Massage Therapists in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,077
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$9,743
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,479
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$50,820
Kept after tax
$41,077
Worth in national money
$42,479
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Georgia pays massage therapists a middle wage of $50,820, 38 of 50 states and about 13.05% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Georgia reports figures for, this is number 265.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,820 you keep $41,077 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,479 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- Georgia's $50,820 median for massage therapists places it 38 of 50 states, about 13.05% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Georgia's occupational distribution, massage therapists sits at 265 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Georgia is $41,077 after the full tax stack, from $50,820. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,479 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $19,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,130 |
| This salary | $50,820 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Georgia | $41,077 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,014 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,785 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $48,409 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,159 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of massage therapists in Georgia earn under $50,820 and half over. The published range runs $19,010 at the tenth percentile to $83,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Georgia's $41,077, worked from $50,820. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 265 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,479 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 265.
- Figures are distribution medians for massage therapists in Georgia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $19,010 to $83,130; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Georgia take-home of $41,077, on $50,820 for work ranking 265 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 265 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,479, worked from $50,820, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Georgia address, on work sitting at 265 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $54,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $19,010 at the bottom tenth to $83,130 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,479.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Georgia then takes its own share, leaving $41,077.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Georgia is $54,950. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($19,010) and the ninetieth ($83,130) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $42,479 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $41,077 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.