Minimum education
650 hours
Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
7 sections published
Tennessee State Guide
Massage Therapy in Tennessee
Explore Tennessee 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
- Tennessee Massage Licensure Board
- Verified
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT)
- Verified
TN · main-state atlas plateTennessee
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
Local business, zoning, and tax requirements were not researched and may apply independently.
Renewal
Licenses renew every two years.
Renewal cadence only; deadlines, fees, and mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Continuing education
24 hours
The 24-hour requirement applies to the two-year renewal cycle, with current Board proration policy for specified initial licenses.
Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Entry
Verified
Examination — Board-accepted national examination
Required examination categories from the canonical licensing record.
Verified
Background check — Initial applicants complete TBI and FBI fingerprint-based background checks; the Department lists profession code 2680.
From the licensing record
Verified
Additional requirements — Applicants satisfy current identity, disclosure, reference, education, examination, and Board documentation conditions.
From the licensing record
Renewal and continuing education
Verified
Carryover — No carryover authorization was identified in the reviewed current rule.
From the licensing record
Coming from another state
Verified
Endorsement or reciprocity — Applicants licensed in another state or country are evaluated under current Board rule and policy; the process is not represented as automatic reciprocity.
From the licensing record
Scope, title and advertising
Verified
Scope of practice — Current rule defines massage, bodywork, or somatic practice as manipulation of the body's soft tissues with the intention of positively affecting client health and well-being.
From the licensing record
Verified
Protected titles — A current Board credential is required to practice or hold out as a licensed massage therapist, subject to statutory exemptions.
From the licensing record
02 · Education
Massage education in Tennessee
Bounded
Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.
See the Tennessee school records and official lists →Selected program record
Chattanooga State Community College
The school describes a two-semester program, and a current TCAT Fall schedule was available on the access date.
Confirm current admissions, schedule, supplies, total cost, licensing disclosures, and start dates directly with Chattanooga State before enrolling.
State approval context — Chattanooga State describes the 650-clock-hour program as Board approved and designed to prepare graduates for MBLEx. This starting-point record does not guarantee individual licensure.
Appearing on a state list is not a finding that this programme satisfies that state’s licensing requirement.
- Reported program length
- 650 hours
- Location
- Chattanooga
- Format
- Campus-based
- Published tuition
- Not established in reviewed materials
- Chattanooga State Community College — Massage Therapy Accessed July 25, 2026
- Chattanooga State — TCAT Fall Schedule Accessed July 25, 2026
Verified July 25, 2026
These are selected records, not a complete school directory.
Legal entry requirement
650 hours
VerifiedStatewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
Review the detailed licensing pathway →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 — Tennessee Chapter
The official AMTA page identifies the Tennessee chapter as a professional-association connection for the state's massage community.
Massage therapists and massage-therapy students interested in AMTA membership.
Member support
- State chapter connection
- AMTA — Tennessee Chapter Accessed October 6, 2026
Verified October 6, 2026
04 · Insurance
Insurance considerations
Bounded
The reviewed Tennessee application and current Board rules did not identify a general statewide professional-liability insurance minimum for every massage therapist. This does not resolve employers, establishments, leases, schools, events, contracts, or local 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
Compare covered modalities, exclusions, defense costs, policy form, prior-acts treatment, occurrence territory, and reporting duties.
General liability addresses premises and other third-party risks that may be distinct from professional services.
- A narrow state-law finding is not a recommendation to practice uninsured.
- Confirm employer, contract, establishment, landlord, event, and local requirements independently.
- Tennessee Massage Therapist Application Accessed October 6, 2026
- Rules of the Tennessee Massage Licensure Board, Chapter 0870-01 (January 2026 compilation) Accessed October 6, 2026
Questions for an insurer
- Which modalities, populations, and locations are covered?
- Are defense costs inside or outside policy limits?
- What incident-reporting deadlines and exclusions apply?
05 · Continuing education
Legal orientation and official starting points
Bounded
Legal CE orientation
24 hours
The 24-hour requirement applies to the two-year renewal cycle, with current Board proration policy for specified initial licenses.
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 Tennessee. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Tennessee's CE and renewal page.
See detailed Tennessee renewal and CE requirements →Compare Tennessee CE and renewal with other states →Official CE starting points
Bounded06 · Workforce
Tennessee workforce outlook
Bounded
BLS May 2025 OEWS estimated 1,230 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Tennessee, with a median hourly wage of $24.07. These are estimates, not license or practitioner counts.
Employment
Bounded1,230
Estimated wage-and-salary jobs
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in Tennessee in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS Public Data API.
- Limitation
- OEWS excludes self-employed workers and estimates wage-and-salary jobs rather than active licenses or all practitioners.
- Comparability
- Comparable only with the same OEWS occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 18.7 percent: BLS-reported relative standard error for this estimate.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
Compensation
Bounded$24.07/hr
Median hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapists in Tennessee in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS Public Data API.
- Limitation
- The estimate covers wage-and-salary employment represented in OEWS, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a guaranteed individual wage.
- Comparability
- Comparable only with the same OEWS occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
$27.57/hr
Mean hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS mean hourly wage for massage therapists in Tennessee in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS Public Data API.
- Limitation
- The estimate covers wage-and-salary employment represented in OEWS, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a guaranteed individual wage.
- Comparability
- Comparable only with the same OEWS occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 5.1 percent: BLS-reported relative standard error for this estimate.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
$57,350
Annual mean wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS annual mean wage for massage therapists in Tennessee in May 2025.
- Method
- BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimate for SOC 31-9011, Massage Therapists, retrieved from the official BLS Public Data API.
- Limitation
- The estimate covers wage-and-salary employment represented in OEWS, excludes self-employed workers, and is not a guaranteed individual wage.
- Comparability
- Comparable only with the same OEWS occupation, measure, geography level, and May 2025 vintage.
- Observed or accessed
- October 5, 2026
- Uncertainty
- 5.1 percent: BLS-reported relative standard error for this estimate.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
Population universe
OEWS measures wage-and-salary jobs by occupation through an employer survey.
Self-employment
OEWS excludes self-employed workers, which is material in massage therapy; national self-employment context must not be presented as a state-specific percentage.
Workforce source set
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Public Data API — May 2025 OEWS State Series Accessed October 5, 2026
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 13 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed October 6, 2026.