The median salon suite listing asks $208 a week. The median booth asks $200. For $8 more, a renter gets a door that locks.
A salon suite is a private, lockable room inside a larger building that a licensed stylist rents to run their own business. The renter sets their own prices, hours and products, books their own clients and keeps everything above the rent. The building owner supplies the room, plumbing, utilities and shared spaces such as a lobby and restrooms.
Below is what suites actually charge, from 235 public listings, and how that compares with renting a booth.
Suite, booth or commission
| Salon suite | Booth rent | Commission | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space | Private room with a door | A chair on a shared floor | A chair on the salon's floor |
| Who finds clients | You | You | Mostly the salon |
| Who sets prices and hours | You | You | The salon |
| Who buys product | You | Usually you | Usually the salon |
| How you pay | Weekly or monthly rent, often on a lease | Weekly or monthly rent | The salon keeps a share of each service |
| Taxes | Self-employed | Self-employed | Usually an employee on payroll |
How much a salon suite costs in 2026
Across 235 suite listings posted publicly in the last twelve months, the median asking rent is $208 a week, about $901 a month. The middle half of listings ask between $185 and $275 a week.
| Region | Listings | Median a week | About a month | Middle half, weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 25 | $265 | $1,148 | $208 to $300 |
| West | 70 | $225 | $975 | $196 to $277 |
| South | 107 | $200 | $867 | $185 to $252 |
| Midwest | 33 | $195 | $845 | $150 to $231 |
| All regions | 235 | $208 | $901 | $185 to $275 |
Source: 224 suite listings on salonrenter.com posted October 2025 to October 2026, plus 11 from independent suite buildings and the salonsuite.us directory, collected October 22, 2026. Monthly prices were converted at 12 months to 52 weeks. These are asking prices, some are introductory rates, and "suite" follows each listing's own category, so it includes some esthetics and lash rooms. The Northeast sample is small. A sample of 40 listing pages was opened by hand and matched the recorded price in all 40.
The big suite brands mostly don't post prices. Location pages for Sola, Salon Lofts and MY Salon Suite showed no weekly or monthly price when I checked. You get a number on a tour or a leasing call, so ask for the full monthly cost in writing, including any marketing, maintenance or laundry fees.
Suite rent against booth rent
From the same listing site and the same twelve months, the median booth rent was $200 a week. So the median suite asks only about $8 a week more.
| Region | Suite | Booth | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | $265 | $250 | $15 |
| West | $225 | $208 | $17 |
| South | $200 | $200 | $0 |
| Midwest | $195 | $170 | $25 |
| All regions | $208 | $200 | $8 |
The price gap is small. The real differences are elsewhere.
- Privacy. A suite has a door, your own music and no one else's client in the next chair. That matters most for color clients who sit for hours and for anyone doing extensions.
- Commitment. Suites are often leased for months at a time. Booth rent is more often week to week. Read the term and the notice period before you sign.
- Walk-in traffic. A booth inside a busy salon can pick up the salon's walk-ins and overflow. A suite has none, so every client comes because they booked you.
There's more on the booth side, including the commission split where renting breaks even, in booth rent vs commission.
How to open a salon suite
- Check your license and your state board. Ask whether the suite needs its own establishment license, or whether the building's covers you. Rules differ by state.
- Read the lease line by line. Length, deposit, notice period, what's included (chair, shampoo bowl, Wi-Fi, laundry) and every fee on top of the rent.
- Price your first month before you move. Rent, product, insurance, booking software and card fees, against the services you already have booked.
- Buy your own insurance. A renter carries their own professional and general liability. Ask your agent what the building requires.
- Move your clients first. The suite earns nothing in the weeks it's empty, so confirm your regulars will follow before the first rent is due.
For the paperwork side of renting, the booth rental agreement template walks through the clauses that matter, and most apply to a suite lease too.
