nail technician school salary
Nail polish brush and buffer file in hand, it’s Saturday and you’re finding it to juggle several customers in the busy nail salon. However, you know that upkeeping both a high quality of work and a relaxing environment for the client is what being a nail technician is all about. After all, your effort is directly reflected in customer satisfaction, and therefore your tips.
Unfortunately, tips only make up about 19% of a nail technician’s median income of $13.30 per hour vs other industries where tips can account for 36%, such as a pizza delivery driver, who has a median income of $10.60. Getting more tips can help you cover the high costs of new tools and products (and even pay for an extra vacation) if you follow our simple tips.
The nail technician’s revenue growth has recently been on the decline as shown in the figure below (Statista). This is due to nail salons becoming less aggressive with expansion and focusing more on regulars, which in turn has reduced the consumer’s willingness to experiment with new salons (Statista). These factors have started to affect nail technician’s tips, as more popular salons and technicians will receive more tips due to customer loyalty and continued business whilst a gap arises with less popular/early career technicians.
Complete Guide: How To Earn More Tips As A Nail Technician
Another trend is that more people are starting to do their own nails—following YouTube tutorials and buying cheap equipment online, which is cutting away from nail technician’s revenue. However, there are many ways to attract more clientele and gain more tips, as we will discuss in this article.
As a nail technician, tips can vary between 15%-25% of the total bill. According to our research, 90% of customers tip nail technicians. These tips make up a portion of the average nail technician’s pay, which is around $13.30/hour.
According to US News, the overall median salary for a nail technician is $23, 230. The states that have the highest median salaries are as follows:
The Difference Between A Manicurist And A Nail Technician
The states that have the lowest tips and salary are Alabama and West Virginia which have a median salary of $18, 824 and $17, 799 respectively. These lower salaries reflect the lower cost of nail technician services, which in turn lead to lower tips in proportion to the total ending bills.
Tipping for nail technicians can be broken down with two main items: manicures and pedicures. Manicures ($16-$20) on average bring about $3.50 in tips per session, but this varies depending on the state, customer, and salon type (luxury or normal). Pedicures on the other hand tend to be more expensive ($28-$35) and bring in around an average of $6 per session in tips (Glamour). Research also shows the fluctuations in how much experience can play a role in getting more tips and higher wages. In the chart below, the commission refers to the tips that can be received by a nail technician per year. The ones who display aggressive marketing and larger brand presence via social media can receive up to $24, 240 a year in tips!
Luxury nail salons will usually hire highly experienced technicians who have completed high level courses in nail work, have outstanding customer service skills and a proven reporte of loyal clients. These boutiques only pay techs about a 60/40 split of the price of services but the higher fees translate into higher wages and higher proportions of tips. To get to this level takes years of experience refining your skills, which will be discussed in the sections below.
Manicuring Program Nail Technician
Now we know how much you can expect to earn as a nail technician, and where you can earn the most. The question that remains is—who tips the best? According to our research, 79% of women tip almost all the time versus 74% of men. Demographically, married woman and gay men are most likely to tip the highest for nail technicans.
Additionally, our research has shown that 15% of people over 50 never tip, compared to 7% of people ages 18-29. This is because younger people are more likely to form lasting bonds with their technicians and be regular clients.
The industry is very female-orientated with the breakdown showing 95.1% of the industry is female and 4.9% is male. When it comes down to tipping, typically the nail technician who has a larger social media presence and more loyal clientele will receive a higher volume of tips and larger percentages. Research has shown that tipping depends on the fame, quality, and customer service aspects, rather than gender.
Does It Make More Sense To Go To College Or Open A Nail Salon?
If you are an early career nail technician, you might get worried about clients coming in once and never becoming a return client. If you are an experienced technician, then you know clients leave for various reasons, such as they do not want to pay for nail services anymore, they move, or have found a new nail technician. Some even stop getting nails because they picked up a new hobby like gardening and do not want to get their nails done just to ruin them. Don’t take it personally though! Even the best nail technicians lose clients due to reasons like these. To try to mitigate the loss of clients, be sure to follow the tips in the next section below.
Become a speedy nail technician who can create unique nails with precision, and clients will be lining up at your workstation! Be sure to always be posting on social media about new nails designs, new facts, and just more about yourself and who you are. Remember to always try to get clients to refer friends to you and integrate incentives like a loyalty punch card into your business. By becoming more personal with your clients, you will gain a better salary from raises, tips, and an increase in cliental combined.O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to manicurist and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.
The median salary for someone in a career related to manicurist is $25, 860. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.
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To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30, 000 and $57, 900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45, 600 and $99, 000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55, 600 and $125, 400.
Some degrees associated with manicurist may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
Manicurists And Pedicurists
In the 2020-2021 academic year, 568 schools offered some type of nail technician/specialist and manicurist program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
The median salary for a manicurist grad is $25, 860 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
Become A Certified Nail Technician
Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More Are you looking for an exciting career that allows you to interact with people, increase their happiness, and help them feel good about themselves and improve the way they look? If so, a career as a nail technician is right for you.
The purpose of this website is to provide you with all the information that you will need in order to understand what a nail tech does, what you will learn at a nail tech school, and also give an overall idea of what the cost of nail tech school include.
Our goal is for our readers to walk away with a clear picture in mind of not only the training and work involved in becoming a nail technician but also the rewards that come from choosing this career.
Nail Technician Tips For Your First Year Out Of School
A nail technician is an individual who consideschrs himself or herself to be a people person. They enjoy working with their hands and take pride in seeing to it that
