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United States Licensing Atlas

Indiana Massage Therapy Licensing Requirements

Indiana licenses massage therapists. The current path uses at least 625 education hours, an accepted examination, criminal background review, and mandatory professional liability coverage.

Statewide requirements and local regulation are identified separately. This record is general information, not legal advice.

Indiana Massage Therapy Board
IN · licensing record1 MI ≈ 1.4 PX
Albers equal-area · 86.4°W · SP 38.4/41.1°N · footprint 273 px · MASS-limitedFull Indiana plate on the state guide →

Overview

State massage therapist license required

Last verified 2026-10-06

No statewide establishment credential was identified; local business, zoning, and facility requirements were not researched.

Regulatory authority

Indiana Massage Therapy Board

Local business, facility, zoning, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.

Entry requirements

Education, examination, and application

Credential
Licensed Massage Therapist
Credential requirement
Indiana requires a state license for regulated massage practice, subject to statutory exemptions.
Minimum education
625 hours
Approved education
The standard pathway requires at least 625 hours of qualifying massage-therapy education.
Examination
PLA accepts results sent directly from the MBLEx, NCETM, NCBTMB, or the National Board Certification Agency's National Certification Examination (NBCA NCE).
MBLEx relationship
MBLEx is one accepted examination option; PLA also accepts the NCETM, NCBTMB and NBCA NCE examinations.
Application
Submit the PLA online application with the $100 fee, official transcript showing 625 hours (with a credentials evaluation for foreign graduates), examination results sent by the testing body, verifications of other health licenses, criminal-history disclosures with court documents, and proof of professional liability insurance. An application not completed within one year is abandoned.
Application fees
PLA lists a $100 application fee.
Background check or fingerprinting
A criminal background check is required; the reviewed page did not establish a universal fingerprint statement.
Reciprocity or endorsement
Applicants credentialed elsewhere are evaluated under Indiana statute, rule, and PLA instructions rather than automatic reciprocity.
Additional requirements
Maintain professional liability insurance of at least $2,000,000 per claim and $6,000,000 aggregate and satisfy current PLA documentation requirements.

Renewal

Renewal and continuing education

Cycle
Licenses renew every four years.
Continuing education
24 hrs
Renewal fee
PLA lists a $150 renewal fee. For a license expired three years or more, the current licensing page and official reinstatement form both state a $250 reinstatement total; the current fee schedule supports the $100 application plus $150 renewal components even though the page transposes those labels. Elapsed time changes continuing-education and documentation requirements, not the published $250 fee total.
Required topics
At least 2 hours must address ethics.

Practice information

Scope, titles, and local requirements

Scope of practice
Indiana defines massage therapy as a health service involving external manipulation or pressure of soft tissue by specified manual methods.
Protected titles
A state license is required to practice or use protected massage-therapist representations, subject to statutory exemptions.
Restrictions
Scope excludes diagnosis, prescription, and high-velocity or Grade V spinal or joint manipulation; acts reserved to another profession remain outside the license.
Municipal or local requirements
No separate statewide massage-establishment license was identified in the reviewed PLA sources; local requirements remain outside this review.
Establishments and other regulated activities
No separate statewide massage-establishment credential was identified in the reviewed sources.
Practitioner notes
Confirm the reinstatement total directly with PLA because the licensing page transposes the renewal and application fee labels. The Board's fine schedule (847 IAC 1-2-8) took effect in 2025.

Authoritative sources

Official record evidence

Change history

Public record revisions

No revision to this record has been published yet. Its current review dates are in the overview above, and its official sources are listed below.