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Hawaii State Guide

Massage Therapy in Hawaii

Explore Hawaii massage licensing requirements, education starting points, professional organizations, 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
Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, Board of Massage Therapy
Verified
Credential
Massage Therapist (MAT)
Verified
HI · main-state atlas plateHawaii
HI
100 mi
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
Albers equal-area · 157.5°W · SP 19.5/21.7°NCanonical 1 MI ≈ 1.7 PX · footprint 135 px · FIT-limited

01 · Licensing

State massage therapist license required to perform massage for compensation

VerifiedOpen the full record →

This record covers statewide professional and establishment licensing. General county business, zoning, tax, and land-use requirements may still apply. No massage-specific delegation to local licensing or statewide preemption rule was identified in the reviewed state sources.

Verified

Minimum education

570 hours

Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.

Verified

Renewal

Massage therapist and massage establishment licenses renew every two years and expire on June 30 of each even-numbered year regardless of the original issuance date.

Renewal cadence only; deadlines, fees, and mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.

Bounded

Continuing education

12 hours

The twelve hours are earned in the two-year period preceding the renewal date. The statute sets the first affected renewal as the one for the licensing biennium commencing July 1, 2024, and the Board's guidance describes the earning period as opening July 1, 2022 and closing at the June 30, 2024 renewal. Those describe the same renewal and the same two-year window from opposite ends, so the obligation is the same under either text.

The reviewed finding is bounded; confirm the current detail in the state's CE and renewal requirements.

Details worth confirming

2 reviewed licensing details should be confirmed before applying or renewing in Hawaii. Each is summarised from the licensing record, which keeps the full caution and its official context.

Bounded

CE detail relies on interim Board guidance

Current Board guidance supplies CE detail while the posted massage rules have not yet been updated to codify the program standards.

Detail worth confirming · Continuing education

Bounded

Proposed MBLEx changes are not current law

Hawaii does not currently accept MBLEx in place of its licensing examination. Board discussion and proposed rules do not create a current alternative pathway.

Detail worth confirming · Examination

Review Hawaii licensing details worth confirming →

Entry

Verified

Examination — Hawaii Massage Licensing Examination

Required examination categories from the canonical licensing record.

02 · Education

Massage education in Hawaii

Bounded

Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.

See the Hawaii school records and official lists →
Bounded

Selected program record

Hawaii Healing Arts College

The school currently describes an intensive program of approximately seven months and a part-time program of approximately eleven months; cohort dates and schedules are subject to change.

This is a verified starting-point record, not a ranking or recommendation. Confirm current cohort availability, total cost, admissions terms, curriculum approval, and school-license status directly before enrolling.

State approval context — The Hawaii Department of Education's current private trade, vocational, and technical school list identifies Hawaii Healing Arts College in Kailua under Massage Therapy with license number 2325-1020. The directory identifies the institution, not a complete catalog of its programs, hours, cohorts, or outcomes.

Appearing on a state list is not a finding that this programme satisfies that state’s licensing requirement.

Reported program length
600 hours
Location
Kailua
Format
Campus-based
Published tuition
Not established in reviewed materials
Visit official program →

Verified October 6, 2026

These are selected records, not a complete school directory.

Bounded

Selected program record

Pacific Center for Awareness and Bodywork

The school currently describes a six-month program and identifies its next cohort as January 4 through June 25, 2027; dates remain subject to direct confirmation.

The HIDOE directory supplies only a mailing address. Confirm the current instructional location, cohort, schedule, total cost, admissions terms, curriculum approval, and school-license status directly before enrolling.

State approval context — The Hawaii Department of Education's current private trade, vocational, and technical school list identifies Pacific Center for Awareness and Bodywork in Kilauea under Massage Therapy with license number 2325-1028. The directory does not state the current instructional address or program hours.

Appearing on a state list is not a finding that this programme satisfies that state’s licensing requirement.

Reported program length
740 hours
Location
Kilauea
Format
Campus-based
Published tuition
Not established in reviewed materials
MassageData school profile →Visit official program →

Verified October 6, 2026

These are selected records, not a complete school directory.

Bounded

Selected program record

IBS School of Cosmetology and Massage

The school currently lists massage as part-time, Thursday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; dates and schedules are subject to change.

The school-reported tuition and listed fees total $9,808.50 as observed July 13, 2026. Amounts are volatile and may omit living, travel, licensing, testing, or other costs. Confirm the current catalog, cohort, schedule, all costs, admissions terms, curriculum approval, and school-license status before enrolling.

State approval context — The Hawaii Department of Education's current private trade, vocational, and technical school list identifies IBS School of Cosmetology and Massage in Kahului under Massage Therapy with license number 2527-1026. The directory identifies the institution but does not state program hours or cost.

Appearing on a state list is not a finding that this programme satisfies that state’s licensing requirement.

Reported program length
600 hours
Location
Kahului
Format
Campus-based
Published tuition
$8,500 · Massage Therapy tuition as reported by the school on July 13, 2026
MassageData school profile →Visit official program →

Verified October 6, 2026

These are selected records, not a complete school directory.

Legal entry requirement

570 hours

Verified

Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.

Review the detailed licensing pathway →

Official starting point

Hawaii licensed private trade, vocational, and technical schools

Hawaii Department of Education directory of institution-level licenses, including massage therapy schools by island, address, and license number.

Open official resource ↗

Before enrolling

School approval is not the same as massage licensure, accreditation, or a guarantee of outcomes.

03 · Organizations

Professional organizations

Bounded

These are selected governed organizations, not a comprehensive state directory.

State chapter of a national professional association

American Massage Therapy Association — Hawaii Chapter

AMTA's public chapter directory identifies Hawaii as one of its volunteer-led state chapters for member connection, education, networking, and advocacy.

Massage therapists and massage-therapy students eligible for AMTA membership.

AMTA states generally that chapter participation may include on-site continuing education; no current Hawaii-specific event inventory or automatic Hawaii CE approval is asserted here.

Member support

  • State chapter connection
  • National AMTA member resources
  • Education, networking, and volunteer opportunities
Visit the official organization →

Verified October 6, 2026

04 · Insurance

Insurance considerations

Bounded6 sources

The reviewed Hawaii massage statute, posted massage rules, current practitioner application, and Board FAQ do not state a general statewide professional-liability-insurance mandate for each individual massage therapist. This bounded finding does not resolve employers, contracts, health-plan participation, workers' compensation, automobile claims, establishments, out-call services, landlords, venues, local rules, or other business obligations.

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

Professional liability coverage generally addresses claims arising from professional services. Compare covered modalities, defense costs, exclusions, occurrence versus claims-made terms, consent-to-settle provisions, and prior-acts treatment.

General liability commonly addresses third-party injury or property-damage risks outside the professional service itself; confirm whether it is included, separate, or subject to premises and mobile-practice limitations.

  • Hawaii requires individual practitioner licensing and separately regulates massage establishments, principal massage therapists, out-call services, and apprentices. Insurance cannot substitute for any required credential.
  • The reviewed state sources do not resolve county, lease, employer, payer, venue, or contract-specific coverage requirements.
  • Use the Hawaii Insurance Division for consumer information and current insurer or producer verification rather than treating an association benefit as a state-approved product.

Questions for an insurer

  • Which massage modalities, islands, mobile settings, establishments, and out-call services are covered or excluded?
  • Are defense costs inside or outside the policy limit?
  • Are employees, contractors, apprentices, students, products, premises, prior acts, and business entities covered?
  • What incident-reporting, consent, documentation, and renewal deadlines apply?
  • Is the insurer and producer authorized in Hawaii, and how can that status be verified with the Insurance Division?

05 · Continuing education

Legal orientation and official starting points

Bounded

Legal CE orientation

12 hours

The twelve hours are earned in the two-year period preceding the renewal date. The statute sets the first affected renewal as the one for the licensing biennium commencing July 1, 2024, and the Board's guidance describes the earning period as opening July 1, 2022 and closing at the June 30, 2024 renewal. Those describe the same renewal and the same two-year window from opposite ends, so the obligation is the same under either text.

Bounded

The reviewed finding is bounded; confirm the current detail in the state's CE and renewal requirements.

Use official starting points to explore continuing-education resources in Hawaii. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Hawaii's CE and renewal page.

See detailed Hawaii renewal and CE requirements →Compare Hawaii CE and renewal with other states →

06 · Workforce

Hawaii workforce outlook

Bounded

May 2025 federal OEWS data estimate 1,330 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Hawaii, with a median wage of $39.08 per hour or $81,280 annually. O*NET's Hawaii local-trends view separately reports Projections Central's 2024–2034 projection: a 2024 base of 2,460, 2,860 in 2034, 16 percent growth, and 370 average annual openings. The current-estimate and projection levels are kept separate because their coverage is not established as directly comparable.

Employment

Bounded

1,330

BLS estimated wage-and-salary jobs

Hawaii · May 2025

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Estimated number of Hawaii wage-and-salary jobs classified as Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in the May 2025 OEWS state series.
Method
Reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program for Hawaii and SOC 31-9011.
Limitation
OEWS measures wage-and-salary jobs and excludes self-employed workers. The value is not a license count, practitioner census, establishment count, business count, or unique-person count.
Comparability
Suitable for comparison with the same May 2025 OEWS occupation and geography level, subject to sampling error and BLS publication limitations; not directly comparable to the O*NET projection level in this record.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026
Uncertainty
10.4 percent: BLS reports a 10.4 percent relative standard error for the May 2025 Hawaii employment estimate.

Compensation

Bounded

$39.08/hr

BLS median hourly wage

Hawaii · May 2025

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Median hourly wage for Hawaii wage-and-salary jobs classified as Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in May 2025 OEWS.
Method
Reported by BLS OEWS as the median hourly wage for the state-and-occupation series.
Limitation
A statewide survey estimate does not describe every island, county, work setting, schedule, employee, or self-employed practitioner.
Comparability
Suitable for comparison with the same May 2025 OEWS median-hourly statistic, occupation, and geography level; do not compare it as if it were a mean wage, posted rate, or self-employment income.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

$81,280

BLS median annual wage

Hawaii · May 2025

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Median annual wage for Hawaii wage-and-salary jobs classified as Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in May 2025 OEWS.
Method
Reported by BLS OEWS using the program's annual-wage publication method for the state-and-occupation series.
Limitation
The annualized wage estimate does not imply a full-time schedule for every practitioner and excludes self-employed workers.
Comparability
Suitable for comparison with the same May 2025 OEWS median-annual statistic, occupation, and geography level; do not combine it with the hourly value or treat it as business revenue.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

$58.93/hr

BLS mean hourly wage

Hawaii · May 2025

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Mean hourly wage for Hawaii wage-and-salary jobs classified as Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in May 2025 OEWS.
Method
Reported by BLS OEWS as the mean hourly wage for the state-and-occupation series.
Limitation
The mean may be influenced by the wage distribution and is not interchangeable with the median. The estimate excludes self-employed workers.
Comparability
Suitable for comparison with the same May 2025 OEWS mean-hourly statistic, occupation, and geography level; do not rank it against medians.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026
Uncertainty
15.7 percent: BLS reports a 15.7 percent relative standard error for the mean-wage estimate; this statistic is not attached to median wage observations.

$122,580

BLS mean annual wage

Hawaii · May 2025

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Mean annual wage for Hawaii wage-and-salary jobs classified as Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in May 2025 OEWS.
Method
Reported by BLS OEWS using the program's annual-wage publication method for the state-and-occupation series.
Limitation
The mean may be influenced by the wage distribution, does not imply every worker has a full-time schedule, and excludes self-employed workers.
Comparability
Suitable for comparison with the same May 2025 OEWS mean-annual statistic, occupation, and geography level; do not treat it as a median, practitioner income, or business revenue.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026
Uncertainty
15.7 percent: BLS reports a 15.7 percent relative standard error for the mean-wage estimate; this statistic is not attached to median wage observations.

Growth and openings

Bounded

2,460

O*NET local-trends base employment

Hawaii · 2024 projection base year

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Hawaii base employment for Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in the 2024–2034 long-term projection displayed by O*NET OnLine.
Method
Reported in O*NET OnLine's Hawaii local-trends view using state long-term occupational projection data associated with Projections Central.
Limitation
The record has not established that the projection series uses the same employment coverage, benchmark, or revision method as May 2025 BLS OEWS. It is not a license or practitioner count.
Comparability
Comparable only within the same 2024–2034 projection series; do not compare the 2,460 base directly with the 1,330 May 2025 OEWS estimate or infer a decline.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

2,860

O*NET local-trends projected employment

Hawaii · 2024–2034 projection

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Hawaii projected employment for Massage Therapists, SOC 31-9011, in 2034 as displayed in O*NET OnLine's state local-trends view.
Method
Reported in O*NET OnLine's Hawaii local-trends view using state long-term occupational projection data associated with Projections Central.
Limitation
This is a model-based projection, not an observed future count. Coverage and methods have not been reconciled to OEWS or Hawaii licensing data.
Comparability
Comparable only with the 2024 base and other metrics from the same projection release; not directly comparable to current OEWS employment.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

16.0%

O*NET local-trends projected employment change

Hawaii · 2024–2034 projection

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Reported percentage change in Hawaii Massage Therapist employment from the 2024 base to the 2034 projection.
Method
Reported as 22 percent in O*NET OnLine's Hawaii local-trends projection display.
Limitation
The displayed percentage is rounded and depends on the underlying state projection methodology. It is not an observed growth rate.
Comparability
Comparable only with percentage changes built from the same projection release and methodology; not a trend derived from the BLS value in this record.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

370

O*NET local-trends average annual openings

Hawaii · Average annual openings, 2024–2034

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
Average annual openings for Hawaii Massage Therapists over the 2024–2034 projection interval, including openings associated with growth and occupational separations under the source methodology.
Method
Reported in O*NET OnLine's Hawaii local-trends projection display as average annual openings over the ten-year interval.
Limitation
Openings are not net job growth, current vacancies, unique employers, or guaranteed hires and should not be multiplied without preserving the source's annual-average definition.
Comparability
Comparable only with annual-opening estimates from the same projection framework; not comparable to the BLS current employment level or a license count.
Observed or accessed
October 6, 2026

Population universe

Federal OEWS measures wage-and-salary jobs for SOC 31-9011 and publishes current employment and wage estimates. O*NET OnLine's Hawaii local-trends view presents a separate state long-term projection series for 2024–2034. The two sources differ in period and have unresolved coverage and method differences, so their employment levels are not blended, subtracted, or treated as a continuous trend.

Self-employment

BLS OEWS excludes self-employed workers, which is a material limitation for massage therapy. The reviewed O*NET projection display does not establish a coverage definition that can be safely equated with OEWS or a self-employed-practitioner count; its level remains isolated pending methodology reconciliation.

Workforce source set

07 · Resources

Official resources

BoundedEvery route leaves MassageData.

A selected official starting set, not a complete source ledger.

08 · 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.

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 43 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed October 6, 2026.