Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Massage Therapists?
Task-level automation exposure for Massage Therapists: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
24%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$58,450 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
98,790 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+15.3%
employment change
20,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$29,000 – $134,930
Highest medians
Alaska $134,930
Washington $87,360
Oregon $86,970
Hawaii $81,280
New Hampshire $80,360
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $29,000
Louisiana $36,480
Oklahoma $36,630
New Mexico $37,840
Arkansas $39,990
State figures come from the 31-9011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 24%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 8%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 70%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 8%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 21/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
14 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 8%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 18%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 74%
10 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#7880 · Core · 8% automatable
Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
#7879 · Core · 8% automatable
Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
#7878 · Core · 30% automatable
Confer with clients about their medical histories and problems with stress or pain to determine how massage will be most helpful.
interpersonal — Patient history-taking is relational clinical work
Interview patients to gather medical information.
#23928 · Core · 8% automatable
Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on stocking of merchandise
Clean facilities or equipment. Stock supplies or merchandise.
#7887 · Core · 6% automatable
Treat clients in professional settings or travel to clients' offices and homes.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids. Administer therapeutic massages.
#7884 · Core · 42% automatable
Develop and propose client treatment plans that specify which types of massage are to be used.
decision support — Clinical therapy design needs licensed judgment and patient context
Develop patient therapy programs.
#7882 · Core · 28% automatable
Provide clients with guidance and information about techniques for postural improvement and stretching, strengthening, relaxation, and rehabilitative exercises.
interpersonal — Patient medical-equipment teaching is hands-on clinical
Teach medical procedures or medical equipment use to patients.
#7881 · Core · 72% automatable
Maintain treatment records.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Maintain medical records.
#7883 · Core · 30% automatable
Assess clients' soft tissue condition, joint quality and function, muscle strength, and range of motion.
physical manipulation — Physical exam requires hands-on patient contact
Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment.
#7885 · Core · 53% automatable
Refer clients to other types of therapists when necessary.
decision support — Clinical referral judgment needs licensed human accountability
Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources. Help clients get needed services or resources.
#20757 · Core · 8% automatable
Perform other adjunctive therapies or treatment techniques in addition to massage.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
#7888 · Core · 42% automatable
Consult with other health care professionals, such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, physicians, and psychologists, to develop treatment plans for clients.
interpersonal — Care planning conferral is collaborative clinical judgment
Confer with other professionals to plan patient care.
#7889 · Core · 8% automatable
Prepare and blend oils and apply the blends to clients' skin.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
#7886 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Use complementary aids, such as infrared lamps, wet compresses, ice, and whirlpool baths to promote clients' recovery, relaxation, and well-being.
physical manipulation — Hands-on therapy application requires physical dexterity
Administer therapy treatments to patients using hands or physical treatment aids.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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