Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,579
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$6,181
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,483
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$35,760
Kept after tax
$29,579
Worth in national money
$27,483
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New York sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $35,760, ranking 21 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in New York, this one sits low: 483 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- New York is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $35,760 the take-home is $29,579; in national-average money that behaves like $27,483. The average comes to $50,040, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New York occupies the middle band for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists: a median of $35,760, ranking 21 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists occupies position 483 of 493 in New York'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.
- Take-home for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in New York, on $35,760, is $29,579; deflated by the state's price level, $27,483. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $50,040 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,540 |
| This salary | $35,760 |
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 New York | $29,579 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,913 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,329 |
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 | $34,100 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,235 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,760 as a midpoint for New York, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,960 and the ninetieth is $88,540 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New York the take-home figure of $29,579, from $35,760, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 483 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,483 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 483.
- The New York median of $35,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,960 to $88,540. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for New York is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,579 from $35,760. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 483 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,483, worked from $35,760, 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 New York address, on work sitting at 483 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,040, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $33,960 and the top tenth $88,540 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $27,483 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 New York's own levy, $29,579 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 New York is $50,040. 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 ($33,960) and the ninetieth ($88,540) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,483 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $29,579 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.