I have been tracking the number of massage schools over the many years and the findings are very interesting.
From the website www.massageschoolnotes.com — the number of massage schools in the USA is listed as 190 in May 1991, as 316 in January 1995, as 572 in December 1998, and as 875 in June 2002.
Number of Massage Schools by Year
1985 – 50
May 1991 – 190
Jan 1995 – 316
Dec 1998 – 572
June 2002 – 875
Nov 2004 – 1346
2006 – 1582
2009 – 1600
2011- 1400
ABMP reports are somewhat different with always saying that the number of massage schools is higher that what was reported above.
1985 – 50
May 1991 – 190
Jan 1995 – 316
Dec 1998 – 572
This ABMP metrics report says:
New Training Entities Get Into the Act
- The number of state-approved schools has increased 122.8 percent between 1998 and 2006.
- Larger schools dominate the field — one-fourth of schools account for more than 70 percent of graduates. Half the schools account for 90.5 percent of all graduates.
ABMP used to report on things like this and keep track of them in their media section on www.massagetherapy.com (link to archive.org) .
The State of Massage Schools
Today, (Jan 16, 2023) I have added 495 massage schools to the website here. I have looked through every website and I have to say that the cause of the decrease in the number of massage therapists is because the massage school websites are so dreadful and do not promote the profession. I found about 100 that were closed. I found so many really bad sites that I did not include them.
Leave a Reply