Families / Care

Massage Therapist

Treats soft tissue with hands under licence, often self-employed. Income scales only until the hands run out.

Pay band (est.)
$45k–$80k
Time to competence
2 years
Licence
Required
Setting
clinic
Leverage
low
Place constraint
low
Physical demand
72/100
Hours burden
50/100

Factor percentiles

Percentile against the whole curated set. Higher is better on that factor only.

  • Play39th

    Absorbing rather than merely paid.

  • Specific knowledge16th

    A combination of skills that is hard to copy.

  • Leverage14th

    Output that scales through code, media, capital or crew.

  • Demand61th

    Durability and shortage, scored conservatively.

  • Pay21th

    Mid-career floor and the range above it.

  • Body32th

    Inverse of physical demand and hours.

  • Autonomy13th

    Control of methods and time.

  • People fit24th

    Distance from your preferred people level.

  • Place flexibility43th

    Remote fit and freedom from specific metros.

  • Time to skill98th

    Inverse of years to competence.

  • Meaning load86th

    Care, craft and stewardship weight. Not a moral score.

  • Downside tolerance54th

    Inverse of named risk to body, market or platform.

Downside

Hands and shoulders wear out; hard ceiling on billable hours.

Examine this against your weights

The percentiles above use the default weights. Set your own on the ranking and this vocation moves with them.

Source note: BLS-style outlook; estimate. All figures are estimates for comparison.