No current CAMTC examination requirement
Current statute, requirements, school policy, and FAQ support no MBLEx or other national examination requirement for CAMTC certification; older application wording must not be treated as current.
California State Guide
California massage therapy guide
Explore California massage licensing requirements, education starting points, professional organizations, insurance considerations, continuing education, workforce data, and official resources, with dated official sources and scheduled review.
Statewide requirements and local rules are identified separately. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Claim-level cautions
Check these bounded details
These cautions apply only to the named fields. They do not invalidate the rest of the independently supported California record.
Massage Therapy Act is time-limited
The current Massage Therapy Act is scheduled to repeal January 1, 2030 unless later legislation extends or replaces it.
California licensing
Voluntary statewide CAMTC certification with local practitioner and establishment regulation
California does not issue a conventional statewide massage-practice license. CAMTC, a private nonprofit administering a state function under the Massage Therapy Act, offers voluntary Certified Massage Therapist certification. State law does not require CAMTC certification to practice massage, but cities and counties may require CAMTC certification or local authorization and retain authority over uncertified practitioners, massage businesses, establishments, zoning, and related local controls.
CAMTC certification is voluntary statewide, but a city or county may require CAMTC certification or a local authorization for an uncertified practitioner and may separately regulate massage businesses and establishments.
View the full California licensing record →- Regulator
- California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC)
- Credential
- Certified Massage Therapist (CMT)
- Education
- 500 hours
- Renewal
- CAMTC certification and recertification run for two years.
Education
Massage education in California
Review three verified, campus-specific starting points alongside CAMTC's current approved-school directory and BPPE's separate school-status search. This is not a complete directory. This is a selected starting set, not a complete directory.
Massage Therapy Institute
- Program
- 500 hours
- Format
- Campus-based
- Published tuition
- Not established in reviewed materials
The school describes weekday and weekend class options and flexible entry through fundamentals, anatomy, or eligible electives; current sequence and completion timing must be confirmed directly.
Visit official program →National Holistic Institute
- Program
- 800 hours
- Format
- Campus-based
- Published tuition
- Not established in reviewed materials
Victory Career College
- Program
- 500 hours
- Format
- Campus-based
- Published tuition
- Not established in reviewed materials
Sources and review
- Victory Career College — 2025 School Catalog
- California Massage Therapy Council — Approved School Programs
Verified 2026-07-13
School approval is not the same as massage licensure, accreditation, or a guarantee of outcomes. Confirm current approval, cost, schedule, and admissions directly before enrolling.
Professional support
Professional organizations
Review verified California relevance from AMTA and ABMP without treating either organization, membership, or benefit as a professional requirement or default affiliation.
State chapter of a national professional association
American Massage Therapy Association — California Chapter
AMTA identifies California as one of its volunteer-led state chapters for member connection, education, networking, volunteering, and advocacy.
AMTA published a California-specific update describing its California chapter and national advocacy around possible future statewide licensure and the CAMTC sunset process.
Member support
- State chapter connection
- National AMTA member resources
- Education, networking, and volunteer opportunities
National professional association with California-specific government-relations coverage
Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) — California relevance
ABMP is a national professional association that maintains California-specific legislative and regulatory updates for massage and bodywork professionals; this record does not represent ABMP as a California state chapter or regulator.
ABMP publishes California-specific government-relations updates and has participated in discussions about California's certification and possible licensure models.
Member support
- California legislative-update archive
- National professional education and practice resources
- Membership-linked insurance options
Practice risk
Insurance considerations
No statewide yes-or-no conclusion is made about whether every California massage practitioner must carry liability insurance. California's mixed state-and-local model, generally applicable business rules, contracts, employers, facilities, events, and local ordinances may produce different obligations. Verify the law and agreements that apply to the specific person, business, and location.
General information only—not legal, financial, or coverage advice.
Questions for an insurer
- Which massage and bodywork modalities, locations, and business entities are covered or excluded?
- Are defense costs inside or outside the policy limit?
- Are employees, contractors, students, products, premises, mobile work, and prior acts covered?
- What incident-reporting deadlines and documentation duties apply?
- Is the insurer and producer authorized to transact the relevant coverage in California?
License renewal
Continuing education
CAMTC does not require continuing education for CMT or legacy CMP recertification, so there is no mandatory statewide CAMTC CE-provider approval model for recertification. Use US-CA for canonical renewal details.
CAMTC recertification does not require CE completion records because it has no CE-hour requirement. Certificate holders still must submit the current recertification application, update required information and disclosures, and provide supporting documentation requested by CAMTC.
See detailed California renewal and CE requirements →Official CE starting points
CAMTC certification and recertification requirementsOpen official resource ↗Employment and wages
California workforce outlook
May 2025 federal OEWS data estimate 14,600 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in California, with a median wage of $22.10 per hour or $45,970 annually. California EDD separately projects its broader massage-therapist employment series from 24,400 in 2024 to 29,500 in 2034, a 20.9 percent increase. The two levels are not directly comparable because their coverage and methods differ, including treatment of self-employment.
BLS estimated wage-and-salary jobs
BLS median hourly wage
EDD projected employment percent change, 2024–2034
Federal OEWS measures wage-and-salary jobs for SOC 31-9011 and excludes self-employed workers. California EDD's 2024–2034 projection series includes estimated self-employed, private-household, farm, and nonfarm employment under the state's projection methodology. The BLS and EDD levels are preserved as separate reported series and must not be blended or treated as a trend between 2024 and 2025.
BLS OEWS excludes self-employed workers, which is a material limitation for massage therapy. California EDD's broader projection coverage includes estimated self-employment, but that does not make the EDD level a practitioner census or directly comparable to BLS OEWS.
Workforce sources and regional projections
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — May 2025 California OEWS query for Massage Therapists
- BLS API — California Massage Therapist Employment, May 2025
- BLS API — California Massage Therapist Employment Relative Standard Error, May 2025
- BLS API — California Massage Therapist Median Hourly Wage, May 2025
- BLS API — California Massage Therapist Median Annual Wage, May 2025
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — May 2025 OEWS Survey Methods and Reliability Statement
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS Frequently Asked Questions
- California Employment Development Department — Employment Projections
- California EDD — Statewide Occupational Employment Projections 2024–2034 workbook
- California EDD — Occupational Employment Projections Methodology
| Region | Base employment | Projected employment | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| California statewide EDD projection series | 24,400 (2024) | 29,500 (2034) | 20.9% |
California agencies and data
Official resources
Go directly to CAMTC, California statutes, BPPE, EDD, BLS, and GO-Biz for current authority, education, workforce, and business information.
licensingCalifornia Massage Therapy Council Certification and Lookup
Official CAMTC starting points for current certification requirements and public certificate-status lookup. CAMTC certifies individuals under the Massage Therapy Act but does not regulate massage establishments.
licensingCalifornia Massage Therapy Act and Local-Authority StatutesOfficial California statutory text for the Massage Therapy Act and related provisions governing CAMTC certification and local authority. Use current code text rather than association summaries for legal conclusions.
educationCAMTC Approved Massage School ProgramsCAMTC's current program directory, including active approved entries and separately identified provisional, closed or expired, denied or revoked, purged, and unapproved school information. School, campus, and program entries must be normalized before any count is claimed.
educationCalifornia BPPE School SearchOfficial Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education search for approved, registered, and state-authorization-contract institutions. Use it to verify current institutional status separately from CAMTC massage-program approval.
workforceCalifornia Massage Workforce DataOfficial California EDD projection and federal BLS OEWS entry points for occupational employment and wage evidence. Source periods, coverage, self-employment treatment, and methodology differ by series.
businessCalifornia Business Permit and Regulatory AssistanceOfficial GO-Biz starting point for permit and regulatory assistance. CAMTC certification does not replace generally applicable state, city, county, establishment, zoning, tax, employer, or business requirements.
licensingCAMTC Meetings and California Change WatchOfficial CAMTC meeting agendas, board packets, minutes, audio, and video for monitoring certification and school-policy developments, paired with enacted AB 1504 and the current statutory sunset date.
Sources and updates
Reviewed July 13, 2026
Information was reviewed against the linked official and first-party sources. Next scheduled review: August 13, 2026.
Official authority and source list
- California Business and Professions Code Chapter 10.5 — Massage Therapy Act
- California Business and Professions Code section 460
- California Government Code section 51034 — Local massage-business regulation
- California Massage Therapy Council — Requirements to Certify
- California Massage Therapy Council — Fee Schedule
- California Massage Therapy Council — 2026 Application for Certification
- California Massage Therapy Council — 2026 Request for Live Scan Service
- California Massage Therapy Council — Policies and Procedures for Approval of Schools, effective January 1, 2026
- California Massage Therapy Council — Policies and Procedures for Evaluation of Out-of-State Education
- California Massage Therapy Council — Policies and Procedures for Evaluation of Out-of-Country Education
- California Massage Therapy Council — 2026 Application for Recertification
- California Massage Therapy Council — Frequently Asked Questions
- California Massage Therapy Council — Denial and Disciplinary Procedures
- California AB 1504 (2025), Chapter 197 — California Massage Therapy Council
- California Massage Therapy Council — Meetings and Board Materials
Local business, zoning, facility, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.