Here’s some good news if you’re thinking about a massage business career: the demand for massage in the U.S. is exploding. According to a 2005 survey by the American Massage Therapy Association, between August of 2004 and July of 2005 roughly 47 million American adults received a massage. That’s 2 million more adults than the number that received a massage the year before, which is about 4% more. It’s also almost 1 out of every 6 people in the United States, or about 16% of the U.S. population. The massage business in the U.S. is booming!

Now, here’s a challenge: the number of massage practitioners in the U.S. is growing even faster than the demand for massage. In 2004 ABMP (Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals) reported that massage school enrollment had grown 22% since 2002.