Salon Pricing Calculator

Whether you’re setting rates for an all-new service or simply making sure your current menu covers all the bases, our Salon Pricing Calculator takes the guesswork out of pricing so you can work smarter, not harder.

Benefits of a Salon Pricing Calculator

Pricing isn’t just about covering costs; it’s about running a thriving business.

A Salon Pricing Calculator helps you see exactly what it takes to cover labor, products, and overhead, so you can avoid undercharging and protect your profits. It gives you confidence when presenting prices to clients and ensures your rates are backed by numbers, not guesswork. And by factoring in potential upgrades or seasonal adjustments, you'll have the flexibility to grow your services without scrambling to recalculate.

Examples of labor and material costs

While it takes (more than) a handful of moving parts to properly price your salon services, these are the main three to keep in mind:

• Labor: Stylist wages, benefits, taxes, and training time.
• Materials: Hair color, developer, foils, gloves, shampoo, conditioner, styling products.
• Overhead (sneaky but important): Rent, utilities, booking software, cleaning supplies.

How to calculate labor costs

Labor is often your biggest expense—and usually the trickiest to nail down.

1. Find your hourly rate per stylist (including wages, benefits, and payroll taxes).
2. Multiply by service time. A $30/hour rate for a 2-hour service = $60 labor cost.
3. Add your material costs on top — now you've got your baseline before profit.

A quick visit to your state's Department of Industrial Relations dedicated .gov website is a great place to find information on local minimum wages and potential employment guidelines.

What is a profit margin?

Your baseline covers costs. Your profit keeps you in business. A profit margin is the total amount by which revenue from sales surpasses all of your total business costs.

Setting the right profit margin, a.k.a. the amount by which sales revenue exceeds business costs, ensures your business can grow, pay staff fairly, invest in quality products, and weather unexpected expenses. Here’s how to think about it:

• Common target: Many salons aim for a 20–50% profit margin, depending on the service and local market.
• Example: If your costs for a service total $80 and you want a 30% profit margin, you’d price it at about $114.

Pricing do's and don'ts

Do:

• Review your prices at least once a year.
• Be transparent with clients about service value.
• Build in room for promotions without going into the red.

Don't:

• Price based on what others are charging without knowing their costs.
• Undervalue your expertise and training.
• Forget to adjust for rising product or rent costs.

From an overhead perspective, as long as the pricing you set in your salon doesn't undervalue your expertise as a professional—and allows you to stay in business, of course—there aren't many other boxes for you to tick! Over time, you'll get a feel for how to adjust and refine your service pricing to match the ebb and flow of your salon.