Which Florida massage therapy program has the lowest debt?

La Belle Beauty Academy reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,909, with first-year pay of $12,632.

How much do massage therapy graduates earn in Florida?

The median across 28 Florida massage therapy certificate programs is $21,108 in the first year after graduating and $25,736 five years after. Massage therapists in Florida earn a median of $49,680 across all experience levels.

How many massage therapy certificate programs are in Florida?

28 Florida programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 22 of them also report federal debt.

Massage Therapy (Certificate) Programs in Florida, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

28 programs report first-year pay
22 also report federal debt
Certificate in Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Florida massage therapy certificate program pays its graduates $21,108 in their first year, $532 more than the national median. Miami Dade College reports the highest first-year pay ($28,714), and La Belle Beauty Academy the lowest median debt ($5,909).

Median first-year pay$21,108National $20,576

Median pay after 5 years$25,736National $25,081

Median federal debt$7,917National $8,567

Debt-to-earnings39%National 41%

All 28 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Miami Dade CollegeMiami · public	$28,714	Not reported	$8,925	31%
2	Lee Professional InstituteFort Myers · private for-profit	$24,586	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Daytona CollegeOrmond Beach · private for-profit	$24,286	$23,867	$9,048	37%
4	Palm Beach State CollegeLake Worth · public	$24,097	$33,110	Not reported	Not reported
5	Cortiva Institute (St. Petersburg, Florida)St. Petersburg · private for-profit	$23,843	$29,226	$7,917	33%
6	Aveda Institute-Fort MyersFort Myers · private for-profit	$23,316	Not reported	$7,899	34%
7	Cortiva Institute (Maitland, Florida)Maitland · private for-profit	$22,969	$25,580	$7,917	34%
8	Sheridan Technical CollegeHollywood · public	$22,725	$25,052	Not reported	Not reported
9	International AcademySouth Daytona · private for-profit	$22,564	Not reported	$9,500	42%
10	Boca Beauty AcademyBoca Raton · private for-profit	$22,426	$37,145	$6,018	27%
11	Parisian Spa InstituteJacksonville · private for-profit	$22,201	Not reported	$7,145	32%
12	Hollywood InstituteMargate · private for-profit	$22,141	Not reported	$7,600	34%
13	Praxis InstituteMiami · private for-profit	$21,968	$22,281	$8,905	41%
14	Sarasota School of Massage TherapySarasota · private for-profit	$21,270	$26,193	$8,444	40%
15	Southeastern College-Boynton BeachBoynton Beach · private for-profit	$20,945	$24,627	$9,500	45%
16	Bene's Career AcademyNew Port Richey · private for-profit	$20,132	$23,840	$6,333	31%
17	Jones Technical InstituteJacksonville · private nonprofit	$19,815	$26,005	$7,962	40%
18	Orange Technical College-East CampusOrlando · public · closed	$19,409	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
19	Academy of CosmetologyMerritt Island · private for-profit	$19,283	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
20	Fort Pierce Beauty AcademyFort Pierce · private for-profit	$19,101	$25,891	$7,916	41%
21	Medical Institute of Palm BeachGreenacres · private for-profit	$18,996	Not reported	$6,320	33%
22	Artistic Nails and Beauty Academy-TampaTampa · private for-profit	$18,968	Not reported	$10,982	58%
23	Florida School of MassageGainesville · private for-profit	$18,231	$19,023	$7,073	39%
24	Celebrity School of BeautyMiami · private for-profit	$17,644	Not reported	$7,004	40%
25	Hollywood Institute of Beauty CareersHollywood · private for-profit	$16,075	$23,750	$9,317	58%
26	Marion Technical College (Florida)Ocala · public	$15,779	$35,347	Not reported	Not reported
27	Aveda Institute-Tampa BayClearwater · private for-profit	$13,943	$27,449	$9,500	68%
28	La Belle Beauty AcademyMiami · private for-profit	$12,632	Not reported	$5,909	47%

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One of these schools has since closed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Florida massage therapy program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 22 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Miami Dade College$28,714
Lee Professional Institute$24,586
Daytona College$24,286
Palm Beach State College$24,097
Cortiva Institute (St. Petersburg, Florida)$23,843

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What massage therapists earn in Florida

Pay for massage therapists in Florida, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Massage Therapists

$49,680

Median pay in Florida. 9,280 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 15% from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $30,310Top 10%: $79,220

Common questions

Miami Dade College in Miami reports the highest median first-year pay, $28,714. Its median federal debt is $8,925.

Massage Therapy (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked184 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Florida rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the massage therapy certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024