Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,019
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,391
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,012
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$38,410
Kept after tax
$32,019
Worth in national money
$34,012
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,410, which ranks 10 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 7.32% above the national middle.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 415. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,410 the take-home is $32,019; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,012 would nationally. The average comes to $43,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 10 of 50 states publishing a median for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, at $38,410 — about 7.32% 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.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists ranks 415 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in North Carolina, on $38,410, is $32,019 — equivalent to $34,012 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $43,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,530 |
| This salary | $38,410 |
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 North Carolina | $32,019 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,042 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$9 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $37,136 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $38,410. The published range is $26,880 up to $61,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,019 take-home in North Carolina comes from $38,410. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 415 of 489.
- Two cautions on $34,012, the adjusted value of that $38,410 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 415 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,880 to $61,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,019, from $38,410, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 415 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 50 for it.
- This $34,012 adjusted figure, worked from $38,410, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 415 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 415 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $43,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $26,880, the highest tenth $61,530, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,012 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 North Carolina's own levy, $32,019 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 North Carolina is $43,670. 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 ($26,880) and the ninetieth ($61,530) 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?
North Carolina'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 $34,012 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 $32,019 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.