Cutting, coloring, styling and caring for hair, from neighborhood salons to film sets, brand stages and salon empires.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Beauty School Owner / Director: Owns or runs a licensed school that trains future hairstylists, estheticians, and nail techs. Typical pay $110k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Salon Owner: Owns and runs a hair salon, hiring stylists, managing money and building a loyal client base. Typical pay $85k.
Celebrity Hairstylist: Styles hair for actors, musicians and public figures for events, tours, photo shoots and award shows. Typical pay $100k.
Hair-Care Brand Founder: Creates and sells a line of shampoos, styling products or tools, often starting from their own salon experience. Typical pay $90k.
Salon Chain Regional Director: Oversees a group of salons for a chain, hiring managers, hitting sales goals and keeping quality consistent. Typical pay $95k.
Platform Artist & Brand Educator: Travels for a professional hair-care brand teaching stylists new cutting and color techniques on stage and in classes. Typical pay $62k.
Film & TV Hairstylist: Designs and maintains period, character and continuity hairstyles for movies, TV shows and theater. Typical pay $75k.
Trichologist: Examines the hair and scalp to help clients with hair loss, thinning, breakage and scalp conditions (non-medical). Typical pay $58k.
Master Hair Colorist: Specializes in hair color, from subtle highlights to vivid shades and color corrections. Typical pay $55k.
Hair Extension Specialist: Adds and maintains hair extensions using methods like tape-ins, sew-ins, and hand-tied wefts. Typical pay $60k.
Cosmetology State Board Inspector: Inspects salons, barbershops, and nail salons for cleanliness and proper licenses. Typical pay $55k.
Starter: fastest way in
Hairstylist: Cuts, colors and styles hair and advises clients on how to care for it. Typical pay $35k.
Blowout Bar Stylist: Washes and blow-dries clients' hair into polished styles at fast-paced blowout salons. Typical pay $34k.
Natural Hair Braider: Creates braids, twists, locs and other natural and protective hairstyles. Typical pay $36k.
Shampoo Assistant: Shampoos, conditions and rinses clients' hair and helps stylists keep the salon running. Typical pay $30k.
Salon Manager: Runs daily salon operations: staffing, scheduling, inventory, customer service and sales goals. Typical pay $50k.
Cosmetology Instructor: Teaches cutting, color, sanitation and state-board prep to future stylists at a beauty school. Typical pay $46k.
Salon Receptionist: Greets clients, books appointments, takes payments and sells hair products. Typical pay $37k.
Bridal & Event Hairstylist: Travels to weddings and events to style hair for brides, bridal parties, and guests. Typical pay $45k.
Lice Removal Technician: Removes head lice and nits from kids' (and parents') hair at clinics or in homes. Typical pay $34k.
Medical Wig Specialist: Fits custom wigs called cranial prostheses for people losing hair from chemotherapy, alopecia or burns, often in a private salon room. Typical pay $45k.
Senior Living Salon Stylist: Runs the in-house salon at a nursing home or retirement community, doing weekly sets, cuts and color for older residents. Typical pay $38k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.