Massage therapists rate their happiness above average.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, massage therapists rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 35% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy massage therapists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Midwife | 3.7 | $64k |
| Personal trainer | 3.5 | $30k |
| Health educator | 3.5 | $40k |
| Naturopathic physician | 3.5 | $74k |
| Recreation worker | 3.4 | $13k |
| Massage therapist | 3.4 | $31k |
| Recreational therapist | 3.4 | $46k |
| Exercise physiologist | 3.3 | $57k |
| Kinesiologist | 3.3 | $31k |
| Esthetician | 3.3 | $21k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are massage therapists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do massage therapists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as massage therapists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are massage therapist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are massage therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Are massage therapists happy with their salary?
Massage therapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most massage therapists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked massage therapists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
1590 massage therapists
14% of massage therapists rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of massage therapists rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of massage therapists rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of massage therapists rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of massage therapists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do massage therapists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, massage therapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, massage therapists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become massage therapists.
We asked massage therapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
1601 massage therapists
26% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
28% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
12% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
8% of massage therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as massage therapists?
Massage therapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of massage therapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked massage therapists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
1756 massage therapists
47% of massage therapists rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of massage therapists rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of massage therapists rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of massage therapists rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of massage therapists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a massage therapist’s work environment?
As a whole, massage therapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of massage therapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a massage therapist.
We asked massage therapists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1754 massage therapists
34% of massage therapists rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of massage therapists rated their work environment 4 stars
20% of massage therapists rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of massage therapists rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of massage therapists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are massage therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Former massage therapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.4/5. Most massage therapists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a massage therapist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked massage therapists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1751 massage therapists
26% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
16% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
9% of massage therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars