Massage Therapists in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,288
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$17,072
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,744
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$87,360
Kept after tax
$70,288
Worth in national money
$64,744
State rank
2
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for massage therapists. The middle earner takes $87,360, which ranks 2 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 49.46% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 159.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $87,360 the take-home is $70,288. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $64,744 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $87,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 2 of 50 states publishing a median for massage therapists, at $87,360 — about 49.46% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, massage therapists sits at 159 of 493 — 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 after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $70,288 for massage therapists, from $87,360. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,744. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $87,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $87,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,800 |
| This salary | $87,360 |
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 Washington | $70,288 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,288 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,587 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $87,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,480 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $87,360 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,850 and the ninetieth is $115,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $70,288, worked from $87,360. 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 159 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,744, the adjusted value of that $87,360 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 159 of 493 in the state.
- The Washington median of $87,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,850 to $115,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Washington take-home of $70,288, on $87,360 for work ranking 159 of 493 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 159 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $64,744 — the adjusted value of that $87,360 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 159 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $61,850 and the top tenth $115,800, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $64,744 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $70,288 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($61,850 to $115,800) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $64,744 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $70,288 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.