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By admin, April 4, 2010 8:47 pm

Massage Therapy as a carrer in New York City (or surrounding areas)?

I am going to a great (and reputable) Massage Therapy Training School in Missouri. I am moving to New York City about 6 months after I finish the program, but I am going to keep taking more specialty classes up until I move. My question is, what is a salary for a Massage Therapist starting out in New York City? I’m not sure what kind of therapy specifically I will go into, but what is the most lucrative direction to go (medical massage, pre-natal, spa…)? Thanks!

Scoutin,
The other responders have given you some good information. Far more important than current salaries, is just meeting state requirements. It wont matter how much you can make if you cant get licensed.
You need to talk with the NYS office of professions in Albany about how your education meets NYS requirements. Even if you have enough total hours, if the wording on your transcripts isn’t similar to the NYS schools, your application will be denied.

I ran into this exact problem back in 1999 and Im pretty sure its still the same headache today.
You should get course outlines from all the NYS approved schools, see how they word their course descriptions to meet state requirements and then have your school match them as closely as possible.

If I remember correctly, some NY schools include acupuncture meridians as part of their kinesiology hours. And although acupuncture meridians have nothing to do with kinesiology, they list them there to fulfill state requirements.

After doing your homework, submit the paperwork to the NYS board and ask them to review it. Depending on where you fall (you’ll most likely have some deficiencies), then have your school re-modify your transcript again to adaquetely meet those NYS requirements.

If all else fails and you cant get licensed in NYS, you can always move to New Jersey and commute to manhattan, which I’d suggest anyway. Rents are way over the top in NYC, and about 1/3 as much in Jersey. Everyone commutes into NY and public transportation is great.

All that being said, tips are generally higher in NYC than the rest of the state, averaging $20-25.00. Salaries arent much different but there’s a lot more places to find work.

Most US cities have the same pay scale, anywhere between $20.00 to $45.00 /hr depending on if you’re an employee or a contractor (self employed). Contractors usually make more money but lack benefits, which can be problematic. The most important thing is finding a place that’s cool to work.
The one thing about NYC is that if you’re a “hottie”, you can make A LOT of money because everyone wants to hang with the beautiful people. But you’re also likely to get offered “incentives” for adding a little “extra” to your massages…
NYC is funny that way. In some ways, its the most progressive city in the world, in others, it’s one of the shadiest and easiest to get lost (or at least distracted) in…

That’s the 2 cents of an NYC therapist.