Kansas Massage License: Requirements & Local Rules (2026)

Last updated: August 25, 2026

Kansas does not license massage therapists. There is no state massage license to apply for, no state fee to pay, and no state board to answer to. The Kansas Legislative Research Department puts it flatly: Kansas law does not prescribe a massage therapy requirement, so individuals may practice “without fees, state standards, or state oversight.” Two statutes — K.S.A. 65-2872 and 65-2913 — expressly carve massage for relaxation, muscle conditioning or figure improvement out of the healing arts, so long as no drugs are used and you do not hold yourself out as a physician or healer.

That is the whole answer at the state level, and it is not the whole answer. Kansas cities license massage on their own — Overland Park and Lenexa both run real licensing programs with education requirements, fingerprints and fees — and the Legislature has been trying to create a state license for nearly two decades. Here is what actually applies to you, city by city, and how to set up the business underneath it.

What “No State License” Actually Means in Kansas

• You may legally take paying clients anywhere in Kansas without a state credential. There is no minimum training, no exam, and no state fee.
• The legal basis is an exclusion, not a license. K.S.A. 65-2872 and 65-2913 keep relaxation and conditioning massage outside the practice of the healing arts and outside physical therapy — provided no drugs are used and you do not present yourself as a physician or healer. Stay inside that lane and the state has nothing to say to you.
• Local governments fill the gap. Cities may regulate massage by ordinance or resolution, and zoning can restrict where a massage business may locate. Johnson County suburbs are the most active regulators in the state.
• The market still expects credentials. Spas and franchises hiring in Kansas routinely ask for a 500-hour education and national certification because their insurers and their city licenses demand it. Kansas has at least seven massage therapy programs at community colleges and private schools, most of which prepare students for the MBLEx.

The City Layer Is the Real License

If you practice in a city that licenses massage, the city license is mandatory — the state’s silence does not override it. The two clearest worked examples, verified from the cities’ own ordinance and licensing pages:

Overland Park

• Massage therapist license: filed with the City Clerk, with an application and identification card for each work location.
• Education: a certified transcript of not less than 500 hours in the theory, method or practice of massage, covering anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, pathology, first aid, hygiene and practical massage technique.
• Exam: proof of the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (1992 or later) or the MBLEx (2007 or later) — plus 12 hours of continuing education if your certification is more than a year old.
• Also required: fingerprints registered at the Overland Park Justice Center, American Red Cross first aid certification, American Heart Association CPR certification, and two passport-size photos.
• Fees: $75 new / $50 renewal / $15 additional applications. A massage establishment license — required of any person or company operating a massage establishment — is $300 per year.

Lenexa

• The license reaches everywhere you work: Lenexa’s code (Section 2-3-B-1) forbids performing massage therapy in an establishment, in a client’s office, or in a client’s home without a city license. Mobile and out-call work is covered, not just studios. The license runs 12 months from issuance and is not transferable.
• Education (Section 2-3-B-2): 500 hours of instruction from an accredited school — practical and modality instruction must be in-classroom/hands-on; theory may be online — or proof of passing the NCBTMB Board Certification exam. One or the other, not both. (Secondary sites describe Lenexa as “500 hours plus the MBLEx” — that is not what the ordinance says.)
• CPR and first aid (Section 2-3-B-3): in-person (not online) American Heart Association CPR and American Red Cross first aid, current at application.
• Fee: set by the city’s fee schedule rather than printed in the ordinance — confirm the current amount with the city when you apply. Lenexa also licenses massage establishments separately (Article 2-3-A), and a false or incomplete application carries a one-year bar on reapplying.

Smaller cities license too. The Kansas Legislative Research Department’s survey quotes the City of Mission’s ordinance (Chapter 620): an establishment permit valid July 1 to June 30, a therapist permit, 500 hours from an NCBTMB-approved school or passage of the NCETMB, current AHA CPR and first aid, and ongoing NCBTMB or AMTA continuing-education compliance. Before you sign a lease or book a home visit, call the clerk in the city where the massage will actually happen — in Kansas that phone call is the licensing step.

The Licensure Bill That Keeps Dying — and Why It Still Matters

Kansas has introduced massage licensure bills in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. None has passed. The most recent, SB 253 (introduced February 7, 2025, at the request of the Kansas Massage Therapy Association), would have created the Massage Therapist Licensure Act under the State Board of Healing Arts. It never advanced out of the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, and the Legislature’s bill tracker lists it as dead. The American Massage Therapy Association has said it remains committed to trying again.

Why read a dead bill? Because it tells you what a Kansas license will look like when one finally passes. The recent bills share the same skeleton: licensure under the Board of Healing Arts, a fingerprint-based state and national background check, two-year licenses, a grandfathering path for people already practicing, preemption of the city ordinances, and — in SB 253 — mandatory professional liability insurance of $2 million per claim / $6 million aggregate. The 2023 version proposed 625 in-classroom hours, more than any Kansas city currently asks. If you are training now, a 500-hour program that satisfies Overland Park may not satisfy the eventual state law; the safest hedge is the fullest program you can access and a national exam pass, both of which every draft has honored through grandfathering clauses.

Moving In, Moving Out: the No-License State Problem

• Moving into Kansas: easy. There is no state credential to transfer to; you only satisfy the city where you will practice. An out-of-state license generally covers the education-and-exam proof a city wants, but the city still issues its own permit.
• Moving out of Kansas: harder, and worth planning for. Because there is no Kansas license, licensing states treat Kansas-trained therapists as unlicensed applicants. Some name Kansas explicitly: New Mexico’s expedited licensure by credentials lists Kansas among nine ineligible jurisdictions, and the Interstate Massage Compact lists Kansas as currently ineligible. States that plan for this offer work-experience routes instead — Iowa accepts three years of documented massage work within the preceding four in place of a license. Keep your transcripts, exam scores and tax records; they are your portable credential.

Setting Up the Business, In Order

1. Call the city clerk where you will practice — home visits included — and get the massage ordinance, application and fee schedule. This is Kansas’s licensing step.
2. Line up the documents cities ask for: a certified 500-hour transcript, a national exam pass (NCETMB/NCBTMB or MBLEx), in-person CPR and first aid cards, and fingerprints where required.
3. Form the entity. A Kansas LLC is $85 filed online ($90 on paper) after the Secretary of State’s February 27, 2026 fee cut. City establishment applications ask for the entity behind the business.
4. Bind liability insurance before the first client — landlords and establishment licenses expect the certificate.
5. Register with the Kansas Department of Revenue if you will sell products (oils, tools, gift cards) alongside services.
6. Diary the biennial report. Kansas LLCs file an information report every two years — due April 15 of the odd or even year matching your formation year — $90 online / $110 by paper per the Secretary of State’s current filing instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a license to practice massage therapy in Kansas?

Not from the state. Kansas law does not prescribe a massage therapy requirement, so at the state level you may practice without fees, state standards, or state oversight. But several Kansas cities license massage therapists by ordinance – Overland Park and Lenexa both do – so the license question in Kansas is answered at city hall, not in Topeka.

Is Kansas going to start licensing massage therapists?

It keeps trying and keeps failing. Licensure bills were introduced in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. The most recent, SB 253 (introduced February 7, 2025), would have created the Massage Therapist Licensure Act under the Board of Healing Arts; it never advanced out of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the Legislature’s bill tracker lists it as dead. The American Massage Therapy Association has said it intends to try again.

What does Overland Park require for a massage therapist license?

A certified transcript of not less than 500 hours in the theory, method or practice of massage covering anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, pathology, first aid, hygiene and practical technique; proof of the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (1992 or later) or the MBLEx (2007 or later); fingerprints registered at the Overland Park Justice Center; American Red Cross first aid and American Heart Association CPR certifications; and two passport-size photos. The license costs $75 new and $50 to renew, and massage establishments pay a separate $300 annual license.

Can a massage therapist trained in Kansas get licensed in other states?

It is harder than moving between two licensing states, because there is no Kansas license to transfer. Several states single Kansas out: New Mexico’s expedited licensure by credentials expressly excludes Kansas, and the Interstate Massage Compact lists Kansas as currently ineligible. States that plan for this usually offer a work-experience route instead – Iowa, for example, accepts three years of documented massage work within the preceding four in place of a license. Expect to document your education and practice history rather than swap a credential.

Do Kansas massage therapists need liability insurance?

No state law requires it, because no state law regulates the practice at all. In practice, landlords and studios ask for a certificate of insurance, some city applications ask about coverage, and every recent licensure bill has treated insurance as part of professional practice – SB 253 would have required professional liability coverage of $2 million per claim and $6 million aggregate as a condition of licensure. Most working therapists carry a policy regardless of the statute book.

Forming the company, taxes, insurance, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Kansas.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Kansas Legislative Research Department — Massage Therapy memo	No state massage therapy requirement; K.S.A. 65-2872 and 65-2913 exclusions; local regulation by ordinance and zoning; the City of Mission Chapter 620 example; the 2008–2023 bill history
Kansas Legislature — SB 253 (2025)	The Massage Therapist Licensure Act bill: introduced February 7, 2025, requested by the Kansas Massage Therapy Association, never advanced out of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee
City of Overland Park — Massage Therapist and Establishment Licenses	The 500-hour transcript, NCETMB/MBLEx requirement, fingerprints, first aid and CPR, per-location applications, $75/$50/$15 therapist fees and the $300 annual establishment license
Lenexa City Code — Chapter 2-3, Massage Therapy	License required in establishments, client offices and client homes; 12-month term; 500 hours or NCBTMB board certification; in-person AHA CPR and ARC first aid
Kansas Secretary of State — LLC Articles of Organization instructions (Rev. 2/27/26)	$85 online / $90 paper filing fee after the February 27, 2026 fee reduction
Kansas Secretary of State — Information Reports	Biennial information report cycle, April 15 due date, and forfeiture for non-filing; fee per the current filing instructions ($90 online / $110 paper)