mewayz Data

Beauty Salons — profit margin & cost structure (U.S.)

For the U.S. beauty salons industry, IRS tax data shows an estimated 24.4% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). That figure — what a self-employed owner keeps per sales dollar before paying themselves — is the number this page exists to report; read the note below on how it's measured.

24.4%net margin · owner-operator basis
National as of tax year 2023   Lower confidence   source ↗
Owner-operator basis (IRS SOI sole proprietorships, TY2023): net income less deficit ÷ business receipts. Measured at NAICS 812 — Personal & Laundry Services (salons, barbers, spas, dry cleaners, funeral homes, pet care); beauty salons are a subset. Owner's own labor is not expensed.

Cost structure

National, from IRS Statistics of Income (weighted sample). Where a component is not separately reported, it is shown as insufficient data — never estimated.

ComponentValue
Cost of goods sold (% of receipts)9.8%National source ↗
Labor / officer compensation (% of receipts)5.3%National source ↗

2019–2023 trend (national)

Change in the number of beauty salons establishments and employment, nationally, from Census County Business Patterns.

Metric20192023Change
Establishments79,41384,176+6.0%
Employment445,249391,064-12.2%

Business size distribution (national)

Share of U.S. beauty salons establishments by number of employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). 69% have fewer than 5 employees.

1–4 emp57,809 (69%)
5–9 emp15,499 (18%)
10–19 emp7,969 (9%)
20–49 emp2,621 (3%)
50–99 emp240 (0%)
100+ emp36 (0%)

Where this industry operates — all 51 states

Establishment counts, employment, and wages are available for free elsewhere too (e.g. Data USA). States ordered by number of establishments — pick one for local context:

California
Florida
New York
Texas
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Illinois
Ohio
Virginia
Massachusetts
Georgia
North Carolina
Michigan
Washington
Colorado
Arizona
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Maryland
Indiana
Missouri
Tennessee
South Carolina
Connecticut
Utah
Oregon
Iowa
Alabama
Louisiana
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Nevada
Kansas
Nebraska
Arkansas
Idaho
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
New Mexico
Hawaii
Mississippi
Maine
Delaware
West Virginia
North Dakota
Montana
South Dakota
District of Columbia
Vermont
Alaska
Wyoming
Full cost-structure breakdown by business-size class and side-by-side industry comparison are available to subscribers. This page shows the current-year national headline plus the multi-year establishment trend.

Frequently asked

What is the average profit margin for beauty salons businesses?
About 24.4% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, IRS SOI sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). This counts the owner's own labor as profit, so it overstates corporate-style margin — see the note above.
How many beauty salons businesses are there in the U.S.?
84,176 establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
What is the average wage in the beauty salons industry?
$674 per week (BLS QCEW 2024, private sector) — about $35,048/year.
Is the beauty salons industry growing?
The number of U.S. beauty salons establishments changed +6.0% from 2019 to 2023 (79,413 → 84,176), per Census CBP.
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machine-readable JSON · NAICS 812112

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