How much do makeup artists make a year?

No official yearly figure covers freelance makeup artists, because BLS leaves out the self-employed. The one artist we found who published a full year, Julie Ruby in Fort Wayne, Indiana, grossed $66,284.03 in 2025 from 41 weddings and esthetics work, before expenses and tax. The calculator above runs your own year.

How much do makeup artists make an hour?

Employed hairstylists and cosmetologists, the job BLS counts wedding makeup artists in, earn a median of $17.21 an hour. Employed film, TV and stage makeup artists earn $46.71 an hour. Both are BLS May 2025 figures for employees only. Most freelance price lists we found charge per face, not per hour.

How much should a makeup artist charge?

This page sets no price. Four artists' own 2026 and 2027 price lists charge $225 to $575 for a bride's wedding-day makeup and $125 to $200 for each bridesmaid. Kyahriley charged $65 to $95 a look in her studio in about 2024. Prices are what customers pay, not take-home pay.

How much do bridal makeup artists make?

Julie Ruby, a bridal artist in Fort Wayne, Indiana, grossed $66,284.03 in 2025 from 41 weddings plus esthetics work, before expenses and tax. Her months ran from $2,425.88 in December to $8,383.53 in August. BLS counts wedding makeup artists with hairstylists: a median of $35,790, employees only.

Do makeup artists make good money?

No official figure settles it. The $97,150 BLS median covers only 2,340 employed film, TV and stage artists, and it was $50,280 a year earlier. Wedding makeup artists are counted with hairstylists, at a median of $35,790, below the $50,980 median for all US workers. Both leave the self-employed out.

How much do makeup artists charge for a trial?

On four artists' own price lists, a makeup trial costs $175 (Coast Artistry, Laguna Beach, 2026) to $325 (Jennifer Ballard, Milford, Connecticut, 2027). Jenny Le in Charlotte charges $200 for one look, and Tease To Please in Dallas-Fort Worth charges $200. These are prices, not pay.

How much do Hollywood makeup artists make?

Employed makeup artists in the motion picture industry earn a median of $140,870 a year. Film, TV and stage makeup artists in the Los Angeles metro have the same median, across 780 jobs (BLS, May 2025, employees only). In New York, IATSE Local 798's second-artist minimum is $565.67 a day, $588.30 from March 2026.

How much do SFX makeup artists make?

BLS names special effects makeup artist as the example job for film, TV and stage makeup artists. Their employed median is $97,150 a year, or $46.71 an hour, across 2,340 jobs (May 2025). The figure swings: it was $50,280 in May 2024. The self-employed are not in it.

Do you need a license to be a makeup artist?

It depends on the state, and several states changed their rules recently, so check your state board. Florida and Texas need no license for makeup application alone. New York counts makeup as esthetics, which needs a license. Nevada has makeup artists in licensed establishments register each year.

How much do makeup artists make in California, New York or Florida?

Employed film, TV and stage makeup artists, BLS May 2025: California $140,870 a year, New York $97,150, Florida $82,400. Hairstylists and cosmetologists, the job wedding artists are counted in: California $38,660, New York $35,760, Florida $29,530. Employees only. The ZIP tool above shows your area.

Can makeup artists make 6 figures?

Some employed film, TV and stage makeup artists do: the top 10% earn more than $167,470 a year, and the median is $97,150 (BLS, May 2025). On the bridal side, the one artist we found with a published year, Julie Ruby, grossed $66,284 in 2025, before expenses.

Do makeup artists make more than hairstylists?

Employed film, TV and stage makeup artists do: a median of $97,150 a year against $35,790 for hairstylists, BLS May 2025. But BLS counts wedding makeup artists inside the hairstylist figure, so for bridal work the official number is the same one. Both leave out the self-employed.

Makeup artist pay

How Much Do Makeup Artists Make?

Q: How much do makeup artists make?

It depends on the work. Employed film, TV and stage makeup artists earn a median of $97,150 a year, across only 2,340 jobs (BLS, May 2025). BLS counts wedding makeup artists with hairstylists, whose median is $35,790. Both count employees only. Bridal artist Julie Ruby grossed $66,284 in 2025, before expenses.

Q: Do you tip makeup artists?

That is the customer's call, and this page gives no amount. The IRS lists makeup artists as an occupation that customarily receives tips (entry 607), naming wedding and party makeup artists. A tip is income to the artist, and qualified tips can count toward the federal deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028.

The official makeup artist pay figure most often quoted counts only employed artists in film, TV and stage work. BLS counts wedding and event makeup artists in a different job, with hairstylists and cosmetologists, and both figures leave the self-employed out.

So this page sets both official figures beside one bridal artist's published year and the prices working artists publish. Type your ZIP code below to see your area, and use the calculator to run your own numbers.

$35,790 a year

Median for employed hairstylists and cosmetologists, the job BLS counts wedding makeup artists in (BLS, May 2025)[1]

Hairstylists are most of the count. The 48% who are self-employed are left out.

$97,150 a year

Median for employed film, TV and stage makeup artists, across 2,340 jobs (BLS, May 2025)[1]

Bridal and retail artists are not in it. A small group: 3,320 jobs and $50,280 in 2024.

$66,284 in 2025

Julie Ruby's gross from 41 weddings plus esthetics work, Fort Wayne, Indiana, as she published it[24]

Before expenses and tax. One artist who chose to publish her year.

Which of these you would be depends mostly on whether you work weddings, a film set or a salon chair.

Makeup artist pay near you

In the job BLS counts wedding makeup artists in, the Seattle area's median is $59,810 a year, 67% above the national $35,790

BLS publishes no local figure for wedding makeup artists. So the tool shows local pay for the job BLS counts them in, hairstylists and cosmetologists, plus what one-person beauty salons gross in your county, makeup salons included. All 40,767 US ZIP codes are matched.

Your ZIP code

The New York metro's median for employed hairstylists is $36,120 a year, within 1% of the national median

BLS May 2025: $36,120 in the New York metro against $35,790 nationally. This is the job BLS counts wedding makeup artists in, employees only, with hairstylists making up most of it.

One-person beauty salons gross 32% above the national average in Travis County (Austin) and 13% above it in Miami-Dade

Census 2024: $40,851 a year in Travis County and $34,713 in Miami-Dade, against $30,831 nationally. Employed hairstylists in those metros earn medians of $35,220 and $29,790, below the national $35,790 (BLS).

Washington and Oregon have the highest state medians for employed hairstylists: $59,510 and $57,580 a year

BLS May 2025 state medians, against $35,790 nationally. Self-employed hairstylists and makeup artists are not in these figures.

Sources: BLS May 2025 area wages for hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists (SOC 39-5012), employees only; Census 2024 Nonemployer Statistics by county for beauty salons (NAICS 812112), which includes makeup salons; the Census 2020 ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes; state statutes and boards for the licensing lines. The tool does not use the film, TV and stage makeup job (SOC 39-5091), because BLS publishes it for only 5 metro areas. Census receipts are gross, before costs and tax, with hair salons and part-timers in the same figure. No agency publishes makeup prices by area, so the calculator applies the area's pay level to the price per face; that is our assumption, not a measurement. The lookup runs in your browser. It loads a small file for the first three digits of your ZIP code from this site and sends nothing else.

Makeup artist pay by state

Employed film, TV and stage makeup artists earn medians of $143,230 a year in Georgia and $140,870 in California, the highest BLS publishes

BLS publishes film, TV and stage makeup pay for only five states and Washington, DC, so the table shows the wedding side instead. The first column is the median for employed hairstylists and cosmetologists, the job BLS counts wedding makeup artists in. The second is what one-person beauty salons gross, before costs and tax.

State	Hairstylists and cosmetologists, median a year (BLS May 2025)	One-person beauty salon, average gross (Census 2024)
United States	$35,790	$30,831
Highest five
Washington	$59,510	$44,031
Oregon	$57,580	$39,812
District of Columbia	$54,570	$25,082
South Dakota	$49,800	$40,908
Vermont	$48,650	$41,792
Lowest five
Louisiana	$26,030	$21,783
Mississippi	$27,560	$20,601
Arkansas	$28,830	$25,521
Alabama	$29,150	$24,013
Wyoming	$29,170	$34,551
Most people employed in this job
California	$38,660	$36,817
Florida	$29,530	$31,404
Texas	$30,680	$29,918
New York	$35,760	$29,289
Pennsylvania	$36,790	$28,154
New Jersey	$36,150	$30,494

BLS May 2025 state medians for hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists (SOC 39-5012), employees only; Census 2024 Nonemployer Statistics for beauty salons (NAICS 812112), which includes makeup salons, gross receipts before costs, part-timers included. Film, TV and stage makeup artists' pay by state (Georgia 200 jobs, California 830) is in the questions below.

Weddings or film and TV

The biggest pay decision: book brides by the face, or work sets by the day

Most of the gap between the numbers at the top of this page comes from this choice. The wedding prices below come from four artists' own price lists: Jenny Le (Charlotte, 2027 rates), Jennifer Ballard (Milford, Connecticut, 2027), Coast Artistry (Laguna Beach, 2026) and Tease To Please (Dallas-Fort Worth, 2026). The film and TV figures come from BLS and IATSE Local 798.

Choose one

AFreelance, weddings and events

+A bride's makeup: $225 (Dallas-Fort Worth, Laguna Beach) to $575 (Charlotte)

+Each bridesmaid: $125 to $200 a face on the same lists

+Trials cost $175 to $325; early starts add $50 to $150

−Seasonal: Julie Ruby had 1 wedding in February 2025, 6 in June

−Kit and travel are yours: Ruby drove 4,013 miles in 2021

BFilm, TV and stage (often union)

+Local 798 second artist: $565.67 a day, $588.30 from March 2026

+Department head: $598.39 a day, $622.33 from March 2026

+BLS median in the motion picture industry: $140,870 a year

−830 of the 2,340 jobs BLS counts are in California

−Few jobs, and they swing: 3,320 in 2024, 2,340 in 2025

The calculator below works out the freelance side: weddings, or a Saturday in your own studio.

Makeup artist income calculator

Work out what you would take home before tax

Put in your own numbers to see a year two ways: weddings on weekends, or a Saturday of glam in your own studio. If you entered a ZIP code above, the price per face follows that area's pay level.

Average price per face$150$150 is an example. Four artists' price lists put bridal party makeup at $125 to $200.Faces a working day5Count every face in a working day: the bride, the party, family.Working days a week1Weeks worked a year40Wedding work is seasonal: Julie Ruby had 1 wedding in February 2025 and 6 in June.Average tip10%An example. Use your own.

Faces you do in a year$30,000
Your share$30,000
Tips+ $3,000
Card fees− $990

Before tax, a year$32,010about $616 a week

Example figures from the sources named, checked in October 2026. Tax is not taken off, and neither are kit, products or travel. The 3% card fee is close to a card processor's published US rate, 2.9% plus 30 cents a payment. With a ZIP code entered, the price per face follows that area's pay level.

Do you tip makeup artists

Tipping is the second most-asked makeup pay topic, and makeup artists have their own entry on the IRS list of tipped jobs

Tipping drew 101 phrasings on our chart, behind only pay per face or client at 110. These are the federal rules as the IRS states them, not tax advice.

Makeup artists are entry 607 on the IRS list of tipped occupations[10]

Entry 607 reads "Makeup artists: Design and apply makeup looks," with the example titles "Wedding makeup artist, party makeup artist." The IRS links it to the film, TV and stage job, while BLS counts wedding makeup artists with hairstylists. The two agencies file them differently.

Up to $25,000 of qualified tips can be deducted, for tax years 2025 through 2028[11]

Employees and the self-employed can both claim it. It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $300,000 for joint filers. Tips must be paid voluntarily.

For a self-employed makeup artist, the deduction cannot exceed the net income of the business[11]

The IRS sets that limit for the self-employed, who can claim the deduction alongside employees. Net income is what the business keeps after its expenses, not what customers paid.

Kyahriley's customers tipped $5 to $20 each on one Saturday in her studio[26]

She filmed a Saturday of eight clients in about 2024 and counted tips in her $1,190 total. One customer tipped $15 on a $65 look. That is one day in one studio.

Real makeup artist income

What working makeup artists say they made, in their own words

These artists published their own numbers on video. Every figure is theirs, unverified, labeled with its period and with gross or net as they said it. No film, union or makeup counter artist published their own pay in the period we searched, 2023 to 2026, so none appears here.

$66,284.03

in 2025, gross, before expenses and taxes, makeup and esthetics together

Julie Ruby

YouTube · about March 2026 · Fort Wayne, Indiana

Freelance, weddings and eventsBridal makeup, and esthetics since 2024

41 weddings. Her months ran from $2,425.88 in December to $8,383.53 in August. Esthetics paid more than makeup in some months. She sells an accounting spreadsheet template.

$1,190

one Saturday, 11 to 5, gross, tips and deposits included

Kyahriley

YouTube, Kyahrileymakeup · about October 2024

Salon ownerSoft glam

Eight clients at $65 to $95 a look, tips of $5 to $20. Before products and rent. Her third year owning a small makeup salon with two other artists.

$500 for three faces

one booking, plus a resort stay; she gave no yearly figure

Paris Williams

YouTube · about October 2024 · Virginia, formerly Los Angeles

Freelance and commercialBridal, commercial, TV and film

She said she has made more than $1,000 for one face and $1,000 to $2,000 on a commercial. Her video opens with an offer to help artists set prices, so she may sell coaching.

How much do new makeup artists make

Julie Ruby grossed $8,237 in her first bridal year, 2019, and $27,922 in her third

No agency publishes makeup artist pay by years of experience. One bridal artist in Fort Wayne, Indiana, published her first three years, gross, before expenses, with the number of weddings in each.

In 2019, her first year, Julie Ruby grossed $8,237 from 10 weddings[25]

Her expenses that year were $1,799.10, and she drove 2,235 miles. She said the cost of living in Indiana is low.

She grossed $10,467 in 2020 and $27,922 in 2021, from 16 and then 38 weddings[25][24]

2020 was the COVID year. In 2021 her expenses rose to $8,669.65 and her driving to 4,013 miles. By 2025 she grossed $66,284.03, esthetics included.

Florida and Texas need no license for makeup alone; New York counts makeup as esthetics[13][14][15][16]

Rules differ by state, and several states changed theirs recently, so check your state board. New York's esthetician license covers makeup for special events; New York City says makeup artists at theaters do not need it.

What people ask about makeup artist pay

Each bar counts the distinct ways people phrase the question in Google's suggestions, from fixed starting points per row at the same depth for every row, so the numbers compare. Phrasings that name a place are counted separately.

about payaround the edgesthe control

Per face or client

110

Tipping makeup artists

101

Per year

Bridal

Sephora, MAC and counters

Is it worth it

Per hour

Film, TV and theater

Freelance

Starting out

Domain and email

By state or city

Pay per face or client is the most-asked makeup pay question, at 110 phrasings

Per face or client drew 110 distinct phrasings, the top row on the chart. Pay per year drew 65 and pay per hour 25. Published prices per face are in the fork above.

Tipping makeup artists is the second most-asked row, at 101 phrasings

Tipping drew 101 phrasings, well ahead of pay per year at 65. The IRS rules on tips are in the section above.

Bridal pay drew 50 phrasings, and 36 more that name a place, the most of any row

We counted phrasings that name a state or city separately. Bridal had 36, per year 16 and film, TV and theater 16. That is why the ZIP tool sits near the top of this page.

Measured by us in October 2026, from Google's US suggestions. A row on makeup school was measured too, at 176 phrasings and 197 more that name a place, and left off because it is about what training costs, not what the work pays.

Makeup artist pay questions

Booking software for makeup artistsFor an artist booking brides and events on their own: the booking side of the wedding road in the fork above.How to start a makeup artist businessWhat to set up first if you are going freelance.How much do hair stylists makeThe BLS job wedding makeup artists are counted in, with the same ZIP data.

If you book brides and events on your own, take trials and deposits online without chasing messages.

The free plan takes your first 100 bookings without a credit card. It is a permanent plan, not a trial.

A booking page that works as the link in your Instagram bio
Each service with its own length and price: a bridal trial, a wedding-day face, an event glam
A deposit at booking, or a card on file charged with the customer's permission, into your own Stripe account
Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card at the chair or on location with no reader

Free to start. No credit card needed.

A makeup artist touches up an actor's face with a brush on a film set, a monitor and light stands behind

A makeup artist pulls a rolling hard case through a hotel lobby early in the morning with a ring light bag on her shoulder

An open makeup kit by a window with foundation bottles, palettes and rows of brushes

The kiwilaunch iPhone app showing today's bookings and payments

Services

Book now

Sources

Where every number on this page comes from, with the release or date we used.

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists (39-5012) and Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (39-5091), national, industry, state, metro and nonmetro areas, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-05-15 Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. Industry, state and metro figures from the oesm25in4, oesm25st and oesm25ma files. 39-5091 is published for 5 states and DC and 5 metro areas.
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024: Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (39-5091), national, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 3,320 jobs and a median of $50,280 a year, for comparison with May 2025.
2018 Standard Occupational Classification definitions, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 39-5091 covers makeup applied to performers, with Special Effects Makeup Artist as the example. 39-5012 may apply makeup.
2018 SOC Direct Match Title File, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Lists Wedding Makeup Artist under 39-5012, Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists.
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Barbers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 48% of hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists are self-employed; May 2025 hourly wages. The OOH index sends Wedding Makeup Artist to this profile.
Nonemployer Statistics 2024: Beauty Salons (NAICS 812112), national, state and county, U.S. Census Bureau, 2026-09-29 Gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. Makeup salons are in this code with hair salons. Part-time businesses included.
2022 NAICS Index File, U.S. Census Bureau Places "Makeup (except permanent) salons" in 812112, Beauty Salons.
2020 ZCTA to County Relationship File, U.S. Census Bureau, 2021-12-09 Used by the ZIP tool to match a ZIP code to a county.
2020 Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes, ZIP code file, USDA Economic Research Service Used by the ZIP tool to label an area urban core, suburban, small city or rural.
Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-06-28 Entry 607: Makeup artists. Example titles: wedding makeup artist, party makeup artist. Related SOC code 39-5091.
IRS Tax Tip 2026-06: How to take advantage of no tax on tips and overtime, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-01-26 The $25,000 cap, the phase-out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint) and the net-income limit for the self-employed. The 2025 through 2028 tax years are from IRS Topic 761.
Topic no. 761, Tips: withholding and reporting, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-10-12 The deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028.
Florida Statutes 477.0135, Exemptions, Florida Legislature 2026 Florida Statutes. No license or registration for work confined solely to makeup application.
Barbering and Cosmetology: Who Regulates What, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation "Makeup Application: Not regulated and does not require a license in Texas."
Esthetics, New York Department of State Defines esthetics as including makeup; the license covers makeup for special events and film or television productions.
Esthetics License, NYC MyCity Business "Make-over consultants and make-up artists at theaters do not need this license."
NRS 644A.395, Makeup artists: registration, Nevada Legislature, via Nevada Public Law A mirror of the statute text; the official NRS site could not be reached. Annual registration by January 1, fee not more than $25.
2025-28 Make-Up and Hair Stylists, Local 798 Wage Rates, IATSE Local 798, 2025-02-26 Article 11(a)(1) minimum daily rates for theatrical and television motion pictures. Overtime and fringes are in the agreement.
Four makeup artists' published wedding price lists, Various Jenny Le, Jennifer Ballard, Coast Artistry and Tease To Please, below. Prices as published, not earnings.
Jenny Le Makeup, Wedding Rates 2027, Jenny Le Makeup, Charlotte, North Carolina Ceremony makeup $575 local; trial $200; party makeup $185 to $200; early-start fees $50 to $150.
Jennifer Ballard, Connecticut makeup artist prices, Jennifer Ballard, Milford, Connecticut 2027 waitlist. Bride $350; wedding makeup preview $325; party $185.
Coast Artistry pricing, Coast Artistry (Brie), Laguna Beach, California 2026. Bride makeup $225 when others book too; makeup-only trial $175; bridesmaids $125 to $150.
Tease To Please, 2026 Wedding Pricing, Tease To Please, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Bride makeup $225; trial $200; attendant $125; early start $60 before 8 am.
Julie Ruby, How Much Money I Make as a Makeup Artist & Esthetician, YouTube Upload date approximate, about March 2026. Calendar 2025, gross, month by month. She sells an accounting spreadsheet template.
Julie Ruby, How much money I make as a makeup artist: first year vs. current year, YouTube Upload date approximate, about October 2022. 2019 to 2021 gross, expenses and mileage.
Kyahriley, 6-hour Earning Potential as a Makeup Artist, YouTube, Kyahrileymakeup Upload date approximate, about October 2024. One Saturday, gross, tips and deposits included.
Paris Williams, How to be a Successful Makeup Artist: Tips & Tricks, YouTube Upload date approximate, about October 2024. Prices per booking; no yearly figure. Possibly sells coaching.
Named makeup artists' own figures, Various the named artists above
Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator

Not tax, legal or financial advice. Prices, pay and what you keep vary by state and city, licensing rules differ by state, and the tax rules on tips have conditions. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.