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Hair salon and barbershopindustry statistics

How many beauty salons and barbershops there are in the US, how big they are, what they pay and take in, and how many hairstylists, cosmetologists and barbers work in them. Official numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Updated October 28, 2026 · NAICS 812112 (Beauty Salons), 812111 (Barber Shops) · SOC 39-5012, 39-5011

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Key numbers

The industry at a glance

NAICS 812112 (Beauty Salons), 812111 (Barber Shops) · SOC 39-5012, 39-5011

  • 84,176beauty salons with paid employees.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns[1]

  • 867,242beauty salon businesses without paid employees.

    2024Census, Nonemployer Statistics[2]

  • 7,789barbershops with paid employees.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns[1]

  • 154,456barbershop businesses without paid employees.

    2024Census, Nonemployer Statistics[2]

  • 670,800jobs as barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists, including self-employed.

    2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[3]

Beauty salons

Beauty salons with employees

Beauty salons are the largest group of personal appearance businesses in County Business Patterns. Most locations are small.

  1. 84,176 beauty salon locations with paid employees, up from 82,964 in 2022.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns; Census, County Business Patterns 2022[1][4]

  2. 391,064 employees in mid-March, up from 386,665 a year earlier.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns; Census, County Business Patterns 2022[1][4]

  3. $12,403,477,000 in annual payroll at beauty salons with employees.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns[1]

  4. 68.7% of beauty salons with employees had fewer than 5 employees: 57,809 of 84,176. Another 15,499 had 5 to 9 and 7,969 had 10 to 19.

    2023CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, County Business Patterns: 57,809 ÷ 84,176, rounded to one decimal[1]

  5. $31,717 payroll per employee at beauty salons.

    2023CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, County Business Patterns: annual payroll $12,403,477,000 ÷ 391,064 mid-March employees, rounded to the dollar; part-time jobs count as one employee[1]

Barbershops

Barbershops with employees

Barbershops are counted in their own class. They are fewer and even smaller than beauty salons, and their number grew faster from 2022 to 2023.

  1. 7,789 barbershop locations with paid employees, up from 7,363 in 2022.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns; Census, County Business Patterns 2022[1][4]

  2. +5.8% more barbershops with employees than a year earlier (+426 locations).

    2022–2023CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, County Business Patterns; Census, County Business Patterns 2022: (7,789 − 7,363) ÷ 7,363, rounded to one decimal[1][4]

  3. 29,017 employees at barbershops in mid-March, with $976,905,000 in annual payroll.

    2023Census, County Business Patterns[1]

  4. 75.5% of barbershops with employees had fewer than 5 employees: 5,884 of 7,789.

    2023CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, County Business Patterns: 5,884 ÷ 7,789, rounded to one decimal[1]

Solo businesses

Salons and barbers without employees

Far more hair businesses run without any employees than with them. Nonemployer Statistics is published one year later than County Business Patterns, so the years differ.

  1. 867,242 beauty salon businesses without paid employees, up from 838,264 in 2023, with $26,738,393,000 in receipts.

    2024Census, Nonemployer Statistics; Census, Nonemployer Statistics 2023[2][5]

  2. 154,456 barbershop businesses without paid employees, up from 141,769 in 2023, with $5,070,906,000 in receipts.

    2024Census, Nonemployer Statistics; Census, Nonemployer Statistics 2023[2][5]

  3. +8.9% more barbershop businesses without employees than a year earlier (+12,687); beauty salons without employees grew 3.5% (+28,978).

    2023–2024CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, Nonemployer Statistics; Census, Nonemployer Statistics 2023: change ÷ 2023 count, rounded to one decimal[2][5]

  4. $30,832 average receipts per beauty salon business without employees; $32,831 per barbershop business without employees.

    2024CalculationLuvira calculation from Census, Nonemployer Statistics: receipts ÷ number of businesses, rounded to the dollar[2]

Receipts are what the business took in before costs, not what the owner earned.

Workers & outlook

Hairstylists, cosmetologists and barbers

Self-employment is common in hair, and very common among barbers. BLS expects jobs to grow much faster than average overall, with most of the growth among hairstylists and cosmetologists.

  1. 595,000 jobs as hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists and 75,800 jobs as barbers.

    2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[3]

  2. 80% of barbers are self-employed, compared with 48% of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists.

    2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[3]

  3. 7% projected job growth for the group, from 670,800 to 719,200 jobs (+48,400): 8% for hairstylists and cosmetologists, 3% for barbers.

    2025–2035BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[3]

  4. 80,300 openings projected each year, on average, over the decade.

    2025–2035BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[3]

By state

Beauty salons and barbershops by state

Locations with employees, businesses without employees, and hairstylists on payrolls, for every state.

Beauty salons and barbershops by state
StateBeauty salons with employees2023 · Census, County Business Patterns [1]Beauty salons without employees2024 · Census, Nonemployer Statistics [2]Barbershops with employees2023 · Census, County Business Patterns [1]Barbershops without employees2024 · Census, Nonemployer Statistics [2]Hairstylists on payrollsMay 2025 · BLS, OEWS May 2025 [6]
Alabama74016,638552,6363,300
Alaska14391314152330
Arizona1,71114,4592063,3317,840
Arkansas4539,472361,2641,410
California8,73393,18159418,03627,080
Colorado2,02911,8371891,6956,820
Connecticut1,0496,876791,5484,090
Delaware2771,758313181,270
District of Columbia1541,65315214870
Florida7,53478,31780816,49223,530
Georgia2,56349,2972128,1257,910
Hawaii3352,23948369930
Idaho4035,048335462,250
Illinois3,34636,1052946,64113,190
Indiana1,43817,8001262,5805,920
Iowa7966,591286212,930
Kansas6546,139448292,190
Kentucky68010,281471,6142,350
Louisiana69920,386643,6702,720
Maine2932,88020331970
Maryland1,48114,5441292,7255,860
Massachusetts2,56911,2641642,9389,600
Michigan2,17035,9551884,9978,970
Minnesota1,5219,933881,1445,320
Mississippi30213,915282,3291,040
Missouri1,23615,4611272,0065,430
Montana2242,84817202690
Nebraska5964,308354371,890
Nevada65610,300641,7681,940
New Hampshire4032,853264861,950
New Jersey3,72713,8975603,57415,500
New Mexico3623,147337861,230
New York7,12442,1991,00010,14320,740
North Carolina2,22632,1551944,5698,490
North Dakota2401,39720136870
Ohio2,71829,1371544,58012,890
Oklahoma67510,544601,2961,920
Oregon8008,517851,0021,860
Pennsylvania4,84618,4673014,57019,350
Rhode Island3872,534275471,470
South Carolina1,05218,440982,6663,570
South Dakota1601,8778137690
Tennessee1,06225,4671153,9906,080
Texas5,74088,57760518,01622,440
Utah9599,0821051,1242,810
Vermont1441,137893440
Virginia2,60217,6062603,31910,200
Washington2,16812,8111921,9066,930
West Virginia2773,271174361,020
Wisconsin1,59212,3291331,4026,260
Wyoming1271,4005120360

Hairstylists on payrolls leave out the self-employed, so they do not add up to the national number of jobs.

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Luvira, “Hair Salon & Barbershop Industry Statistics”, October 28, 2026, https://luvira.io/statistics/hair-salon-and-barbershop-industry. Based on U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

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<a href="https://luvira.io/statistics/hair-salon-and-barbershop-industry">Hair Salon & Barbershop Industry Statistics</a> (Luvira, based on Census Bureau and BLS data)
Sources

Sources and method

All sources accessed October 28, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.

  1. [1]U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (U.S. and state files)Establishments with paid employees only. Employment as of mid-March; payroll for the full year.
  2. [2]U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (U.S. and state files)Businesses without paid employees. Receipts are published in thousands of dollars; the totals here are written out.
  3. [3]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Barbers, Hairstylists, and CosmetologistsNumber of jobs includes self-employed workers; projections cover 2025 to 2035. Pay is the May 2025 OEWS estimate for wage and salary workers.
  4. [4]U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (U.S. file)
  5. [5]U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 (U.S. file)
  6. [6]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: national and state estimatesRead through the BLS Public Data API (series OEUN… for the nation, OEUS… for states). OEWS counts wage and salary jobs only, so self-employed workers are not included. Estimates BLS does not release are shown as “—”.

How we built this page

  • Only official sources: the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. No paid market research, no trade-group surveys, no job-board salaries.
  • Numbers are written exactly as the agency published them. Numbers we worked out, such as shares, changes and averages per business, are labeled “Calculation” and show how they were calculated.
  • Pay figures cover workers on a payroll. The self-employed are counted in the number of jobs but not in the pay data.

Left out on purpose

  • Revenue of salons with employees, because County Business Patterns publishes payroll, not receipts, for these classes.
  • Market-size estimates from paid research firms and trade groups, because their methods cannot be checked.
FAQ

Common questions

About hair salon & barbershop industry

The Census Bureau counted 84,176 beauty salons with paid employees in 2023 and 867,242 beauty salon businesses without employees in 2024. Barbershops are counted separately: 7,789 with employees in 2023 and 154,456 without in 2024.

7,789 barbershops had paid employees in 2023, up from 7,363 in 2022 (County Business Patterns, NAICS 812111). Another 154,456 barbershop businesses had no employees in 2024.

Nearly half are: BLS reports 48% of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists as self-employed, and 80% of barbers.

California, with 8,733 beauty salons with employees in 2023 and 93,181 beauty salon businesses without employees in 2024. The state table above lists every state.

Yes. Each number links to the Census Bureau or BLS page it comes from. Please cite the agency, and link to this page if it helped you find the numbers.

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