Minimum education
500 hours
Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
6 sections published
Arkansas State Guide
Massage Therapy in Arkansas
Explore Arkansas massage licensing requirements, insurance considerations, continuing education, workforce data, and official resources, with links to official sources.
Statewide requirements and local rules are identified separately. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
- Regulator
- Arkansas Department of Health, Massage Therapy Section
- Verified
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist
- Verified
AR · main-state atlas plateArkansas
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
State licensure and establishment registration do not displace generally applicable local zoning, business, health, or safety requirements.
Renewal
Active and inactive licenses renew every two years and expire on the licensee's birthday.
Renewal cadence only; deadlines, fees, and mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Continuing education
18 hours
Eighteen hours are earned within the two-year renewal period.
Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Details worth confirming
1 reviewed licensing detail should be confirmed before applying or renewing in Arkansas. Each is summarised from the licensing record, which keeps the full caution and its official context.
Review needed
Arkansas application forms show different fee components
A current lapsed-license form itemizes application, license, law-exam, and background charges, while an older training-certificate form shows only the license and law-exam amount. Confirm the current first-time total with the Arkansas Department of Health before applying.
Detail worth confirming · Application
Entry
Bounded
Examination — MBLEx or named legacy national examination; Arkansas Massage Therapy Law examination
Examination acceptance depends on the reviewed pathway.
Verified
Background check — New licensees, school or apprenticeship enrollees, new school owners, and specified upgrade applicants undergo state and federal criminal-history checks that include fingerprints.
From the licensing record
Renewal and continuing education
Verified
Documentation — The licensee submits CE documentation with renewal and retains records for three years; the Department audits a sample of active renewals.
From the licensing record
Coming from another state
Verified
Endorsement or reciprocity — An applicant holding a substantially similar out-of-state license in good standing may seek reciprocity; the rule compares education and examination and requires the Arkansas law exam and supporting evidence.
From the licensing record
Scope, title and advertising
Verified
Scope of practice — Arkansas law and 17 CAR part 52 define regulated massage therapy and exclude named invasive, depilatory, and other procedures.
From the licensing record
Verified
Protected titles — A current state license is required for compensated massage practice and protected massage-therapy credentials.
From the licensing record
Local rules
Verified
Local requirements — Massage establishments must satisfy state registration and inspection rules while remaining subject to applicable local business, zoning, health, and safety law.
From the licensing record
02 · Education
Massage education in Arkansas
Bounded
Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.
See the Arkansas school records and official lists →No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that Arkansas has no massage programs.
Legal entry requirement
500 hours
VerifiedStatewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
Review the detailed licensing pathway →Official starting point
Arkansas massage-school approval and oversight authority
17 CAR § 52-118 sets the Department of Health's approval, inspection, curriculum and operating requirements for massage schools. The Department's schools and examinations page links its current list of massage therapy schools and apprenticeship programs, dated August 19, 2026.
Open official resource ↗Before enrolling
School approval is not the same as massage licensure, accreditation, or a guarantee of outcomes.
03 · Insurance
Insurance considerations
Bounded
No statewide practitioner professional-liability mandate was identified. The rule requires liability insurance for students before clinical massage.
Limits of this finding
The reviewed sources do not support a universal legal conclusion. General information only—not legal, financial, or coverage advice.
Professional risk context
Separate the legal finding from prudent professional risk management; verify covered modalities, exclusions, defense costs, limits, and policy dates.
Premises, property, employment, cyber, vehicle, and other business exposures are distinct from professional liability and require policy-specific review.
- Do not infer a legal insurance mandate from common professional practice.
- Recheck the linked licensing record and the intended practice address.
- 17 CAR part 52 — Rules for Massage Therapy in Arkansas Accessed October 5, 2026
- 17 CAR Part 52, Rules for Massage Therapy in Arkansas — section text (Code of Arkansas Rules) Accessed October 5, 2026
Questions for an insurer
- Does the policy satisfy any state or local requirement that applies to this practice?
- Which modalities, locations, entities, and workers are covered?
- Are defense costs inside or outside the stated limits?
04 · Continuing education
Legal orientation and official starting points
Bounded
Legal CE orientation
18 hours
Eighteen hours are earned within the two-year renewal period.
VerifiedCompact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Use official starting points to explore continuing-education resources in Arkansas. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Arkansas's CE and renewal page.
See detailed Arkansas renewal and CE requirements →Compare Arkansas CE and renewal with other states →Official CE starting points
Bounded05 · Workforce
Arkansas workforce outlook
Bounded
BLS May 2025 OEWS estimates 430 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Arkansas; this is not a license count or practitioner census.
Employment
Bounded430
Estimated wage-and-salary jobs
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in Arkansas in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS public data API.
- Limitation
- OEWS estimates wage-and-salary jobs, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a license count or practitioner census.
- Comparability
- Compare only with the same occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 OEWS vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 15.6 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed October 5, 2026
Compensation
Bounded$19.23/hr
Median hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapist jobs in Arkansas in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS public data API.
- Limitation
- OEWS estimates wage-and-salary jobs, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a license count or practitioner census.
- Comparability
- Compare only with the same occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 OEWS vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 9.7 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed October 5, 2026
$39,990
Median annual wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median annual wage for massage therapist jobs in Arkansas in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS public data API.
- Limitation
- OEWS estimates wage-and-salary jobs, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a license count or practitioner census.
- Comparability
- Compare only with the same occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 OEWS vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 9.7 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed October 5, 2026
Growth and openings
Bounded560
Projection base employment
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- Reported 2024 base employment in the state long-term projection.
- Method
- State-submitted long-term occupation projection distributed through the Projections Managing Partnership system sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Limitation
- Projection employment coverage differs from OEWS. Published endpoints are rounded, so the reported numeric and percentage changes must not be recomputed from rounded endpoint values.
- Comparability
- Compare only within the same state's 2024–2034 projection series and measure; do not equate projection employment with OEWS employment.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
680
Projected employment
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- Reported 2034 employment in the state long-term projection.
- Method
- State-submitted long-term occupation projection distributed through the Projections Managing Partnership system sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Limitation
- Projection employment coverage differs from OEWS. Published endpoints are rounded, so the reported numeric and percentage changes must not be recomputed from rounded endpoint values.
- Comparability
- Compare only within the same state's 2024–2034 projection series and measure; do not equate projection employment with OEWS employment.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
110
Projected numeric change
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- State-reported numeric employment change across the 2024–2034 projection period.
- Method
- State-submitted long-term occupation projection distributed through the Projections Managing Partnership system sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Limitation
- Projection employment coverage differs from OEWS. Published endpoints are rounded, so the reported numeric and percentage changes must not be recomputed from rounded endpoint values.
- Comparability
- Compare only within the same state's 2024–2034 projection series and measure; do not equate projection employment with OEWS employment.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
20.2%
Projected percentage change
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- State-reported percentage employment change across the 2024–2034 projection period.
- Method
- State-submitted long-term occupation projection distributed through the Projections Managing Partnership system sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Limitation
- Projection employment coverage differs from OEWS. Published endpoints are rounded, so the reported numeric and percentage changes must not be recomputed from rounded endpoint values.
- Comparability
- Compare only within the same state's 2024–2034 projection series and measure; do not equate projection employment with OEWS employment.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
90
Projected annual openings
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- State-reported average annual openings, including growth, exits, and occupational transfers.
- Method
- State-submitted long-term occupation projection distributed through the Projections Managing Partnership system sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Limitation
- Projection employment coverage differs from OEWS. Published endpoints are rounded, so the reported numeric and percentage changes must not be recomputed from rounded endpoint values.
- Comparability
- Compare only within the same state's 2024–2034 projection series and measure; do not equate projection employment with OEWS employment.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
Population universe
OEWS measures wage-and-salary jobs. Projections Central distributes state long-term occupational projections; its base and projected employment universe is not assumed to match OEWS.
Self-employment
BLS OEWS excludes self-employed workers, which is material in massage therapy.
Workforce source set
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed October 5, 2026
- Projections Central — 2024–2034 Long-Term Occupational Projections Accessed October 5, 2026
06 · Resources
Official resources
BoundedEvery route leaves MassageData.
A selected official starting set, not a complete source ledger.
07 · Method
How this guide is made
Every field on this page carries a knowledge state, and every state is written as a word before it is drawn as a colour.
- Verified
- We checked the cited source on the stated date and the requirement exists as published. The date is the claim: it says when we looked, not that the rule is permanent.
- Bounded
- We know part of the answer and can say exactly where our knowledge stops. The boundary is stated in words and the fuller source is linked. A bounded finding is the edge of what we know, never an error.
- Review needed
- Published sources disagree, or a source carries superseded wording. Both readings are cited with their retrieval dates and neither is shown as fact until the current rule is confirmed. Review needed never means hidden; it means honestly uncertain.
What this guide does not determine
Local business, zoning, facility, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.
Sources and reviewBounded
This guide projects 18 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed October 5, 2026.