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Salon owner income

How Much Do Salon Owners Make?

No agency counts what salon owners take home. The Census Bureau counts the gross receipts of one-person salons, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has no salon-owner code, only one for salaried personal service managers. Among hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists, 48% are self-employed, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

We found no salon owner who published their own income without also selling courses or coaching, so this page uses official figures, salons' own published rents and one salon's commission contract. Below are three figures side by side, a ZIP code tool and a calculator for what your chairs bring in.

A salon owner with short dark hair and a black apron checking appointments on a tablet at the front desk of a small salon while a stylist cuts a client's hair behind her.
$30,831 a year
Average gross receipts of a beauty salon with no employees, before costs, Census 2024, across 867,242 salons[3]
Rent, products and tax still come out of it, and every salon with staff.
$69,770 a year
Median for salaried personal service managers, the nearest BLS figure for running a salon, May 2025[1]
Owners, who are self-employed. A thin series: 10,450 jobs, and not salon-only.
$118,710 a year
Where the top-paid tenth of those salaried managers start, BLS, May 2025[1]
Owners, and the 90% of managers paid less than this.

Which of these you are near depends on whether you work your own chair alone, rent chairs out, or run a commission team.

Salon income near you

One-person salons in King County, Washington gross $52,480 on average before costs, against $30,831 nationally

Every US ZIP code is matched. Census publishes one-person beauty salon receipts for 3,026 counties, the owner figure, and 451 of the 528 BLS areas publish a stylist median, the staff wage. The tool shows both where it has them.

King County, Washington: one-person salons gross $52,480, 70% above the national average
Census 2024: the 2,949 beauty salons with no employees in King County grossed an average of $52,480 each, before rent, products and tax. Employed stylists in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, the staff wage a salon there pays or competes with, earn a median of $59,810 a year (BLS, May 2025).
New York County, New York: one-person salons gross $35,894, 16% above the national average
Census 2024: 3,135 one-person beauty salons in Manhattan's county averaged $35,894 in gross receipts, before costs. The staff wage across New York-Newark-Jersey City is a median of $36,120 a year for employed stylists (BLS, May 2025).
Harris County, Texas: one-person salons gross $26,590, 14% below the national average
Census 2024: Harris County has 18,179 beauty salons with no employees, averaging $26,590 each before costs. Employed stylists in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands earn a median of $31,080 a year (BLS, May 2025).

Sources: Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 812112 beauty salons, by county, 3,026 counties: average gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 39-5012, by area, employees only: the staff wage, the same data our hair stylists pay page uses. ZIP codes are matched to counties with the Census ZIP-to-county file and sorted into urban and rural with the USDA rural-urban codes. No agency publishes self-employed pay by area. Your full ZIP code is not sent or stored.

Salon income by state

One-person salons gross $51,716 on average in Alaska and $20,601 in Mississippi

Census averages for one-person beauty salons run from $51,716 a year in Alaska to $20,601 in Mississippi, before rent, products and tax. The table sets each state's figure beside the staff wage, the median for employed hairstylists and cosmetologists. Its highest and lowest five rows are ranked by the Census figure, so Washington sits fourth on salon receipts while it leads every state on the staff wage, at $59,510 a year or $28.61 an hour.

StateOne-person beauty salon, average gross before costs (Census 2024)Employed hairstylists and cosmetologists, median a year, the staff wage (BLS May 2025)
United States$30,831$35,790
Highest five
Alaska$51,716$32,150
New Hampshire$48,168$34,650
Hawaii$44,198$35,040
Washington$44,031$59,510
North Dakota$43,022$34,850
Lowest five
Mississippi$20,601$27,560
Louisiana$21,783$26,030
Georgia$23,892$34,560
Alabama$24,013$29,150
District of Columbia$25,082$54,570
Most one-person salons
California$36,817$38,660
Texas$29,918$30,680
Florida$31,404$29,530
New York$29,289$35,760
Illinois$27,560$34,040
Michigan$25,156$34,820

First column: Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 812112 beauty salons by state, average gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. Second column: BLS OEWS May 2025 state medians for SOC 39-5012, hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists, employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed.

Booth rent or commission

A chair rented at $150 to $250 a week brings a salon $7,800 to $13,000 a year

A salon owner earns from other stylists in one of two ways: rent out chairs or suites for a weekly rent, or employ stylists on commission and keep the salon's share of their services. Here are six salons' published rents and one salon's commission contract. None of them is a survey, and none is the going rate.

Choose one
ARenting chairs or suites out
+Open-floor booths, as each salon publishes them: Artistic Elements Salon in Chesterland, Ohio, $150 a week or $600 a month; Bb Salon Suites in Columbus, Ohio, $150 a week with all materials and Wi-Fi included; B & Co. Beauty Bar in Beachwood, Ohio, $165 a week or $620 a month; Spoleti Salon in Austin and Pflugerville, Texas, $180 a week for a station of one's own.
+Private suites: Lana Salon Suites in Lexington, Kentucky, $199 a week with utilities, WiFi, cleaning, reception, chair and equipment included; Venus Salon Suites in Frisco, Texas, $250 a week, liability insurance not included. Their owners run suite buildings and are landlords more than salon owners, but salon suites are the most-asked topic in our demand measurement, so suite rent sits here beside booth rent as an owner income line.
+At $150 to $250 a week over 52 weeks, one chair or suite brings in $7,800 to $13,000 a year (our arithmetic).
+Part-time renters pay less at one salon: Artistic Elements lists $93 a week for three days and $63 a week for two.
−That is income before the owner's lease, utilities, supplies and anything the rent includes. Artistic Elements' rent covers booth space, supply storage, water, gas, internet and towels; B & Co. does not say whether utilities or product are included.
−Rent comes in only for the chairs that are filled.
−The renter keeps their own service income: Spoleti Salon says independent stylists keep 100% of their service revenue.
BRunning a commission salon
+The owner keeps the salon's share of what each stylist brings in, so income rises with the services the team sells.
+One Georgia salon's stylist contract form, from Elegant Expressions Beauty and Style Salon, gives the stylist "fifty percent (50%) of the total revenue generated from hair services" and the salon keeps the other 50%, with the stylist paid every two weeks. It is one salon's contract form, not a survey and not a market rate.
−The salon pays for what it supplies. Spoleti Salon's commission page lists clients, booking, marketing, training and a "fully stocked backbar" as what the salon provides.
−This is the wage a commission salon competes with: employed hairstylists and cosmetologists earn a median of $35,790 a year, or $17.21 an hour (BLS, May 2025), the figure our hair stylists pay page leads with. By state: California $38,660, Texas $30,680, Florida $29,530 and New York $35,760.

We found no figure, official or trade, for what an owner keeps after costs under either model. The Census average of $30,831 is what salons with no staff gross, before costs. Whether the stylist in your chair is a renter or an employee is a legal line, not a pay choice: the section on booth renters and employees below sets out what four states and the Labor Department say.

Salon chair income calculator

Work out what your chairs bring in a year before costs

Put in what one chair brings in a week, how many chairs are filled and how many weeks a year they earn. For booth rent, that is the weekly rent; for commission, what a chair takes in services. The result is before costs: subtract your own lease, utilities and products.

  • Chair income in a year$37,440
  • The salon keeps$37,440
Before costs and tax, a year$37,440about $720 a week

Checked November 2026. The salon's own lease, utilities, products, front desk and insurance are not deducted; subtract your own. Your own services at your own chair are not included. Chairs and weeks are examples. With a ZIP code entered, the weekly figure follows that area's stylist pay level.

Booth renters and employees

All four states whose rules we read license the salon itself, and Oregon also registers booth renters

The Occupational Outlook Handbook describes both sides of the chair: "Some lease booth space from a salon owner. Others manage salons or open their own shop after several years of gaining experience." BLS counts about 595,000 hairdresser, hairstylist and cosmetologist jobs in 2025, 48% of them self-employed, and about 75,800 barber jobs, 80% self-employed. Whether the person at your station rents it or works for you is set by state rules and federal labor guidance.

Texas lets a licensed salon lease space to licensed stylists[7]

A Texas salon needs an establishment license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The department says: "Establishments may lease space to any mini-establishment licensee or individual practitioner who holds a valid barbering or cosmetology license in Texas." Renters hold their own personal license.

Oregon requires a booth renter to hold an independent contractor registration[8]

Oregon's Health Licensing Office says "All practitioners who provide services in Oregon must do so in a licensed facility." A booth renter needs a registration of their own as well: "The third type of cosmetology business license is an independent contractor registration."

In California only the salon's owner can apply for the establishment license[9]

California's Board of Barbering and Cosmetology requires an establishment license for board-regulated services, and "only the owner of the establishment may apply for an establishment license." The board "does not differentiate between independent contractors, booth renters, or employees."

A 1099 alone does not make a stylist a booth renter[5]

A Labor Department flyer written for salon workers lists what points toward contractor status: renting a booth, buying your own supplies, keeping your own clients and setting your own prices. Handing someone a 1099 does not decide it on its own.

What it takes to open a salon

Florida law says no salon may operate without a license from the state

The Occupational Outlook Handbook says some stylists manage salons or open their own shop after several years of gaining experience. Opening costs are the second most-asked topic in our demand measurement, but no source we read publishes what it costs to open a salon, so this page gives no figure.

Owning a salon adds hiring, records, supplies and advertising to the work[2]

The handbook lists the extra duties: "Those who operate their own barbershop or salon have managerial duties that may include hiring, supervising, and firing workers. They also may keep business and inventory records, order supplies, and arrange for advertising." It gives no figure for owner income.

Florida sets no separate permit for booth renters[10]

Chapter 477 of the Florida Statutes reads: "No cosmetology salon or specialty salon shall be permitted to operate without a license issued by the department."

California, Florida, Oregon and Texas each license the salon itself

Those are the only four states whose rules we read. Check your own state board before you sign a lease or take on a renter.

What people ask about salon owner income
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
Salon suites
89
Opening costs
78
Salon profit and margin
57
Per year
55
Hair, nail and beauty salons
51
Is it worth it
49
Booth rent and chair rental
28
Commission salons
26
Per month or week
22
Domain and email
4
By state or city
3
Salon suites are the most-asked topic, with 89 phrasings
So this page prints the two suite rents we found and labels them as suites, beside the open-floor booth rents.
Opening costs drew 78 phrasings and profit 57, and no source we read publishes either
People ask what it costs to open a salon and how much profit one makes more often than they ask about pay per year (55) or whether owning a salon is worth it (49). We found no official or trade figure for opening costs or owner profit, so this page prints neither.
Booth rent drew 28 phrasings and commission salons 26
Pay per month or week drew 22. Questions that name a state or city drew 3.

Measured by us in November 2026. Salon business courses were measured too (34 phrasings) and are left off the chart. The control row, domain and email, drew 4 phrasings, all about naming a salon (salon names, salon name ideas, a salon domain or website name), not about pay; it is the noise level to read the other bars against.

Salon owner income questions

Related
Booking software for salons and barbersOnline booking for every chair in your salonHow much do hair stylists makeThe $35,790 staff wage this page cites, in fullHow much do barbers makeBarber pay from the same official sourcesHow much do cosmetologists makeCosmetologist pay from the same official sources

If you run your own salon, let clients book every chair online and see the week at a glance.

Clients book online, pay a deposit and get a reminder before each appointment.

  • A booking page where clients pick a haircut, a color or a blow-dry.
  • A deposit at booking for a color or any other service.
  • Appointment reminders.
  • Clients can book a blow-dry online while you are with another client.
Free to start.
A stylist in a white apron arranging color products at her station in a bright salon with a row of mirrors and chairs.
A stylist in a gray sweater blow-drying a client's long dark hair while other stylists work further down the salon.
Hands lining up clear unlabeled bottles on a wooden back-bar shelf beside folded white towels.
The kiwilaunch iPhone app showing today's bookings and payments
Services
Book now

Sources

Where every number on this page comes from: the agency and table, each salon's own page, and the state rules and statutes we read. Web pages were read in November 2026.

  1. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Personal Service Managers, All Other (11-9179) and Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists (39-5012), national, state and area, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-05-15 Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. For 11-9179, 41 of 528 areas report a median, 40 of them metro areas. For 39-5012, 451 of 528 areas report a median.
  2. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Barbers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-08-27 Last modified August 27, 2026. Read November 2026. Source of the 48% self-employed share; gives no owner income.
  3. 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. Counts one-person beauty salons; salons with employees are not in it.
  4. Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-06-28 Entry 603: Barbers, hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists. No salon-owner entry.
  5. Nail salon workers: wage and hour rights, U.S. Department of Labor Renting a booth, buying your own supplies, keeping your own clients and setting your own prices point toward contractor status; a 1099 alone does not decide it.
  6. Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator
  7. Barbering and cosmetology establishments: how to apply, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. Establishment license; establishments may lease space to licensed practitioners.
  8. Board of Cosmetology business authorizations, Oregon Health Licensing Office, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. Licensed facility rule and independent contractor registration.
  9. Frequently asked questions, California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. Establishment license held by the owner; no distinction between booth renters and employees.
  10. Chapter 477, Florida Statutes, Florida Legislature, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. No salon may operate without a license; no separate booth-renter permit.
  11. Contract for Stylist - 50/50% Commission Split Basis, Elegant Expressions Beauty and Style Salon, Georgia, 2026-11-10 Uploaded June 2024, read November 2026. One salon's contract form for hair services, not a market rate.
  12. Commission stylist careers page, Spoleti Salon, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. Lists what the salon provides; publishes no commission percentage.
  13. Six salons' published booth and suite rents, Each salon's own website Artistic Elements Salon, B & Co. Beauty Bar, Spoleti Salon, Bb Salon Suites, Lana Salon Suites and Venus Salon Suites, read November 2026. Weekly rents as published, not earnings.
  14. Flexible schedule salon booth rental, Artistic Elements Salon, Chesterland, Ohio, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. Full-time booth $150 a week or $600 a month; three days $93 a week; two days $63 a week.
  15. Booth rentals, B & Co. Beauty Bar, Beachwood, Ohio, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. $165 a week or $620 a month; open floor, 24-hour access.
  16. Booth rental, Spoleti Salon, Austin and Pflugerville, Texas, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. $180 a week for a station; independent stylists keep 100% of their service revenue.
  17. Salon suites, Bb Salon Suites, Columbus, Ohio, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. $150 a week, all materials and Wi-Fi included.
  18. Pricing, Lana Salon Suites, Lexington, Kentucky, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. A private suite: $199 a week with utilities, WiFi, cleaning, reception, chair and equipment included.
  19. The real cost of a salon suite, Venus Salon Suites, Frisco, Texas, 2026-11-10 Read November 2026. A private suite: $250 a week; liability insurance not included.

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.