How much dohairstylists make?
Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists earned a median of $35,790 a year in May 2025, according to BLS. The average is much higher, because the top of the range reaches far. Here is the full range, salon versus retail pay, and every state.
Updated October 28, 2026 · SOC 39-5012 (Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists)
Pay at a glance
SOC 39-5012 (Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists)
- $35,790median annual pay for hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists, or $17.21 an hour.
May 2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook; BLS, OEWS May 2025[1][2]
- $71,190or more for the highest-paid 10% (90th percentile).
May 2025BLS, OEWS May 2025[2]
- $43,960mean (average) annual pay, or $21.13 an hour.
May 2025BLS, OEWS May 2025[2]
- $59,510median annual pay in Washington, the highest of any state.
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: highest of the state medians BLS released[2]
What hairstylists earn, from lowest to highest
Hairstylist pay has a long upper end: the mean is well above the median, and the 90th percentile is far above both.
$35,790 median annual pay: half of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists earned more, half less. The 10th percentile was $27,040, the 25th $30,120, the 75th $48,830 and the 90th $71,190.
May 2025BLS, OEWS May 2025[2]
$17.21 median hourly pay. The 10th percentile was $13.00 an hour, the 25th $14.48, the 75th $23.48 and the 90th $34.23.
May 2025BLS, OEWS May 2025[2]
$43,960 mean annual pay, $8,170 above the median of $35,790: the highest earners pull the average above the middle.
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: mean minus median[2]
70.2% of the median for all occupations: $35,790 compared with $50,980.
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: $35,790 ÷ $50,980, rounded to one decimal[2]
305,710 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists on payrolls — the workers these pay figures describe.
May 2025BLS, OEWS May 2025[2]
OEWS pay covers 305,710 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists on payrolls. It leaves out self-employed workers.
Salons pay more than retail
Almost half of hairstylists work for themselves. Of those on a payroll, salon jobs pay more than jobs in retail stores.
$17.39 median hourly pay in personal care services, compared with $14.84 in retail trade.
May 2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[1]
48% of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists are self-employed; 45% work in personal care services and 5% in retail trade.
2025BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook[1]
Where hairstylists earn the most
Washington and Oregon lead on pay; the states with the most stylists on payrolls are not the best paying ones.
$59,510 in Washington, the highest state median. The top five: Washington ($59,510), Oregon ($57,580), District of Columbia ($54,570), South Dakota ($49,800), Vermont ($48,650).
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: state medians sorted from highest; states without a released estimate left out[2]
$26,030 in Louisiana, the lowest state median. The lowest three: Louisiana ($26,030), Mississippi ($27,560), Arkansas ($28,830).
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: state medians sorted from lowest[2]
27,080 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists on payrolls in California, the most of any state. The top five: California (27,080), Florida (23,530), Texas (22,440), New York (20,740), Pennsylvania (19,350).
May 2025CalculationLuvira calculation from BLS, OEWS May 2025: state employment sorted from highest[2]
State medians are not adjusted for living costs. “—” in the table below means BLS did not release the estimate.
Hairstylists pay by state
Median annual pay and the number of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists on payrolls, for every state.
| State | Median annual payMay 2025 · BLS, OEWS May 2025 [2] | Hairstylists on payrollsMay 2025 · BLS, OEWS May 2025 [2] |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $29,150 | 3,300 |
| Alaska | $32,150 | 330 |
| Arizona | $36,810 | 7,840 |
| Arkansas | $28,830 | 1,410 |
| California | $38,660 | 27,080 |
| Colorado | $37,690 | 6,820 |
| Connecticut | $44,620 | 4,090 |
| Delaware | $34,350 | 1,270 |
| District of Columbia | $54,570 | 870 |
| Florida | $29,530 | 23,530 |
| Georgia | $34,560 | 7,910 |
| Hawaii | $35,040 | 930 |
| Idaho | $35,480 | 2,250 |
| Illinois | $34,040 | 13,190 |
| Indiana | $32,830 | 5,920 |
| Iowa | $35,700 | 2,930 |
| Kansas | $29,710 | 2,190 |
| Kentucky | $29,840 | 2,350 |
| Louisiana | $26,030 | 2,720 |
| Maine | $44,000 | 970 |
| Maryland | $36,420 | 5,860 |
| Massachusetts | $37,290 | 9,600 |
| Michigan | $34,820 | 8,970 |
| Minnesota | $39,170 | 5,320 |
| Mississippi | $27,560 | 1,040 |
| Missouri | $30,750 | 5,430 |
| Montana | $38,000 | 690 |
| Nebraska | $34,320 | 1,890 |
| Nevada | $33,840 | 1,940 |
| New Hampshire | $34,650 | 1,950 |
| New Jersey | $36,150 | 15,500 |
| New Mexico | $37,750 | 1,230 |
| New York | $35,760 | 20,740 |
| North Carolina | $38,410 | 8,490 |
| North Dakota | $34,850 | 870 |
| Ohio | $36,260 | 12,890 |
| Oklahoma | $29,650 | 1,920 |
| Oregon | $57,580 | 1,860 |
| Pennsylvania | $36,790 | 19,350 |
| Rhode Island | $31,200 | 1,470 |
| South Carolina | $33,700 | 3,570 |
| South Dakota | $49,800 | 690 |
| Tennessee | $31,310 | 6,080 |
| Texas | $30,680 | 22,440 |
| Utah | $35,140 | 2,810 |
| Vermont | $48,650 | 440 |
| Virginia | — | 10,200 |
| Washington | $59,510 | 6,930 |
| West Virginia | $34,480 | 1,020 |
| Wisconsin | $36,230 | 6,260 |
| Wyoming | $29,170 | 360 |
“—” means BLS did not release the estimate for that state. Self-employed workers are not included.
Related numbers
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Luvira, “How Much Do Hairstylists Make? Pay by State”, October 28, 2026, https://luvira.io/statistics/how-much-do-hairstylists-make. Based on U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
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Sources and method
All sources accessed October 28, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.
- [1]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.
- [2]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
- Earnings of self-employed and booth-renting stylists, because no official source publishes them by occupation.
- Tip and commission splits, because BLS does not publish them for this occupation.
Common questions
About hairstylist pay
The median annual pay for hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists was $35,790 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS). The mean was $43,960, and the highest-paid 10% earned $71,190 or more.
The median was $17.21 an hour in May 2025, from $13.00 at the 10th percentile to $34.23 at the 90th.
BLS reports them as one occupation, so there is no separate official figure for cosmetologists.
Washington had the highest state median in May 2025, at $59,510, followed by Oregon at $57,580.
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