Minimum education
800 hours
Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
6 sections published
Rhode Island State Guide
Massage Therapy in Rhode Island
Explore Rhode Island 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
- Rhode Island Department of Health
- Verified
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist
- Verified
RI · main-state atlas plateRhode Island
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
Cities and towns may regulate the location and operation of massage businesses but may not impose additional background-based practitioner qualifications beyond chapter 5-95.
Renewal
Current chapter 5-95 establishes a two-year licensing cycle. The Department page identifies the July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027 renewal period.
Reviewed official sources conflict or include superseded wording; confirm the current detail in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Continuing education
24 hours
Twenty-four hours are earned within the current two-year licensing 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 Rhode Island. Each is summarised from the licensing record, which keeps the full caution and its official context.
Review needed
Rhode Island's older rule and application lag the current statute
Current law and the Department use an 800-hour entry standard, a two-year license cycle, and 24 CE hours. The active 2024 rule and September 2025 application still contain older 650-hour, annual-renewal, and six-hour language; confirm the current cycle in the Department portal.
Detail worth confirming · Renewal
Entry
Verified
Examination — MBLEx or Department-approved national examination
Required examination categories from the canonical licensing record.
Verified
Background check — Initial applicants submit to a national criminal background check supported by fingerprints.
From the licensing record
Renewal and continuing education
Verified
Required subjects — The statute permits Department-approved sponsors and online education; no recurring ethics, law, or hands-on subminimum is stated in the current chapter.
From the licensing record
Verified
Carryover — The current statute does not authorize carryover and expressly allows online education without stating a separate online-hour maximum.
From the licensing record
Verified
Documentation — Licensees retain and supply CE evidence through the Department renewal process; the Department may waive the requirement for documented hardship.
From the licensing record
Coming from another state
Verified
Endorsement or reciprocity — Chapter 5-95 permits licensure by endorsement for an out-of-state applicant whose education and practice evidence satisfy the statutory equivalency calculation and whose credentials are verified.
From the licensing record
Scope, title and advertising
Verified
Scope of practice — Chapter 5-95 defines massage therapy and establishes the licensed scope, exclusions, and exemptions.
From the licensing record
Verified
Protected titles — A current Department license is required to practice massage therapy and use the licensed title.
From the licensing record
Local rules
Verified
Local requirements — Cities and towns may regulate the location and operation of massage businesses but may not add background-based qualifications beyond the state chapter.
From the licensing record
02 · Education
Massage education in Rhode Island
Bounded
Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.
See the Rhode Island school records and official lists →No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that Rhode Island has no massage programs.
Legal entry requirement
800 hours
VerifiedStatewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
Review the detailed licensing pathway →Official starting point
Rhode Island proprietary career-school oversight
The Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner approves proprietary career schools and programs annually. An April 2026 agenda shows a massage-school initial application, but the current OPC public institution list does not yet close final approval or active-program status.
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 chapter 5-95, the current Department page, application, or active rule.
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.
- Rhode Island's massage statute and rules do not set a practitioner liability-insurance requirement.
- Employers, landlords and event organizers may set their own insurance requirements.
- Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 5-95 — Massage Therapists Accessed October 11, 2026
- Rhode Island Department of Health — Massage Therapy, updated February 20, 2026 Accessed October 11, 2026
- 216-RICR-40-05-10 — Massage Therapists, effective March 20, 2024 Accessed October 11, 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
Twenty-four hours are earned within the current two-year licensing 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 Rhode Island. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Rhode Island's CE and renewal page.
See detailed Rhode Island renewal and CE requirements →Compare Rhode Island CE and renewal with other states →Official CE starting points
Bounded05 · Workforce
Rhode Island workforce outlook
Bounded
BLS May 2025 OEWS estimates 290 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Rhode Island; this is not a license count or practitioner census.
Employment
Bounded290
Estimated wage-and-salary jobs
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in Rhode Island 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
- 39.4 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state employment estimate.
- 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$36.04/hr
Median hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapist jobs in Rhode Island 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
- 14.2 percent: BLS publishes this relative standard error for the state mean wage; it publishes none for the median.
- 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
$74,960
Median annual wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median annual wage for massage therapist jobs in Rhode Island 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
- 14.2 percent: BLS publishes this relative standard error for the state mean wage; it publishes none for the median.
- 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
Growth and openings
Bounded420
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
500
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
80
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
19.1%
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
60
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 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 14 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed October 11, 2026.