Skip to content
Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

Acupuncturists

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.

Also called: Acupuncture Doctor, Acupuncture Physician, Acupuncture Provider, Acupuncturist, Chinese Medical Doctor (Chinese MD), Chinese Medicine Doctor

Median pay in Greater Boston
$107,880
$51.87/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
Not published
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+0.6%
10 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Master's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$77,470$85,470$107,880$140,310$150,350

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d 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.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure60 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 64
  • Language-model AIOE 66
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 50

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is moderate, but observed AI use is little or none. AI tools might help with planning and keeping up with rules and policies. Placing needles, using tools like cups, and treating patients in person are hands-on tasks that stay with the practitioner.

Likely to change

  • Drafting treatment plan notes
  • Tracking safety and legal rules

Still relies on people

  • Placing needles and using treatment tools
  • Finding the right points on each patient

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Physician Assistants

    Patient assessment and treatment planning carry over; this move offers a $142,410 Boston median pay and 18.2% projected Massachusetts growth, with a master's degree.

    Pay difference
    +$34,530 median
    AI exposure
    Moderate
    MA growth
    +18.2%
    To get started
    Master's degree
  • Diagnostic Medical Sonographers

    Anatomy knowledge and hands-on patient care carry over; this move offers $109,200 median pay and 10.1% projected growth, with an associate's degree.

    Pay difference
    +$1,320 median
    AI exposure
    Moderate
    MA growth
    +10.1%
    To get started
    Associate's degree

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

0 programs near Boston (plus 2 graduate)

No programs below a master’s degree near Boston map to this job. Tick the box above to see graduate programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach