Hair Salon Industry Statistics 2026: Jobs, Pay, Prices, and Growth
The US had 595,000 hairstylist and cosmetologist jobs in 2025, and almost half of them belonged to people who work for themselves. Prices for personal care services, haircuts included, are rising faster than inflation, and beauty salons with employees brought in a record $27 billion in 2022.
If you own a salon, rent a booth, or are thinking about going independent, these numbers help you set prices, plan hiring, and see where the industry is headed. We pulled the figures from government sources like the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the US Census Bureau, and the Government of Canada, plus one named market research firm for market size.
Key Hair Salon Industry Statistics at a Glance
- There were 595,000 hairdresser, hairstylist, and cosmetologist jobs in the US in 2025, counting both employees and the self-employed.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026 - 48% of US hairstylists and cosmetologists are self-employed, and another 45% work in salons and other personal care businesses.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026 - Hairstylists on a payroll earned a mean of $43,960 a year in May 2025 ($21.13 an hour).
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Table 1, 2026 - The median hairstylist wage was $17.21 an hour in May 2025, or about $35,790 a year full time.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Table 1, 2026 - Mean hairstylist pay rose 39% between 2019 and 2025, from $31,530 to $43,960 a year.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2019 and May 2025, 2026 - The top 10% of hairstylists earned more than $34.23 an hour, while the bottom 10% earned less than $13.00.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026 - The median hairstylist in Washington state earned $59,510 a year in May 2025, 66% more than the national median.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS state estimates (via O*NET OnLine), 2026 - Hairstylist jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, adding about 45,900 jobs.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026 - Beauty salons with employees brought in $27.0 billion in 2022, up 40% from $19.3 billion in 2012.
Source: US Census Bureau, Service Annual Survey (via FRED), 2024 - Beauty salon revenue fell 27% in 2020 and passed its pre-pandemic level by 2022.
Source: US Census Bureau, Service Annual Survey (via FRED), 2024 - IBISWorld puts the US hair salon market at $63.4 billion in 2026, after 1.7% compound annual growth since 2021.
Source: IBISWorld, Hair Salons in the US, 2026 - IBISWorld counts 1,098,013 hair salon businesses in the US in 2026, up 1.3% from 2025.
Source: IBISWorld, Hair Salons in the US, 2026 - Prices for personal care services rose 4.2% in the year to August 2026, compared with 3.4% for all consumer prices.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (via FRED), 2026 - The average US household spent $978 on personal care products and services in 2024, up 24% from 2019.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys (via FRED), 2025 - The median hairstylist wage in Canada is C$19.88 an hour, with British Columbia highest at C$23.00.
Source: Government of Canada, Job Bank, 2025
How Many Hairstylists Are There in the US?
The BLS counts every hairstylist and cosmetologist job in its Occupational Outlook Handbook, including people who rent a booth or run their own studio. Look at how that workforce splits between the self-employed and people on a salon’s payroll.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Barbers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, 2025 data, updated August 2026. “Other” is the remainder after the three groups the BLS lists.
Of the 595,000 hairstylist jobs in 2025, about 285,600 were self-employed. That group includes booth renters, suite owners, and stylists who work from home. Another 45% worked in personal care services, mostly salons, and 5% worked in retail, such as salons inside department stores. For a salon owner, it means half the talent pool already runs its own book. To hire or keep stylists, you have to beat what they’d get on their own: a steady flow of clients, less admin, and tools like hair salon booking software that fill the chair without extra work.
Hair Salon Industry Revenue in the US, 1998–2022
The Census Bureau tracked revenue for beauty salons that have employees every year from 1998 to 2022. Watch the long, steady climb and what happened in 2020.
Source: US Census Bureau, Service Annual Survey, Total Revenue for Beauty Shops, Employer Firms (via FRED), 1998–2022 data, updated January 2024.
Revenue grew from $13.0 billion in 1998 to $27.0 billion in 2022, a record. The pandemic cut it 27% in 2020, from $24.9 billion to $18.2 billion, the sharpest drop in the series. Salons won back most of it in 2021 ($23.0 billion) and passed the 2019 level in 2022, finishing 9% above it. These figures leave out booth renters and one-person salons with no employees, so they understate the whole industry. For a wider view, IBISWorld estimates the total US hair salon market at $63.4 billion in 2026, roughly flat on 2025 (down 0.1%) after 1.7% compound annual growth from 2021 to 2026. IBISWorld also counts 1,098,013 hair salon businesses in 2026, up 1.3% from 2025.
Hairstylist Salary Trends, 2019–2025
The BLS publishes pay for hairstylists on a payroll every May. Here are four of those snapshots, two years apart. These are employees, not booth renters or owners.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists 39-5012, May 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 estimates.
Mean pay for employed hairstylists went from $31,530 in 2019 to $43,960 in 2025, a 39% jump. The biggest step came between 2021 ($35,990) and 2023 ($41,780). The mean for all personal care and service jobs was $41,070 in May 2025, so hairstylists on a payroll earned a little more than their category. If your commission split or hourly rate hasn’t moved since 2021, your stylists have probably noticed.
Hairstylist Pay Range: What Top and Bottom Earners Make
An average hides a lot. This chart lines up what the lowest earners, the middle, and the top earners made in May 2025.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and OEWS May 2025, updated August 2026. Annual figures are the BLS annual estimates, based on hourly wages x 2,080 hours.
The median hairstylist made $17.21 an hour, about $35,790 a year, while the top 10% made more than $34.23 an hour ($71,190 a year). The bottom 10% made less than $13.00 an hour ($27,040). The mean ($43,960) sits well above the median, so a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. In a salon, the gap between those two groups is mostly a full book, rebooked regulars, and color and chemical services priced at what the market will pay.
Hairstylist Salary by State
Where you work changes what you earn. We pulled the median wage for the states with the most hairstylist jobs and for the best-paying areas on the West Coast, plus the national median for reference.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 state estimates, as published by O*NET OnLine (US Department of Labor), 2026.
Washington leads this group at $59,510 a year, followed by Oregon ($57,580) and the District of Columbia ($54,570). The biggest markets pay far less: California’s median is $38,660, New York’s $35,760, Texas’s $30,680, and Florida’s $29,530. So a stylist in Seattle and one in Tampa can do the same balayage and take home very different incomes. Local prices, rent, and minimum wage laws all feed into it, which is why your pricing should follow your own market, not a national average.
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Hairstylist Job Outlook, 2025–2035
The BLS updated its 10-year projections in August 2026. Hairstylist jobs are projected to grow 8%, compared with 3% for all occupations.
| Occupation | 2025 jobs | 2035 projected | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists | 595,000 | 640,900 | +45,900 (8%) |
| Barbers | 75,800 | 78,300 | +2,500 (3%) |
| Barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists (all) | 670,800 | 719,200 | +48,400 (7%) |
Hairstylist jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, faster than barbers (3%). The BLS expects about 80,300 openings a year across barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, most of them to replace people who retire or leave the trade. For owners, that means steady competition for good stylists. Salons that keep their chairs busy have an easier time holding on to the people in them, and our guide on attracting new clients to your salon covers where those bookings come from.
Hair Salon Prices vs Inflation
The BLS tracks what people pay for personal care services such as haircuts, color, and manicures in its Consumer Price Index. Compare that line with overall inflation over the past 10 years.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Personal Care Services and All Items (via FRED), August 2016 to August 2026, updated September 2026. Indexed by Bookedin to August 2016 = 100.
Personal care service prices are up 48% since August 2016, compared with 39% for consumer prices overall. The gap opened during the pandemic and hasn’t closed: in the year to August 2026, service prices rose 4.2% while overall inflation was 3.4%. Clients are already used to salon prices going up. If you’re still charging 2023 rates, a small, clearly explained increase is in line with what the rest of the market has done. Pairing a price change with a reason to book, like the ideas in our beauty salon promotion ideas, softens it.
How Much Consumers Spend on Hair and Personal Care
The BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys ask US households what they spend each year. Its personal care line covers both salon services and products like shampoo and cosmetics.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Personal Care Products and Services, All Consumer Units (via FRED), 2014–2024 data, released December 2025.
The average household spent $978 on personal care products and services in 2024, up from $786 in 2019 and $645 in 2014. Spending dropped to $646 in 2020, when salons were closed for weeks, has risen every year since, and passed its 2019 level in 2022. Personal care is still only about 1.2% of a household’s total spending ($78,535 in 2024), a small line in most budgets.
Hair Salon Industry Statistics in Canada
Canada groups hairstylists with barbers in one occupation code (NOC 63210), which employed 90,500 people in 2023. Job Bank reports wages by province. Look at how wide the gap is between the low and high end in each one.
Source: Government of Canada, Job Bank, Hairstylist wages in Canada, 2023–2024 data, wages updated November 2025. Low and high are the 10th and 90th percentile wages.
The median hairstylist in Canada earns C$19.88 an hour. British Columbia pays the most at C$23.00, followed by Quebec (C$21.63). Ontario, the biggest market, sits below the national median at C$18.00, and Manitoba is lowest at C$16.32. Top earners in British Columbia, Quebec, and Saskatchewan make C$32 or more an hour.
Canada expects 36,100 job openings for hairstylists and barbers from 2024 to 2033, and 36,200 job seekers to fill them, so the market should stay balanced. About three in four openings come from people leaving the trade, mostly through retirement: 38% of workers in this occupation were already 50 or older in 2023. Canadian salon owners should plan for that turnover now.
What These Numbers Mean for Your Business
- Raise prices with the market, not after it. Personal care service prices are up 48% in 10 years and 4.2% in the past year. Salons that haven’t adjusted may be absorbing rising costs out of their margin or their stylists’ pay.
- Pitch stylists like a small business, because you are one. With 48% of hairstylists self-employed, your offer has to beat booth rent: steady bookings, less admin, and a salon people want to work in.
- Protect every booked hour. At the median wage of $17.21, one empty hour a day costs a stylist about $4,300 a year in wages over 250 working days, before counting the lost service revenue. Reminders, deposits, and beauty salon scheduling software that lets clients rebook on their phone cut those gaps.
- Know your local market. Median pay runs from $29,530 in Florida to $59,510 in Washington, and from C$16.32 to C$23.00 an hour across Canadian provinces. Benchmark against your own area.
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References and Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Barbers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, 2025–2035 projections, last modified August 27, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, Table 1: National Employment and Wage Data by Occupation, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, 2024.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, 2022.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, 2020.
- O*NET OnLine (US Department of Labor), Local Wages: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists (39-5012.00), BLS OEWS May 2025 state data for Washington, Oregon, District of Columbia, California, New York, Texas, and Florida, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, Service Annual Survey: Total Revenue for Beauty Shops, All Establishments, Employer Firms, via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), updated January 31, 2024.
- IBISWorld, Hair Salons in the US: Market Size Statistics, 2026.
- IBISWorld, Hair Salons in the US: Number of Businesses Statistics, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Personal Care Services in U.S. City Average, via FRED, updated September 11, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average, via FRED, September 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys: Personal Care Products and Services, All Consumer Units, via FRED, updated December 19, 2025.
- Government of Canada, Job Bank, Hairstylist in Canada: Wages, wage data updated November 19, 2025.
- Employment and Social Development Canada, Canadian Occupational Projection System: Hairstylists and Barbers (NOC 63210), January 30, 2025.
Methodology Note
As of September 2026, this page uses the newest edition of each source. Total hairstylist jobs, class-of-worker shares, and projections come from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025 base year, 2025–2035 projections, updated August 27, 2026), which counts employees and the self-employed. Wages come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for SOC 39-5012, which covers only hairstylists on a payroll (305,710 in May 2025) and excludes booth renters, owners, and other self-employed stylists, so their real earnings can differ. The Handbook’s quick-facts median ($35,880 a year) covers barbers and hairstylists combined; this page uses the hairstylist-only median ($17.21 an hour, $35,790 a year). The OEWS trend uses the May 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 estimates; OEWS is not designed for year-over-year headcount comparisons, so we show wages, not employment, as the trend. State medians are OEWS May 2025 estimates as republished by O*NET OnLine, because the BLS state pages could not be retrieved; they cover seven selected areas, not a full ranking. Annual percentile figures are the BLS annual estimates, which are based on hourly wages multiplied by 2,080 hours. Beauty salon revenue comes from the Census Bureau’s Service Annual Survey (NAICS 812112, employer firms only, 1998–2022) and is not mixed with IBISWorld’s market-size and business-count estimates, which use their own method and a wider scope that is not limited to employer firms. Price trends use August values of the not seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index, indexed by us to August 2016 = 100. Household spending covers personal care products and services combined; the survey does not publish salon services on their own in this series. Canadian figures are in Canadian dollars and cover NOC 63210, which combines hairstylists and barbers. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.
About the Author
With over a decade of experience across startups, online publications, and agencies, Marcy is all about delivering content that connects brands with the audiences they're trying to reach.
