mode, instructor or sponsor information, hours, and authenticated completion; this summary is not a substitute for the complete rule.

Carryover

No provision authorizing continuing-education-hour carryover was identified in the reviewed current rules.

Late renewal

A credential not renewed by its expiration date becomes expired and incurs the listed $75 late-renewal penalty. Practicing with an expired credential is not authorized; reissuance rules and fees depend on how long the credential has been expired.

Inactive license

Washington permits an inactive credential. An inactive license does not authorize active practice; renewal and reactivation requirements, including any continuing education due, are governed by the Department's general credential rules and the massage rules.

Scope of practice

Washington defines massage as a health care service involving external manipulation or pressure of soft tissue for therapeutic purposes, including listed manual techniques and specified superficial aids. The definition excludes diagnosis, thrust-based adjustment or manipulation of body or spinal articulations, and genital manipulation.

Protected titles

A person may not practice massage or use protected massage descriptions without the required credential unless an exemption applies. Only a licensee may use 'licensed massage therapist' or 'L.M.T.'; advertisements must conspicuously include the therapist's name and license number, and the credential must be displayed or available for inspection as the statute directs.

Restrictions

Massage practice does not include diagnosis, thrust manipulation of joints or the spine, or genital manipulation. Intraoral massage requires an additional endorsement, and animal massage is separately regulated. Practitioners should review the statutory exemptions rather than assume an activity or setting is exempt.

Municipal or local requirements

A state-licensed therapist seeking a city, town, code-city, or county license to operate a massage business must provide state-license verification. The local fee may not exceed the fee imposed on similar health care providers, and the therapist may not face additional licensing requirements not imposed on those providers. General nondiscriminatory business fees and gross-business taxes may still apply. This record does not determine any locality's current rules.

Practitioner notes

Statutory exemptions include massage for immediate family, other licensed professions acting within their authorized scope, specified athletic-department settings, supervised and uncompensated students in approved programs, and approved somatic-education practitioners under the statute's definitions and conditions. Confirm current Department pages and rules before acting. Special pathways and additional requirements apply to endorsement, transfer education, apprenticeships, inactive or expired credentials, military families, intraoral massage, animal massage, and certified reflexology.

• Washington Department of Health — Massage Therapist Licensing Information · accessed 2026-07-11
• Washington Department of Health — Massage Therapist Licensing Requirements · accessed 2026-07-11
• Washington Department of Health — Massage Therapist Continuing Education · accessed 2026-07-11
• Washington Department of Health — Massage Therapist Frequently Asked Questions · accessed 2026-07-11
• Revised Code of Washington Chapter 18.108 — Massage Therapists · accessed 2026-07-11
• Washington Administrative Code Chapter 246-830 — Massage Therapists · accessed 2026-07-11
• Washington Department of Health — Massage Therapist Rules in Progress · accessed 2026-07-11
• RCW 35.21.692 — City and Town Authority to Regulate Massage Therapists · accessed 2026-07-11
• RCW 35A.82.025 — Code City Authority to Regulate Massage Therapists · accessed 2026-07-11
• RCW 36.32.122 — County Massage-Business Licensing · accessed 2026-07-11

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