Massage License Requirements in South Carolina
Verified against South Carolina Board of Massage/Bodywork Therapy · 2026-07-24
Compiled and verified against primary state-board sources by GetMassageLicense — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →
South Carolina requires a state-issued massage therapy license from the South Carolina Board of Massage/Bodywork Therapy, part of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), before anyone may practice massage therapy for compensation. A 2023 regulatory overhaul raised the education requirement to 650 hours — including a notably large 45-hour minimum in professional ethics instruction — and applicants must pass an FSMTB (or other Board-approved) national exam. Licenses renew every two years and require 12 hours of continuing education.
South Carolina Massage License Requirements
| Licensing Authority | South Carolina Board of Massage/Bodywork Therapy (LLR) |
| Title | Massage Therapist |
| Training Hours | 650 hours — Board-approved massage therapy education program (school affidavit required; Board may request an official transcript) |
| Exam | FSMTB examination (MBLEx) (Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB)) Alternatives accepted: Other Board-approved national examination (S.C. Code §40-30-110(A)(3) does not name specific alternatives) |
| Renewal Period | 2 years |
Fee Breakdown
| Initial License Fee | $150 |
| Renewal Fee (every 2 years) | $75 |
Related & additional fees
Separate or situational costs — not part of the standard initial application.
| Endorsement application | $200 |
| Reinstatement (from lapsed status) | $210 |
| Duplicate license | $10 |
Recommended MBLEx exam prep
Formal prep pays for itself against a $265 retake. These are the resources we point candidates to for the MBLEx (Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination).
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12 hours every 2 years.
S.C. Code §40-30-190 caps the Board's continuing-education requirement at 'not to exceed twelve hours per biennium,' and the Board's own FAQ confirms the current requirement is 12 hours, beginning with a licensee's second renewal cycle (licensing period runs July 1 of even years through June 30 of even years). Neither §40-30-190 nor S.C. Code Regs. Chapter 77 (§77-120, governing CE provider approval) carve out a specific ethics-hour requirement within that 12-hour renewal total — the 45-hour ethics component only applies to the initial 650-hour education program, not to ongoing CE.
Licensure by Endorsement
Per S.C. Code Regs. 77-106, an applicant for endorsement must hold a current, active, unrestricted massage therapy license in good standing from another state/DC/US territory with requirements 'at least substantially equivalent' to South Carolina's as of the date of initial licensure, submit a Board-approved application with a $200 fee, and pass SLED and FBI fingerprint-based criminal history checks. Substantially equivalent education may be shown via proof of having passed a Board-approved national exam.
Sources
Data last verified: 2026-07-24 | Source: S.C. Code of Regulations, Chapter 77 — Massage Therapy Board (education, endorsement, CE provider standards)