Mississippi Massage License: Cost & Requirements (2026)

Last updated: August 24, 2026

Mississippi puts the business registration on whoever actually runs the business — and its form says so in plain language, which is rarer than it should be. Rent a room to a therapist and you are just a landlord; pay that therapist on a W-2 or 1099 and you are the operator. The therapist license behind it asks for 700 supervised in-class hours, a state examination where your fingerprints are taken at the test site, and CPR and First Aid certification you must keep up at every renewal.

What Mississippi Actually Requires

• 700 supervised in-class hours from a board-approved program, with official certified transcripts showing a minimum grade of C or better in every course of instruction.
• Be at least 18 on the date the application is submitted, with proof of high school graduation or equivalency.
• Legal status not only to receive a license but to work in Mississippi with it.
• Pass an approved examination — and there are no exemptions from this. The board accepts the Mississippi State Pre-Licensure Examination (MSPLE), the MBLEx, and the NESL or NCETMB through the NCBTMB. If you take the NESL route, you must select the NCETMB option and name Mississippi for automatic score reporting.
• Current CPR and First Aid certification, or at least eight hours of training including practical testing.
• Documentation of familiarity with the Americans with Disabilities Act — a requirement most states do not have.
• An approved course on communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS information and prevention.
• A fingerprint-based state and federal criminal history check.

The board works to a deadline, which is worth knowing. Its rules require it to evaluate applicants and advise acceptance or denial, with reasons for any denial, within 45 days of receiving a completed application — completed meaning every required attachment is in. Applications are placed on the agenda for the next regularly scheduled board meeting.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
Examination application (EX.01)	$136	Includes the fingerprinting taken at the examination site
Professional license application (MT.01)	See the board’s current form	May be submitted together with the EX.01 using a single money order
Massage business registration	$50	Money order or cashier’s check only
Replacement Mobile Therapist Card	$10	By money order; return the old card if it is a replacement
Massage school (700 hrs)	Tuition varies widely	The dominant cost; must be in-class
Continuing education	Varies	24 hours per two-year renewal
Mississippi LLC	See the Secretary of State	Formed online; the annual report is filed online and due April 15

A note on the two figures we have left open. The board’s licensure application fee and Mississippi’s LLC formation fee are both published on forms and portals we could not read directly from a primary source at the time of writing. Rather than repeat a number from a secondary site, we have linked the board and the Secretary of State below — check both before you write the check.

Who Registers the Business: Mississippi Answers It On the Form

Most states leave you to work out whether the premises requirement is yours or your landlord’s. Mississippi’s Massage Business Registration form opens with three checkboxes that settle it:

• You own the business and rent a room to a massage therapist. Then you are only the landlord or building owner and do not fill out the form. The massage therapist files it as owner and sole proprietor.
• You own the business and pay the therapist on a W-2 or a 1099. Then you file it. The form spells out why: the therapist is your employee or independent contractor, and the hiring entity has the right to control the result of the work.
• You are a massage therapist paying rent for your space. Then you file it, as owner and sole proprietor.

What the registration asks for includes the business’s physical and mailing address, the owner and manager (neither of whom has to be a licensed massage therapist), the federal tax identification number and any officers, whether you own or rent the building and the landlord’s details — and, notably, the business permit number issued by your city or county and that permit’s expiration date. Mississippi ties its state registration to your local permit, so sort the city or county permit first.

The duty that follows registration is the expensive one. Under the statute, it is the establishment’s responsibility to verify the current license of any and all persons practicing massage therapy at its location or on its behalf. Failing to do so carries a board penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000 per offense. Check every therapist’s license before they start and again each May.

Before You Open a Practice: Premises, Background Checks and Out-of-State Licenses

Advertising and display rules

Mississippi’s statute reaches advertising as well as practice: no person may advertise massage or practice massage for compensation in the state unless licensed by the board, and the protected titles include not just “massage therapist” but any title, abbreviation, letters, figures, signs or devices indicating that a person is one.

A current license must be prominently displayed at all times in any place where massage therapy is performed. If you work away from a fixed location, the board issues a Mobile Therapist Card, and recommends carrying it in a clear name-tag holder worn on your person, the way hospital staff wear an ID.

Does Mississippi require a background check?

Yes, and the sequencing is different from most states. Your fingerprints are taken at the examination site when you sit the state examination, and are used for both federal and state criminal history checks. The examination application (form EX.01) costs $136.

If the result is anything other than “CLEAR,” the burden shifts to you: you must contact the city or county of jurisdiction and have the court produce certified evidence that all requirements of its order have been met. That takes time, and the board may additionally decide a Show Cause Hearing is warranted — which will delay licensure further. If you have anything on your record, start collecting court documents before you sit the exam rather than after.

Can you transfer an out-of-state massage license to Mississippi?

Mississippi has two separate routes, and they suit different people.

1. Reciprocity. The education bar drops from 700 hours to a minimum of 500 supervised in-class hours, provided you also have documented evidence of at least three years of working experience from a regulated state. You must still satisfy every other requirement, including the examination.

2. Universal recognition of an occupational license. Mississippi’s universal recognition law works by sworn affidavit, and it has an unusual second limb. You qualify if you are a Mississippi resident and either:

• You hold a current, valid license in good standing in another state with a similar scope of practice, and have held it for at least one year, having completed that state’s education, work experience, examination and clinical supervision requirements — or you were awarded a military occupational specialty in the profession; or
• You have worked for three years or more in a state that does not use a license to regulate the occupation, proved by IRS tax returns for the prior three years — or, as the affidavit expressly says, by a copy of California’s verification of registration showing you have been registered as a massage therapist there for at least three years.

That California carve-out is worth flagging, because California issues a voluntary CAMTC certification rather than a state license — and Mississippi has written it into the form as acceptable evidence rather than leaving CAMTC holders to argue the point.

Either route also requires that you have committed no act elsewhere that would be grounds for refusal, suspension or revocation in Mississippi; have no disqualifying criminal record; have not surrendered a license for negligence or intentional misconduct; have no complaint, allegation or investigation pending before any licensing board in any state; and have taken and passed the MSBMT jurisprudence examination and paid the fee.

A provisional permit can bridge the gap — but not for everyone

A provisional permit is a temporary license the board may approve when every requirement other than the board-approved national or state pre-licensure examination has been met. It runs for no more than 90 days.

Read the condition carefully, because it works the opposite way round from most states’ temporary permits: if you have already passed one of the accepted examinations, you do not qualify for a provisional permit — you simply apply for the license.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Confirm the program is board-approved and hits 700 in-class hours, and that you can earn a C or better in every course.
2. Take the ADA familiarity documentation and the communicable disease course — both are application requirements, not afterthoughts.
3. Get current CPR and First Aid certification. You will need it again at every renewal.
4. File the EX.01 examination application with the $136 fee and sit the exam, where your fingerprints are taken.
5. File the MT.01 licensure application — it can go in with the EX.01 on a single money order.
6. Get your city or county business permit, because the state business registration asks for its number and expiration date.
7. Work out who files the business registration using the landlord test above, then file it with $50 by money order or cashier’s check.
8. Display your license where you work, and order a Mobile Therapist Card if you practice off-site.

Staying Licensed

Mississippi massage licenses expire on May 31, on a two-year cycle, and renewal is done through the board’s online portal. The board is explicit that the unavailability of online renewal on a weekend, holiday or the last working day does not excuse a late fee — do not leave it to May 31 itself.

Continuing education is 24 hours per two-year renewal — 12 hours a year. Several details make Mississippi’s system easier than most:

• CPR and First Aid certification is required at renewal as well as at initial application, and counts 3 hours toward the 24. The certification you need anyway pays for an eighth of your requirement.
• Unused hours carry forward. Hours you take but do not need in the current renewal period are not lost — they roll into the next one.

And one that makes it harder: an NCBTMB-approved provider’s course counts only if that provider has registered both its providership and each individual program with the Mississippi board. National approval alone is not enough. Check the board’s approved provider and program list before you pay for a course. If you want credit for a course that is not yet approved, it can be submitted — but the paperwork must reach the board 45 days before the program runs, with detailed curriculum objectives and presenter qualifications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who has to register a massage business in Mississippi — the landlord or the therapist?

The board’s registration form answers this directly, and the answer surprises people. If you own the building and rent a room to a massage therapist, you are only the landlord and do not file the form — the therapist registers as owner and sole proprietor. If you own the business and pay the therapist on a W-2 or a 1099, you register. And if you are the therapist paying rent for a room, you register as the owner and sole proprietor. Registration costs $50 and must be paid by money order or cashier’s check.

How many hours does Mississippi require for a massage license?

700 supervised in-class hours for standard licensure. There is a lower bar for reciprocity: a minimum of 500 supervised in-class hours plus documented evidence of at least three years of working experience from a regulated state. The hours must be in class — Mississippi does not accept online study toward the licensure hour requirement, though continuing education later can be taken by distance.

Does Mississippi require a background check for a massage license?

Yes, a fingerprint-based state and federal criminal history check — and the logistics are unusual: your fingerprints are taken at the examination site when you sit the state exam. The examination application costs $136. If the check comes back as anything other than “CLEAR,” you must contact the city or county of jurisdiction and have the court produce certified evidence that every requirement of the court order has been met, and the board may decide a Show Cause Hearing is warranted before it acts on your application.

Can you transfer an out-of-state massage license to Mississippi?

There are two doors. Reciprocity accepts a minimum of 500 supervised in-class hours plus at least three years of documented experience from a regulated state. Separately, Mississippi’s universal recognition law lets a Mississippi resident qualify on a license held in good standing for at least a year in a state with a similar scope of practice — or, if you come from a state that does not license the occupation at all, on three years of work evidenced by your IRS tax returns. The affidavit expressly names California’s registration verification as acceptable proof of three years. Either way you take the board’s jurisprudence examination.

When does a Mississippi massage license expire?

May 31, on a two-year cycle, and renewal is online. Continuing education is 24 hours per two-year renewal — 12 per year — and CPR and First Aid certification is required both with your initial application and at every renewal, counting 3 hours toward the 24. One helpful quirk: continuing education hours you take but do not need in the current period are not lost. They carry forward.

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

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Mississippi State Board of Massage Therapy	The licensing authority, current application forms and fees, the approved continuing education provider list, and the online renewal portal
MSBMT — How Do I Become Licensed in Mississippi	The 700-hour in-class requirement, the 500-hour plus three-year reciprocity route, the accepted examinations, the $136 EX.01 fee and fingerprinting at the examination site, the Show Cause Hearing consequence of a non-clear check, the 90-day provisional permit, and the board’s 45-day decision rule
MSBMT — Massage Business Registration form	The $50 fee and money order or cashier’s check requirement, the landlord versus operator test, and the city or county business permit number and expiration date
MSBMT — Universal Recognition of an Occupational License Affidavit	The residency and one-year licensure test, the three-year work history alternative evidenced by IRS returns or California’s registration verification, and the jurisprudence examination requirement
MSBMT — Continuing Education FAQ	The 24-hour two-year requirement, CPR and First Aid counting 3 hours, the carry-forward of unused hours, the requirement that NCBTMB providers register with the Mississippi board, and the 45-day pre-approval window for unapproved courses
MSBMT — Massage Therapy FAQ	The May 31 expiration and online renewal rules, and the Mobile Therapist Card
Mississippi Secretary of State — Annual Reports	The requirement that LLCs file an annual report online by April 15, and administrative dissolution for failing to file