Elizabeth, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Chapter 5.56 requires anyone operating a massage business or premises to hold an establishment license, and anyone rendering massage services to hold a separate masseur's or masseuse's license, both from the supervisor of licenses (Sections 5.56.010, 5.56.020). Applicants must disclose their name and address history for the prior three years, a description of the establishment's property and facilities, prior employment history for masseurs, and whether the applicant or any corporate officer has ever been convicted of a crime (Section 5.56.030). The establishment license fee is $1,000.00 annually and the individual masseur or masseuse license fee is $250.00 annually, both due February 1st each year (Section 5.56.040).

The supervisor of licenses must deny or refuse to renew a license if the applicant's criminal record or other evidence of bad character suggests the license would encourage criminal or immoral activity (Section 5.56.050). Massage of a person of the opposite sex is flatly prohibited (Section 5.56.060), though that specific ban does not apply to fully clothed chair massage given in plain public view at Terminal A of Newark Liberty International Airport or the Jersey Gardens Mall by therapists licensed under N.J.S.A. 45:11-53 et seq., who are also exempt from the individual license requirement at those two locations (Section 5.56.070(B)-(C)).

The chapter separately exempts treatments given by licensed physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors, and physical therapists in medical settings, and free chair massage given in plain public view at a street fair or exhibit (Section 5.56.070(A)).