The median nail tech earned $35,760 in May 2025, $30 less than the median hairstylist. The state you work in moves that number far more than the job does.
Nail tech pay figures online range widely because most are built from job listings. The federal wage survey is the one count that comes from payroll records.
Below is that number, what it covers and what it misses, then that pay set against rent in every state. It ends with what the numbers mean for a salon owner thinking about adding nail services.
The short answer
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, manicurists and pedicurists earned a median of $35,760 a year, or $17.19 an hour, in May 2025. The average was $38,570.
That works out to about $2,980 a month before tax at the median, about $3,471 a month for the top quarter, and about $4,178 a month for the top 10 percent.
| Where you sit | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10 percent | $28,920 | $2,410 |
| Lowest 25 percent | $34,010 | $2,834 |
| Median (half earn more) | $35,760 | $2,980 |
| Top 25 percent | $41,650 | $3,471 |
| Top 10 percent | $50,140 | $4,178 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 39-5092 (manicurists and pedicurists), covering 152,770 employed workers. Pulled from the BLS public data API on October 23, 2026. Monthly figures are the annual figures divided by 12.
What the federal number misses
The spread is narrow. A quarter of employed nail techs earn under $34,010, and the median is $35,760, only $1,750 higher. Half of all employed nail techs sit in a band about $7,600 wide.
It only counts people on a payroll. The wage survey covers employees. A nail tech renting a station, working from a suite or running a studio alone is not in it.
Tips are hard to count. Payroll records see tips unevenly, so read the figure as a floor on what employed nail techs take home.
Small states are thin. BLS counted 40 nail techs in Hawaii and 110 in Montana. A few high earners can move a median that small, so treat the small-state figures as rough. It published no median at all for Vermont or Wyoming.
Nail tech pay after rent, in every state
The same paycheck means one thing in Omaha and another in Los Angeles. So I took each state's median nail tech pay from the BLS and subtracted twelve months of that state's median gross rent from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
The result is a rough measure of how far a typical employed nail tech's pay stretches. It is before tax, and the rent is the median for every renting household in the state, not anyone's own lease.
What stands out:
- Nebraska leaves the most. Median pay is $56,940 and median rent is $1,102 a month, leaving $43,716. A year of rent takes 23 percent of pay, the smallest share in the country.
- Hawaii pays the most but counts the fewest. Its $60,790 median comes from 40 workers, the smallest sample on the list.
- The biggest market is near the bottom. California has 39,210 nail techs, about one in four in the country. Median pay is $36,630 and median rent is $2,104 a month, so a year of rent takes 69 percent of pay.
- Georgia leaves the least. Median pay is $26,910 and a year of median rent takes 67 percent of it, leaving $8,838.
- In 18 places, median rent takes more than half of median pay. In 8 it takes less than 35 percent.
| Rank | State | Median pay | Median rent a month | Rent share of pay | Left after rent | Workers counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska | $56,940 | $1,102 | 23.2% | $43,716 | 310 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $60,790 | $1,942 | 38.3% | $37,486 | 40 |
| 3 | Maine | $48,540 | $1,210 | 29.9% | $34,020 | 200 |
| 4 | Iowa | $45,420 | $981 | 25.9% | $33,648 | 190 |
| 5 | Kentucky | $45,310 | $998 | 26.4% | $33,334 | 240 |
| 6 | South Dakota | $45,310 | $999 | 26.5% | $33,322 | 250 |
| 7 | Alaska | $47,890 | $1,444 | 36.2% | $30,562 | 180 |
| 8 | Washington | $49,900 | $1,824 | 43.9% | $28,012 | 5,570 |
| 9 | West Virginia | $38,260 | $883 | 27.7% | $27,664 | 120 |
| 10 | Oregon | $46,080 | $1,597 | 41.6% | $26,916 | 2,210 |
| 11 | Missouri | $39,100 | $1,067 | 32.7% | $26,296 | 1,630 |
| 12 | Mississippi | $37,300 | $990 | 31.8% | $25,420 | 520 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | $36,680 | $1,142 | 37.4% | $22,976 | 2,350 |
| 14 | Indiana | $36,140 | $1,104 | 36.7% | $22,892 | 510 |
| 15 | Michigan | $36,890 | $1,168 | 38.0% | $22,874 | 1,020 |
| 16 | Ohio | $35,590 | $1,090 | 36.8% | $22,510 | 3,680 |
| 17 | North Dakota | $33,430 | $980 | 35.2% | $21,670 | 270 |
| 18 | Nevada | $41,880 | $1,709 | 49.0% | $21,372 | 1,020 |
| 19 | Illinois | $37,050 | $1,322 | 42.8% | $21,186 | 2,470 |
| 20 | Minnesota | $36,040 | $1,291 | 43.0% | $20,548 | 3,260 |
| 21 | Montana | $33,660 | $1,177 | 42.0% | $19,536 | 110 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $34,810 | $1,284 | 44.3% | $19,402 | 1,200 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | $31,330 | $1,044 | 40.0% | $18,802 | 480 |
| 24 | North Carolina | $34,740 | $1,338 | 46.2% | $18,684 | 1,900 |
| 25 | South Carolina | $33,810 | $1,272 | 45.1% | $18,546 | 710 |
| 26 | Idaho | $34,910 | $1,384 | 47.6% | $18,302 | 160 |
| 27 | Kansas | $30,930 | $1,079 | 41.9% | $17,982 | 1,510 |
| 28 | Rhode Island | $34,910 | $1,418 | 48.7% | $17,894 | not published |
| 29 | Alabama | $30,300 | $1,077 | 42.7% | $17,376 | 920 |
| 30 | Virginia | $36,630 | $1,646 | 53.9% | $16,878 | 4,230 |
| 31 | Maryland | $37,300 | $1,721 | 55.4% | $16,648 | 2,080 |
| 32 | New Hampshire | $35,100 | $1,558 | 53.3% | $16,404 | 490 |
| 33 | Texas | $34,040 | $1,475 | 52.0% | $16,340 | 5,340 |
| 34 | Connecticut | $34,720 | $1,550 | 53.6% | $16,120 | 4,490 |
| 35 | Florida | $37,840 | $1,812 | 57.5% | $16,096 | 4,470 |
| 36 | Arkansas | $27,690 | $982 | 42.6% | $15,906 | 230 |
| 37 | Louisiana | $28,170 | $1,064 | 45.3% | $15,402 | 2,210 |
| 38 | Colorado | $37,110 | $1,822 | 58.9% | $15,246 | 3,970 |
| 39 | Arizona | $35,290 | $1,672 | 56.9% | $15,226 | 2,440 |
| 40 | New York | $34,660 | $1,634 | 56.6% | $15,052 | 19,710 |
| 41 | New Jersey | $36,370 | $1,800 | 59.4% | $14,770 | 11,520 |
| 42 | District of Columbia | $36,620 | $1,931 | 63.3% | $13,448 | not published |
| 43 | Massachusetts | $35,470 | $1,848 | 62.5% | $13,294 | 4,660 |
| 44 | Pennsylvania | $27,990 | $1,252 | 53.7% | $12,966 | 9,610 |
| 45 | Delaware | $31,200 | $1,530 | 58.8% | $12,840 | 780 |
| 46 | New Mexico | $25,720 | $1,117 | 52.1% | $12,316 | not published |
| 47 | California | $36,630 | $2,104 | 68.9% | $11,382 | 39,210 |
| 48 | Utah | $28,820 | $1,593 | 66.3% | $9,704 | 1,150 |
| 49 | Georgia | $26,910 | $1,506 | 67.2% | $8,838 | 1,710 |
Sources: pay is BLS OEWS May 2025, occupation 39-5092, state median annual wage and employment. Rent is U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table B25064, median gross rent, from the Census summary file. Vermont and Wyoming are left out because the BLS did not publish a median for them. "Not published" means BLS released the median but not the head count. The two surveys cover different years (2025 pay, 2024 rent), so the gaps are approximate. Calculated October 23, 2026.
Nail pay vs hair pay
Nationally, the median hairstylist earned $30 more than the median nail tech in May 2025. State by state the two split almost evenly. Nail techs came out ahead in 26 of the 48 places where BLS published both medians.
The state gaps are much wider than the national one. Nail techs led by $22,620 in Nebraska. Hairstylists led by $17,950 in the District of Columbia and by $11,500 in Oregon.
The hair figures come from the same BLS survey (occupation 39-5012, broken down on our page on how much hairstylists make). BLS counted 305,710 employed hairstylists and 152,770 nail techs. For lash and skin pay, see how much lash techs make.
If you own the salon
Nail techs and hairstylists earn about the same at the median, so a nail tech weighing your offer is comparing it with the same market your stylists are.
Before adding nail services, four questions are worth answering with real numbers.
Who is allowed to do it in your state? Nail licensing differs by state. Check your state board before anyone books a client.
What will you have to pay to hire? The state median above is the market. A nail tech can compare your offer against it.
Where does the station go? Manicure tables and pedicure chairs take floor space a styling chair would otherwise use. Price the space before the service.
Who are the clients? Look at your own book first. If your hair clients already ask where to get their nails done, that is the demand.
The short version
The median nail tech earned $35,760 in May 2025, $30 below the median hairstylist. After a year of median rent, Nebraska leaves the most and Georgia the least, and California, home to one in four nail techs, keeps only 31 percent of median pay after rent.
