Salaries / Cosmetologist / Hairstylist
Personal Care & Service · SOC 39-5012
Cosmetologist / Hairstylist salary
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists cut, color, and style hair and provide other beauty services. A state license is required.
North Carolina
Median annual (NC)
$32,500
Median hourly (NC)
$15.60
North Carolina figures are ESTIMATES derived from the national median and a state wage index, not official statistics. Live state data shows here as soon as the lookup succeeds.
National
Median annual
$35,000
Median hourly
$16.80
Typical range
$24,000 to $63,000
Tips and booth rent shape take-home pay a lot, and many stylists run as independent contractors.
National source: National estimate (to be replaced by live BLS data). Figures are gross pay and vary by location, employer, and experience.
The pay range, visually.
Low end (about the 10th percentile), median, and high end (about the 90th percentile).
By state, at a glance
These at-a-glance figures are estimates derived from the national median and a state wage index, shown to give a rough sense of local differences. Pick any state (here or in the selector above) to look up its real figures.
Your skills are a business
Ideas we have for people in personal care & service.
The same experience that earns a paycheck as a cosmetologist / hairstylist can start a business. Here are real ideas from our marketplace that fit this field.
Become a Wholesale Hair Supplier to Stylists and Salons
Import hair in bulk from vetted overseas factories and resell wholesale to stylists, salons, cosmetology students, and small hair brands who want reliable supply without navigating overseas sourcing themselves.
Become a Hair Extension Install Specialist
Build a licensed service business installing sew-ins, tape-ins, and wig customizations, where certification in premium methods, maintenance schedules, and bridal work turn one chair into a high-ticket specialty practice.
Open a Salon or Barbershop
Run a salon, barbershop, or beauty suite where you earn from your own chair plus booth rent or commissions from other stylists.
Start a Wig Customization and Pre-Styling Service
Turn factory wigs into salon-ready units from home: bleaching knots, plucking hairlines, tinting lace, custom coloring, and styling, sold to buyers and hair brands who want wigs that look installed out of the box.
You could hire cosmetologist / hairstylists, not just be one.
We have a staffing calculator to price the work and a full course on how to start a staffing agency, so you can turn a field you already know into a business that puts other people to work.