Occupation salary profile

Acupuncturists

SOC 29-1291 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies. Excludes “Chiropractors” (29-1011).

National median · BLS
$76,040
▼ -2.69% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$65,000
▲ +3.46% YoY · 29 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$87,020
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
7,830
Jobs (BLS)
Highest-paying state (cost-adjusted) Loading…
Most jobs Loading…
Highest-paying metro (cost-adjusted) Loading…

Check your salary

Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Acupuncturists

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 29 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$38,830$49,334
25th$55,380$56,160
Median (50th)$76,040$65,000
75th$102,280$78,000
90th — top pay$161,470$80,425
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $65,000 for Acupuncturists — 14.5% below the BLS national median of $76,040.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

Type in either box; the other updates instantly.

Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Acupuncturists

BLS projects employment of acupuncturists to grow 8.6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 800 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
14,800 → 16,000
+1,300 jobs
Projected change
+8.6%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
800
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
46.2% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $65,000
Change vs prior year +3.46%
After inflation (CPI-U) +0.32%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 16 55.2% $49,421 $59,080 $64,984
Level II 11 37.9% $70,755 $77,230 $78,520
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Acupuncturists

The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 29-1291, from 29 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Acupuncturist 20 68.97% $49,421 $67,490 $77,682 +3.83%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Acupuncturists

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening3.9
  • Critical Thinking3.8
  • Service Orientation3.8
  • Social Perceptiveness3.8
  • Speaking3.6
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.5
  • Complex Problem Solving3.3
  • Monitoring3.3
  • Reading Comprehension3.3
  • Active Learning3.1
Top knowledge areas
  • Customer and Personal Service4.5
  • Medicine and Dentistry4.1
  • Psychology3.8
  • Biology3.7
  • English Language3.6
  • Administrative3.5
  • Therapy and Counseling3.5
  • Administration and Management3.4
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft WordAcuPartner ProfessionalElectronic health record EHR softwareMiridia Technology AcuGraphQchartQpalm AcupunctureQPuncture IITrigram Software AcuBase Pro

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What acupuncturists do

  • Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
  • Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
  • Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
  • Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
  • Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.
  • Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
  • Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.
  • Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
Also called
Acupuncture PhysicianAcupuncturistHerbalistLicensed Acupuncturist (LAC)Acupuncture DoctorAcupuncture ProviderChinese Medical Doctor (Chinese MD)Chinese Medicine DoctorOriental Medicine ProviderTraditional Chinese Medicine Doctor
More job titles for this occupation (5)
Acupressure TherapistAcupressuristAuricular AcupuncturistAuricular Detoxification SpecialistAuricular Therapist

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.