Cosmetology Wages

One of the most important factors to consider before getting started in cosmetology school is whether or not you’ll be able to not only support yourself as a cosmetologist but also be able to pay back any student loans or debt you may incur while going to school and hopefully have room for advancement in your career by moving to a bigger salon, renting your own booth and maybe even some day opening up your own salon. It’s very important to look at not only what the average cosmetologist makes but also what they make in the area that you plan to work and live. The wages for the average cosmetologist may look really good in L.A. or New York but in more rural areas and midland states you may find that they struggle a great deal more for clients and to make a decent living. Make sure that you take a good look at what your chosen career path is like in your area unless you are planning a big move elsewhere.

You also want to consider that because the cosmetology field is based on customer service it’s a very client oriented way of making money. The bottom line is that if you don’t have a client base, much like any freelancer or independent professional would need, then you won’t be making money. The amount of business you have and thereby the amount of money you make it directly proportionate to your ability to find new client and maintain old ones. If your marketing and client relation skills aren’t up to par or if you are adverse to any kind of sales or advertising you may want to seriously consider whether or not cosmetology is right for you because if you aren’t willing to solicit new clients then you won’t be making any new money. The only way to get around this is to either take over the client base for a retiring cosmetologist and hope that most of the clients stick around or to get a spot in a very very busy salon that has a great deal of walk-ins and food traffic on a daily basis which can help you build up enough clients on your own that you can maintain some sort of decent income.

It’s also important to remember that when you’re working as a cosmetologist you’re most likely to be working as an independent business owner which means you’ll be responsible for paying rent for a booth in a salon, maintaining your own business license and so forth, as well as paying for all your supplies and materials to use on your clients. Factor in expenses like these and the amount you expect to make working as a cosmetologist could be substantially different. Make sure you take things like that into consideration.

Overall a cosmetologist can make a pretty varied amount of money depending on where they are working, how many clients they have, how much they work and how in demand they are. A beginning hair stylist may only be able to charge base prices for their work and may even have to begin working at a salon that runs under a brand name as a larger chain in order to build up enough clients to move to a place where they can rent their own booth and schedule their own hours. A hairstylist that has been working for years or is exceptionally talented can charge anywhere from forty to eighty dollars a session and the very high end ones can set prices that run in the hundreds of dollars depending on the service.

It’s important to keep these kinds of factors in mind when you’re determining whether or not you want to pursue a career in cosmetology. Make sure you determine what you’ll be making roughly at different points in your career and decide whether or not it will be enough to support your lifestyle and allow you the freedom you want to live your life in the manner you choose - if not it may be time to look in a different direction. Most cosmetologists don’t go into that field to make a lot of money - they do so because they enjoy the work and it makes them happy so make sure that your motivations are in the right place before you decide to head into cosmetology school or anything of that nature solely for the money.  

It can also be helpful to ask around and see what other cosmetologists make in your area. Be sure to be polite and explain your reasoning before you ask these kinds of questions though as people can by offended by it very easily. Be tactful and graceful in your asking and don’t press anyone for details they aren’t interested in giving. You can also go to larger places like various cosmetology schools as well as larger salons and cosmetology alliances or organizations and ask them if they have anything in the way of statistics or numbers on what the average cosmetologist makes in the area you want to live or work. Many places like these conduct general polls or surveys in order to stay on top of industry trends and many times this can include gathering various forms of data which may mean asking about wages or earnings.

You can also reference things like the Job Outlook website which can easily be found online and search for various careers within the cosmetology industry. Doing so will allow you to get a good idea of the trends in growth and development in the cosmetology industry as well as the increase or decrease of people entering that field, what the wages are like and what they are expected look like in a few years time. They also give you some good information as to the educational requirements, the work environment, and other aspects of the industry that can help you make decisions on whether or not you want to pursue a career in that field. Its important to remember though that these are mostly generalities and should be taken wit a grain of salt as not everyone has these same experiences. Remember to ask the advice of mentors and working professionals in the industry that you trust to get their opinions and experiences as well before you make any decisions.