Salon rent, supplies, tips, and unpaid gaps change the service price. Everhour connects time and money budgets to tracked work.
Find the right rate based on your annual expenses, desired profit margin, and available billable hours. Stop guessing.
Rent, software, gear, salary
Time lost to admin, marketing, etc.
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
A hair stylist hourly rate answers one practical question: what must each client-service hour earn to cover income, salon or booth overhead, supplies, licensing, insurance, benefits replacement, and taxes? The answer differs from an employee wage because a self-employed stylist pays business costs before taking personal income.
The BLS OEWS May 2025 median for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists was $17.21 per hour for wage-and-salary workers. That benchmark helps you compare the labor market, but OEWS does not measure the full gross revenue of self-employed booth renters or salon-suite operators.
Use this formula: `(income target + overhead + benefits substitute + taxes) / billable hours`. Billable hours mean client-service hours that produce revenue, not a full 2,080-hour work year. Color mixing, cleaning, consultation notes, booking, cancellations, product ordering, and licensing tasks reduce the hours available for paid services.
For example, a booth-renting stylist targets $65,000 of income, expects $21,600 in booth rent and supplies, sets aside $9,000 for self-funded benefits, and reserves $18,000 for federal income and self-employment taxes. With 1,420 billable client-service hours, the required rate is $80.00 per hour.
A wage benchmark becomes misleading when you treat it as a service price. In 2024, 48% of Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists were self-employed workers, so overhead and unpaid time matter. All states require hairstylists and cosmetologists to be licensed, and fees or continuing education costs belong in annual overhead.
Tips need careful handling. BLS states that customer tips are included in wage data, and IRS Publication 531 says self-employed persons who receive tips should report those tips as income on Schedule C. If tips are reliable, use them as expected income in your pricing model. If they vary by client, keep the posted service rate high enough to stand alone.
A one-off calculator is enough when you are testing a booth-rent offer, pricing a new color service, or comparing salon-suite costs before signing a lease. Use the result as a floor, then adjust the menu price for service length, product cost, demand, and local market expectations.
A managed workflow matters once your rates connect to recurring budgets, assistants, multiple locations, or client packages. Everhour Project Budgeting supports time and money budgets, recurring budget periods, email alerts, and budget protection, so a salon team can track whether paid service hours and expenses stay inside the planned target.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
The closest BLS occupation is Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, SOC 39-5012. BLS OEWS reported a May 2025 national median hourly wage of $17.21 and a mean hourly wage of $21.13 for wage-and-salary jobs. Treat that as an employee wage benchmark, then calculate a self-employed service rate separately.
Booth rent belongs in overhead for a self-employed stylist. IRS Publication 334 treats rent paid for property used in a business as a deductible business expense when the taxpayer does not receive equity or title. The pricing calculation allocates that rent across realistic billable client-service hours, not across every hour spent at the salon.
Tips should not be the only reason a listed service price works. Self-employed stylists who receive tips report those tips as Schedule C income, and BLS includes customer tips in wage data. Use expected tips as income if they are consistent, but keep the base service rate high enough to cover costs when tips are lower.
Booking, cleaning, inventory, laundry, consultation notes, supplier trips, marketing, licensing tasks, and cancellations reduce billable client-service hours. A stylist who works 40 hours per week does not sell 40 service hours. The denominator should reflect paid appointments after unpaid work and empty slots are removed.
Mobile stylists need a travel cost line because vehicle use changes the rate. The IRS optional standard mileage rate for business use of a car, van, pickup, or panel truck is 72.5 cents per mile beginning January 1, 2026. Add expected business mileage cost before dividing by billable client-service hours.
Everhour Project Budgeting tracks time and money budgets as work is logged, with recurring budget periods and alerts at defined thresholds. A salon team can compare planned service hours or fee budgets against actual logged time before overbooking, underpricing, or overrunning a package.
Set rates from real service hours, then track planned time and money budgets as appointments happen. Everhour gives salon teams budget visibility tied to logged work.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
