Minimum education
500 hours
Statewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
7 sections published
Virginia State Guide
Massage Therapy in Virginia
Explore Virginia massage licensing requirements, 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
- Virginia Board of Nursing
- Verified
- Credential
- Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT)
- Verified
VA · main-state atlas plateVirginia
Locator · same geometry as the atlas
This record does not determine city or county business, zoning, tax, or establishment requirements.
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 alternative is measured over the two-year renewal period, subject to the first-renewal exemption.
Compact legal CE orientation only; subjects, documentation, and renewal mechanics are in the state's CE and renewal requirements.
Entry
Verified
Examination — FSMTB-approved examination
Required examination categories from the canonical licensing record.
Verified
Background check — Initial applicants complete fingerprint-based state and federal criminal background checks.
From the licensing record
Verified
Additional requirements — Applicants must be at least 18 and satisfy the Board's current disclosure and documentation requirements.
From the licensing record
Renewal and continuing education
Verified
Required subjects — At least 1 hour addresses professional ethics; at least 12 hours come from listed formal providers, and no more than 12 hours come from listed alternative activities.
From the licensing record
Verified
Carryover — No carryover authorization was identified in the reviewed current rule.
From the licensing record
Scope, title and advertising
Verified
Scope of practice — Virginia defines massage therapy as treatment of soft tissues for therapeutic purposes through massage and related manual methods.
From the licensing record
Verified
Protected titles — The massage therapist license and LMT title are governed by the Nurse Practice Act and Board rules.
From the licensing record
Local rules
Verified
Local requirements — No statewide massage-establishment license was established in this review; local business and facility requirements were not researched.
From the licensing record
02 · Education
Massage education in Virginia
Bounded
Legal education requirements, official starting points, and selected MassageData program records are distinct.
See the Virginia school records and official lists →No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that Virginia has no massage programs.
Legal entry requirement
500 hours
VerifiedStatewide entry-education orientation; pathway details remain in the licensing record.
Review the detailed licensing pathway →Official starting point
SCHEV Massage Therapy Program Guidance
Official Virginia guidance for postsecondary massage-therapy program oversight. This is an oversight starting point, not a verified directory or an endorsement of any individual program.
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 — Virginia Chapter
The official AMTA page identifies the Virginia 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 — Virginia Chapter Accessed July 25, 2026
Verified July 25, 2026
04 · Insurance
Insurance considerations
Bounded
The reviewed Virginia licensing statute and Board rule 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.
- Code of Virginia — Massage Therapists Accessed July 25, 2026
- 18VAC90-50 — Massage Therapist Rules Accessed July 25, 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 alternative is measured over the two-year renewal period, subject to the first-renewal exemption.
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 Virginia. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements are on Virginia's CE and renewal page.
See detailed Virginia renewal and CE requirements →Compare Virginia CE and renewal with other states →Official CE starting points
Bounded06 · Workforce
Virginia workforce outlook
Bounded
BLS May 2025 OEWS estimated 2,730 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in Virginia, with a median hourly wage of $29.91. These are estimates, not license or practitioner counts.
Employment
Bounded2,730
Estimated wage-and-salary jobs
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in Virginia 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
- 15.2 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$29.91/hr
Median hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapists in Virginia 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
$34.85/hr
Mean hourly wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS mean hourly wage for massage therapists in Virginia 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
- 4.7 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
$72,490
Annual mean wage
Definition, limits, and sources
- Definition
- BLS OEWS annual mean wage for massage therapists in Virginia 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
- 4.7 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
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.
- licensingVirginia Board of Nursing — Massage Therapist LicensingOfficial Virginia entry point for massage therapist application, endorsement, background-check, fee, and Board-resource information.
- educationSCHEV Massage Therapy Program GuidanceOfficial Virginia guidance for postsecondary massage-therapy program oversight. This is an oversight starting point, not a verified directory or an endorsement of any individual program.
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 15 distinct official or first-party source links from the governed records. Reviewed July 25, 2026.