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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 dated official sources and scheduled review.

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

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Before you act

Details worth confirming

1 reviewed licensing detail should be confirmed before applying or renewing in Rhode Island. The licensing record preserves the detailed caution and official context.

  • RenewalReview needed
Review Rhode Island licensing details worth confirming →

Rhode Island licensing

Licensing overview

Review needed

State massage therapist license required

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.

View the full Rhode Island licensing record →
Regulatory model
State massage therapist license required
Verified

Compact statewide or local regulatory orientation; detailed legal treatment remains in the licensing record.

Regulator
Rhode Island Department of Health
Verified

Current state or local authority identified in the licensing record.

Credential
Licensed Massage Therapist
Verified

Credential title from the canonical licensing record.

Minimum education
800 hours
Verified

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

Examination
MBLEx or Department-approved national examination
Verified

Required examination categories from the canonical licensing record.

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.
Review needed

Reviewed official sources conflict or include superseded wording; confirm the current detail in the licensing record.

Continuing education
24 hours · Twenty-four hours are earned within the current two-year licensing period.
Verified

Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics remain in the licensing record.

Education

Massage education in Rhode Island

Bounded

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

Legal entry requirement

800 hours

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

Official education starting points

Bounded
educationRhode 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.

Selected MassageData program records

Bounded

No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that Rhode Island has no massage programs.

These are selected records, not a complete school directory. School approval is not the same as massage licensure, accreditation, or a guarantee of outcomes.

Practice and risk

Insurance considerations

Bounded

Legal requirement finding

No statewide practitioner professional-liability insurance mandate was identified in chapter 5-95, the current Department page, application, or active rule.

The reviewed sources do not support a universal legal conclusion. General information only—not legal, financial, or coverage advice.

Insurance sources

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.

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?

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.

Verified

Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics remain in the licensing record.

Use official starting points to explore continuing-education resources in Rhode Island. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements remain in the licensing record.

See detailed Rhode Island renewal and CE requirements →

Official CE starting points

Bounded
Rhode Island Department of Health — Massage Therapy, updated February 20, 2026Open official resource ↗

Workforce data

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

Bounded
May 2025 OEWS estimate290

Estimated wage-and-salary jobs

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
Uncertainty
39.4 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.

Compensation

Bounded
May 2025 OEWS estimate$36.04/hr

Median hourly wage

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
Uncertainty
14.2 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.
May 2025 OEWS estimate$74,960

Median annual wage

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
Uncertainty
14.2 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.

Growth and openings

Bounded
2024–2034 long-term projection420

Projection base employment

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
2024–2034 long-term projection500

Projected employment

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
2024–2034 long-term projection80

Projected numeric change

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
2024–2034 long-term projection19.1%

Projected percentage change

Rhode Island

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
July 29, 2026
2024–2034 long-term projection60

Projected annual openings

Rhode Island

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
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.

BLS OEWS excludes self-employed workers, which is material in massage therapy.

Workforce source set

Rhode Island agencies and data

Official resources

Bounded

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

educationRhode 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.

Verified July 29, 2026

Sources and updates

Reviewed July 29, 2026

Verified

This guide projects 14 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Earliest scheduled review: August 29, 2026.

Review licensing evidence and official sources →

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

Method and sources →Corrections and updates →