Minimum education
625 hours
Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
6 sections published
Delaware State Guide
Massage Therapy in Delaware
Explore Delaware 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
- Delaware Board of Massage and Bodywork
- Verified
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist
- Verified
DE · main-state atlas plateDelaware
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
State credentials do not replace generally applicable local business, zoning, premises, health, or safety requirements.
Renewal
Massage therapist licenses renew biennially and expire August 31 of even-numbered years.
Renewal cadence only; deadlines, fees, and mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Continuing education
24 hours
The 24 hours are earned between September 1 and August 31 of even-numbered years.
Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Details worth confirming
2 reviewed licensing details should be confirmed before applying or renewing in Delaware. Each is summarised from the licensing record, which keeps the full caution and its official context.
Review needed
Delaware's active rule and Board page use different exam wording
The active rule requires MBLEx for the current licensed massage therapist pathway, while an older Board-page sentence still refers to NCBTMB documentation. Follow the active rule and confirm current instructions in DELPROS.
Detail worth confirming · Examination
Bounded
Confirm Delaware's live renewal amount in DELPROS
Delaware publishes the renewal charge inside the licensee portal rather than on the public fee page. Confirm the amount shown in DELPROS; late renewal adds 50 percent of the renewal fee.
Detail worth confirming · Renewal
Entry
Review needed
Examination — MBLEx; Legacy certification evidence
Reviewed official sources conflict or include superseded wording; confirm the current detail in the licensing record.
Verified
Background check — Licensed massage therapist applicants complete state and federal criminal-history screening through the Division's approved fingerprinting process.
From the licensing record
Renewal and continuing education
Verified
Required subjects — The 24 hours include 3 hours of ethics (classroom or online), 9 hours of core credits in a classroom, hands-on setting, and 12 hours of elective or core credits that may be taken online (Rule 9.4).
From the licensing record
Scope, title and advertising
Verified
Protected titles — The licensed massage therapist title and regulated practice require a current Delaware credential.
From the licensing record
Local rules
Verified
Local requirements — State licensure and establishment licensing coexist with generally applicable local business, zoning, premises, health, and safety rules.
From the licensing record
02 · Education
Massage education in Delaware
Bounded
Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.
See the Delaware school records and official lists →No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that Delaware has no massage programs.
Legal entry requirement
625 hours
VerifiedStatewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
Review the detailed licensing pathway →Official starting point
Delaware approved private business and trade schools
The Department of Education approves private business and trade schools operating in Delaware and publishes a searchable list of approved schools and programs. Board rules require a massage school or program to be approved by the Department or, out of state, its equivalent. Approval does not by itself confirm a program's current hours.
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 insurance mandate was identified in Delaware Code chapter 53, the active Board rule, or the current application requirements.
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.
- Delaware Code Title 24, Chapter 53 — Massage and Bodywork Accessed October 6, 2026
- 24 DE Admin. Code 5300 — Board of Massage and Bodywork Accessed October 6, 2026
- Delaware Board — Licensed Massage Therapist Application Requirements Accessed October 6, 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
24 hours
The 24 hours are earned between September 1 and August 31 of even-numbered years.
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 Delaware. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Delaware's CE and renewal page.
See detailed Delaware renewal and CE requirements →Compare Delaware CE and renewal with other states →Official CE starting points
Bounded05 · Workforce
Delaware workforce outlook
Bounded
BLS May 2025 OEWS estimates 230 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Delaware; this is not a license count or practitioner census.
Employment
Bounded230
Estimated wage-and-salary jobs
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in Delaware 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 6, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 26 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 6, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed July 29, 2026
Compensation
Bounded$28.30/hr
Median hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapist jobs in Delaware 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 6, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 5.9 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 6, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed July 29, 2026
$58,870
Median annual wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median annual wage for massage therapist jobs in Delaware 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 6, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 5.9 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 6, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed July 29, 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 6, 2026
- BLS OEWS May 2025 Methodology Accessed July 29, 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 reviewReview needed
This guide projects 11 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed October 6, 2026.