Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,884
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,116
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,957
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$44,000
Kept after tax
$35,884
Worth in national money
$36,957
State rank
7
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,000, which ranks 7 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 22.94% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 410 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $44,000 the take-home is $35,884, which is worth about $36,957 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine ranks 7 of 50 states publishing a median for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, at $44,000 — about 22.94% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists occupies position 410 of 484 in Maine's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists on its $44,000 median: $35,884 retained after tax becomes $36,957 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,640 |
| This salary | $44,000 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Maine | $35,884 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,534 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,668 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $41,947 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,018 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $44,000. The published range is $30,640 up to $63,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $35,884, worked from $44,000. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 410 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,957 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 410.
- Reported values are medians; for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,640 to $63,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $35,884, on $44,000 for work ranking 410 of 484 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 410 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,957, worked from $44,000, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Maine address, on work sitting at 410 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $48,760 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,640 and the top tenth $63,640 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,957 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Maine's own levy, $35,884 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Maine is $48,760. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($30,640) and the ninetieth ($63,640) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $36,957 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $35,884 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.