The Census says self-care businesses are on the rise, one Kerrville business says that’s true

The U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t traditionally track the economic impact of the self-care industry, but it did provide a report on its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Although self-care is not an official industry recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau, several industries included in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) fall into a broader self-care category.

According to the Census Bureau’s 2021 Service Annual Survey (SAS), while overall estimated Services Total revenue for employer firms decreased 1.7% from 2019 to 2020, estimated employer firm revenue for some of the service industries supporting self-care grew from 2019 to 2020.

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In Kerrville, one massage therapy practitioner, Dani Mohr, said her business worked at a nice pace before the pandemic, but coming out of it means she’s booked nearly a month in advance. Mohr owns Kerrville Massage and Healing Arts. 

“At the moment, massage-wise, that has gone through the roof,” Mohr said. “Like I have like a three-weeks out situation.” 

It’s so busy that Mohr said it’s common for her colleagues in self-care businesses, especially massage therapists, to be in the same spot she’s seeing. Mohr said she’s working to establish a massage school to help provide more licensed practitioners. 

“I’ve actually had a lot of people, massage therapists, come to me and ask lots of questions about techniques or where do I go for this?” Mohr said. “Who do you recommend for that?” 

Her school is still a work in progress, but Mohr said she believes the wide-ranging self-care industry is on an upward trend post-pandemic. 

The Census report had other findings in their broadly defined categories: 

• For example, employer firms’ estimated revenue for Beauty Salons dropped 26.8% from 2019 to $18.2 billion in 2020, but rebounded to $22.8 billion in 2021.
• In 2020, Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers earned an estimated $25.1 billion in employer firm revenue, which increased to an estimated $31.6 billion in 2021.
• But like Beauty Salons, the rise came after a double-digit percent decrease in estimated employer firm revenue in 2020. In fact, estimated employer firm revenue declined 30.3% in just one year, from $35.9 billion in 2019.