Barbershop vs salon vs chain prices: a $43 barbershop cut against $15 to $25 at chains

Key findings

1. SQUIRE's data from more than 7,000 US barbershops put the average cut at $43, from $35 in the Midwest to $45 in the West^[1].
2. Zenoti's 2026 benchmarks put the median barbershop ticket at $34, with $39 at the 75th percentile and $48 at the 90th^[2].
3. Median tickets at salons run far higher: $77 at specialty salons and $114 at full-service salons in 2025, because a salon visit often includes color, styling or retail^[3].
4. StyleSeat says a local chain salon typically charges $15 to $25, against $50 or more at an upscale barbershop^[4].
5. Supercuts, the largest Regis brand, does not publish national prices; each salon sets its own, and about 92.5% of Regis salons were franchised as of June 2025^[6][7].
6. The US had 7,025 barber shops with employees and 83,392 beauty salons with employees in 2022, plus 137,372 barber shops run by self-employed owners^[8][9].
7. Barbershops posted the highest tip rates (16% to 20% of the ticket) and the lowest cancellation rate (4%) of any beauty and wellness segment in Zenoti's 2025 data^[5].

Download the infographic

The headline numbers from this report as one tall image (1000 x 1500 PNG), sized for Pinterest, slides and posts. Free to reuse with credit.

Download infographic (PNG)

How much does a haircut cost at a barbershop vs a salon vs a chain?

There is no single government price survey that compares business types, so this page pulls together the best published data from the platforms that process the appointments. Each measures something slightly different, and the table below says which.

SQUIRE, booking software built for barbershops, reports an average cut price of $43 across 13.9 million appointments from May 2025 to April 2026^[1]. Zenoti, which serves both salons and barbershops, reports the average ticket, meaning total spend per visit including add-ons and retail. Its 2025 data put the median barbershop ticket at $34, the median specialty salon ticket at $77 and the median full-service salon ticket at $114^[2][3].

For chains, StyleSeat gives a typical range of $15 to $25 at a local chain salon, against anywhere from $50 to $800 at a more upscale barbershop^[4]. That top figure likely reflects specialty or luxury services rather than a standard cut.

Why does a salon visit cost so much more than a barbershop visit?

Mostly because people buy more at a salon. Zenoti's average ticket counts everything on the bill, and a full-service salon visit often bundles a cut with color, a blowout or products. That is why the median full-service salon ticket ($114) is more than three times the median barbershop ticket ($34)^[3][2].

The top of each market shows the same gap. The best-performing tenth of full-service salons average $169 per visit and specialty salons $142, while the 90th-percentile barbershop ticket is $48^[3][2]. Zenoti says that $48 is up 30% from $37 in 2024^[2].

Zenoti's tickets are not haircut prices, so a plain men's cut at a salon can cost much less than the salon averages above. Our barbershops vs hair salons guide explains when each makes sense.

What do chains like Great Clips, Supercuts and Sport Clips charge?

The big chains do not publish one national price. Supercuts lists its services online but tells customers to visit their local salon's webpage for pricing^[6]. Its parent company, Regis, says in its 2025 annual report that its salon brands generally serve the value category of the industry, and that about 92.5% of its salons were franchised locations as of June 30, 2025^[7]. Franchise owners set many of their own prices, which is why the same chain can cost noticeably more in one town than another.

Regis names Great Clips, Fantastic Sams, Sport Clips and Ulta Beauty among the chains it competes with, along with independent salons, in-home services and booth renters^[7]. Regis reported system-wide revenue of $1,104.9 million for fiscal 2025, down from $1,179.5 million the year before, with Supercuts same-store sales up 1.3%^[7].

We could not find a primary source with a current, dated national price for Great Clips or Sport Clips, so we do not quote one. StyleSeat's $15 to $25 range for local chain salons is the best published guide^[4]. Our 2026 haircut price guide uses a slightly higher editorial band of $18 to $28 for budget chains.

How much do barbershop prices vary by region?

In SQUIRE's data, barbershops in the West charged the most at an average of $45 a cut. The Northeast and South averaged $40 and the Midwest $35^[1].

Those regional averages all sit above Zenoti's $34 median ticket, which is a reminder that the two platforms serve somewhat different shops^[1][2]. SQUIRE's average excludes tax and tip but includes owner-added fees such as card surcharges^[1]. For state-level averages, see our men's haircut prices by state report.

How many barbershops and hair salons are there in the US?

Census Bureau data show how differently the two businesses are organized. In 2022 there were 7,025 barber shop establishments with paid employees, against 83,392 beauty salon establishments^[8].

Most barbering happens in one-person businesses. The Census counted 137,372 barber shops without employees in 2022, usually self-employed barbers, rising to 141,769 in 2023^[9][10]. Beauty salons without employees numbered 823,967 in 2022 and 838,264 in 2023^[9][10].

How much revenue does a barbershop make compared with a salon?

Barber shops with employees took in $1.66 billion in 2022, an average of about $236,700 per establishment (menhaircuts.net calculation)^[8]. Beauty salons with employees averaged about $307,800 per establishment on $25.66 billion in revenue (menhaircuts.net calculation)^[8].

Self-employed barbers earn far less per business. Barber shops without employees averaged about $30,500 in receipts in 2022 ($4.19 billion across 137,372 businesses, menhaircuts.net calculation)^[9].

Zenoti's benchmarks show a wide spread among established shops: median revenue per barbershop location was $357,000 in its 2025 data, against $638,000 at the 90th percentile^[2].

Do barbershop customers tip more than salon customers?

Yes, as a share of the bill. Zenoti reports barbershop tips of 16% to 20% of the ticket, the highest of the eight beauty and wellness segments in its 2025 data^[5]. In its salon data, the top tenth of salons by revenue averaged 18% tips, the top quarter around 16% and median salons near 14%^[11].

SQUIRE's barbershop clients tipped 20% to 23% on average, depending on region^[1]. Barbershops also had the lowest cancellation rate of any segment in Zenoti's data, at 4%^[5]. Our barber tipping statistics report has the full picture.

Are barbershop, salon and chain prices rising?

The Consumer Price Index does not split barbershops from salons or chains, but its index for haircuts and other personal care services rose 3.7% from September 2025 to September 2026 and 48.4% over the ten years to September 2026 (menhaircuts.net calculations from the published index)^[12].

Zenoti's 30% rise in the 90th-percentile barbershop ticket from 2024 to 2025 suggests that the top of the barbershop market has been raising prices faster than the index^[2]. Ticket growth can also come from add-on services such as beard work, not only from higher haircut prices.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology and limitations

Barbershop prices come from SQUIRE's State of Barbershops 2026 report (May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026 platform data) and Zenoti's 2026 Beauty and Wellness Benchmark Report as published on Zenoti's barbershop, salon and metrics pages (calendar-year 2025 data). Chain pricing context comes from StyleSeat, the Supercuts services page and Regis Corporation's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K. Business counts and receipts come from the 2022 Economic Census (EC2281BASIC, NAICS 812111 and 812112) and Census Nonemployer Statistics for 2022 and 2023. Price trends use the BLS CPI series CUUR0000SEGC01. Per-establishment averages and percent changes are menhaircuts.net calculations. All sources were opened and checked on October 15, 2026.

Limitations

SQUIRE's average is a haircut price, Zenoti's figures are average tickets that include add-ons and retail, and StyleSeat's chain and upscale ranges are broad guides without a stated method, so the numbers are not perfectly comparable. All three platforms report only on businesses that use their software. Chains set prices by location, and we found no current primary source for national Great Clips or Sport Clips prices. Census counts classify a business by its main activity, so some barbers working inside salons are counted under beauty salons, and nonemployer receipts come from tax records rather than surveys.

Every figure on this page links to its source. Numbers are reported as published; any menhaircuts.net calculation is labelled and shows its inputs. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will check it.

Sources

1. The State of Barbershops 2026: SQUIRE Barber Trends & Insights Report, SQUIRE (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
2. Barbershop Membership Programme Guide: Pricing, EFT & Churn, Zenoti (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
3. Salon trends 2026: 6 Revenue Growth Strategies, Zenoti (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
4. Men's Haircut Prices: How Much Will It Cost You?, StyleSeat (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
5. Salon & Barbershop Metrics: KPIs to Track + Software (2026), Zenoti (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
6. Services, Supercuts (Regis Corporation) (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.
7. Regis Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) (2025). Accessed October 15, 2026.
8. 2022 Economic Census: Selected statistics for barber shops and beauty salons (EC2281BASIC), US Census Bureau (2024). Accessed October 15, 2026.
9. Nonemployer Statistics 2022: Barber shops and beauty salons (NS2200NONEMP), US Census Bureau (2024). Accessed October 15, 2026.
10. Nonemployer Statistics 2023: Barber shops and beauty salons (NS2300NONEMP), US Census Bureau (2025). Accessed October 15, 2026.
11. The state of tipping in salons: survey data revealed, Zenoti (2025). Accessed October 15, 2026.
12. CPI-U: Haircuts and other personal care services in U.S. city average (CUUR0000SEGC01), US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026). Accessed October 15, 2026.

Cite, embed and download

This report, its charts and its infographic are free to reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Credit menhaircuts.net with a link to this page.

<a href="https://menhaircuts.net/stats/barbershop-vs-salon-vs-chain-prices/">Barbershop vs Salon vs Chain Prices 2026: The Data</a> (menhaircuts.net, CC BY 4.0)

Related data

• $29Average men's haircut in the US, StyleSeat stylist data (page updated 2026)Men's Haircut Prices by State 2026 →
• 78%Haircut customers who always or often tip (Pew, 2023)Barber Tipping Statistics 2026 →
• 154,456Barbershops with no employees (nonemployer), 2024How Many Barbershops Are in the US? 2026 Census Data →
• 75,800Barber jobs in the US, 2025 (including self-employed)Barber Industry Statistics 2026 →

Related guides

• Barbershops vs Hair Salons: What's the Difference? (2026)→
• How Much Does a Men's Haircut Cost in 2026? (US Guide)→
• How to Find a Good Barber Near You: A Checklist (2026)→
• Barbering Basics: Terminology, Costs & Etiquette→

All men's hair and grooming statistics