Find a Job You Really Want In
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do nail technicians get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for nail technicians by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for nail technicians after this adjustment? That would be Manicurists And Pedicurists.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for nail technician salaries:
To better understand how nail technician salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for nail technicians by state.
Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
How we determined nail technician pay by state
As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for nail technicians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’
To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.
We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $32420, so our index value would be:
$32,420 * (100 / 135.9) = $23,855
We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for nail technicians.
Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.
Detailed List Of Nail Technician Salaries By State
| Rank | State | Adjusted Salary | Average Wage | Cost Of Living |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan | $49,786 | $44,310 | 89.0 |
| 2 | Montana | $40,813 | $41,140 | 100.8 |
| 3 | Idaho | $39,424 | $36,310 | 92.1 |
| 4 | Kansas | $38,464 | $34,580 | 89.9 |
| 5 | Mississippi | $37,718 | $32,400 | 85.9 |
| 6 | Washington | $36,825 | $38,740 | 105.2 |
| 7 | Arizona | $36,061 | $35,340 | 98.0 |
| 8 | Illinois | $34,862 | $32,980 | 94.6 |
| 9 | Kentucky | $34,320 | $31,060 | 90.5 |
| 10 | Colorado | $34,267 | $35,570 | 103.8 |
| 11 | Delaware | $33,915 | $34,390 | 101.4 |
| 12 | Nebraska | $33,831 | $30,990 | 91.6 |
| 13 | Missouri | $33,639 | $30,410 | 90.4 |
| 14 | North Carolina | $32,907 | $30,900 | 93.9 |
| 15 | South Dakota | $32,748 | $33,960 | 103.7 |
| 16 | Arkansas | $32,112 | $27,970 | 87.1 |
| 17 | Wyoming | $32,080 | $29,450 | 91.8 |
| 18 | Vermont | $31,998 | $38,750 | 121.1 |
| 19 | Florida | $31,993 | $31,450 | 98.3 |
| 20 | Indiana | $31,754 | $28,420 | 89.5 |
| 21 | West Virginia | $31,616 | $29,530 | 93.4 |
| 22 | Virginia | $31,359 | $31,610 | 100.8 |
| 23 | Tennessee | $29,888 | $26,720 | 89.4 |
| 24 | Minnesota | $29,573 | $29,810 | 100.8 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | $29,535 | $28,590 | 96.8 |
| 26 | Ohio | $29,434 | $27,610 | 93.8 |
| 27 | New Hampshire | $29,418 | $34,420 | 117.0 |
| 28 | Oklahoma | $28,991 | $25,860 | 89.2 |
| 29 | Maine | $28,745 | $31,850 | 110.8 |
| 30 | Oregon | $28,503 | $32,950 | 115.6 |
| 31 | Texas | $27,783 | $25,200 | 90.7 |
| 32 | Georgia | $27,461 | $25,100 | 91.4 |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | $24,714 | $25,060 | 101.4 |
| 34 | New Jersey | $24,610 | $30,000 | 121.9 |
| 35 | Maryland | $24,254 | $30,440 | 125.5 |
| 36 | Massachusetts | $24,145 | $32,210 | 133.4 |
| 37 | California | $23,855 | $32,420 | 135.9 |
| 38 | Nevada | $23,785 | $24,570 | 103.3 |
| 39 | Louisiana | $23,755 | $22,520 | 94.8 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | $22,966 | $27,720 | 120.7 |
| 41 | South Carolina | $22,631 | $22,450 | 99.2 |
| 42 | Connecticut | $22,545 | $28,790 | 127.7 |
| 43 | Alaska | $22,219 | $29,130 | 131.1 |
| 44 | New York | $22,183 | $29,060 | 131.0 |
| 45 | Hawaii | $18,469 | $31,010 | 167.9 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
