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West Virginia State Guide

Massage Therapy in West Virginia

Explore West Virginia 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

2 reviewed licensing details should be confirmed before applying or renewing in West Virginia. The licensing record preserves the detailed caution and official context.

  • ExaminationReview needed
  • RenewalBounded
Review West Virginia licensing details worth confirming →

West Virginia licensing

Licensing overview

Review needed

State massage therapist license required

State credentials do not replace applicable state, municipal, or local business licenses, zoning, health, or safety rules.

View the full West Virginia 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
West Virginia Massage Therapy Licensure Board
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
625 hours
Verified

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

Examination
MBLEx or Board-approved examination
Review needed

Reviewed official sources conflict or include superseded wording; confirm the current detail in the licensing record.

Renewal
A practitioner license expires two years from the end of the month in which it was issued.
Bounded

The reviewed finding is bounded; confirm the current detail in the licensing record.

Continuing education
24 hours · Twenty-four CE units are completed within the preceding two-year licensing period.
Verified

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

Education

Massage education in West Virginia

Bounded

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

Legal entry requirement

625 hours

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

Official education starting points

Bounded
educationWest Virginia massage-education approval authority

West Virginia Code assigns qualifying program approval to the Council for Community and Technical College Education, Department of Education, Board, or equivalent public authority. No current public massage-program roster was located in this pass.

Selected MassageData program records

Bounded

No individual program record cleared this review. That is not evidence that West Virginia 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 article 30-37 or active 194 CSR 1 and 194 CSR 4.

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 CE units are completed within the preceding 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 West Virginia. Legal renewal and continuing-education requirements remain in the licensing record.

See detailed West Virginia renewal and CE requirements →

Official CE starting points

Bounded
State of West Virginia — Massage Therapy Licensure BoardOpen official resource ↗

Workforce data

West Virginia workforce outlook

Bounded

BLS May 2025 OEWS estimates 250 wage-and-salary massage therapist jobs in West Virginia; this is not a license count or practitioner census.

Employment

Bounded
May 2025 OEWS estimate250

Estimated wage-and-salary jobs

West Virginia

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
BLS OEWS estimate of massage therapist jobs in West Virginia 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
13.3 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.

Compensation

Bounded
May 2025 OEWS estimate$22.40/hr

Median hourly wage

West Virginia

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
BLS OEWS median hourly wage for massage therapist jobs in West Virginia 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
4.6 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.
May 2025 OEWS estimate$46,600

Median annual wage

West Virginia

Definition, limits, and sources
Definition
BLS OEWS median annual wage for massage therapist jobs in West Virginia 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
4.6 percent: BLS-published relative standard error for this state occupation estimate or wage series.

Growth and openings

Bounded
2024–2034 long-term projection430

Projection base employment

West Virginia

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 projection490

Projected employment

West Virginia

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 projection60

Projected numeric change

West Virginia

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 projection15.0%

Projected percentage change

West Virginia

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

West Virginia

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

West Virginia agencies and data

Official resources

Bounded

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

educationWest Virginia massage-education approval authority

West Virginia Code assigns qualifying program approval to the Council for Community and Technical College Education, Department of Education, Board, or equivalent public authority. No current public massage-program roster was located in this pass.

Verified July 29, 2026

Sources and updates

Reviewed July 29, 2026

Verified

This guide projects 11 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 →