Nail technicians are also referred to as Manicurists or Pedicurists. They normally provide different nail treatments depending on the preference of clients or customers. They usually work in spas and salons or even nail studios.

As a nail technician, you are to make sure that clients are satisfied so they will keep patronizing. Application of artificial nails, recommendation of diverse nail art to customers, sanitation of equipment before and after use are all part of your duty.

A high school diploma or GED is required to be a qualified candidate. Work experience as a nail technician is also needed as well as adequate knowledge of manicure and pedicure methods. You must possess excellent hand-eye coordination and have exceptional customer service skills. The annual average pay of a nail technician is around $22,000.

What Does a Nail Technician Do

There are certain skills that many nail technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed business skills, dexterity and creativity.

Learn more about what a Nail Technician does

How To Become a Nail Technician

If you're interested in becoming a nail technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 26.6% of nail technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.0% of nail technicians have master's degrees. Even though some nail technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Nail Technician

Nail Technician Career Paths

Average Salary for a Nail Technician

Nail Technicians in America make an average salary of $30,503 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $53,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $17,000 per year.
Average Nail Technician Salary
$30,503 Yearly
$14.66 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Nail Technician

The role of a nail technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general nail technician responsibilities:

  • Provide nail care services such as manicures
  • Ability to give meticulous manicure, pedicure, artificial nail application
  • Provide professional nail services – you love making people look beautiful! You revel in creating a moment of relaxation while providing a service of beauty in a professional manner. Build a fan base – you love staying in contact with new

There are several types of nail technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.

  • Average Salary: $38,045
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Cosmetologist

Role:

The pervasiveness of automation in repetitive tasks across industries, like manufacturing and retail, are consequently shifting the perception of skill value that contributes to society. Although this has caused some level of economic uncertainty, human activity on the other hand, has been freed to explore a more creative dimension. One job that is gaining popularity in the creative field is the role of a cosmetologist.

Daily, a cosmetologist is involved in providing beauty care services, focusing on hair, skin, and nails. This includes tasks such as shampooing, styling, cutting, bleaching, coloring, and providing wigs or hairpieces. Besides that, they provide services such as skin care treatments, facial hair trimming, eyebrow shaping, nail polishing, and demonstrating makeup applications.

Employers require cosmetologists to have either formal training in at least one field of beauty services and demonstrate at least one to two years of work experience. This role earns, on average, $18 per hour and suits individuals who have a knack for styling.

  • Average Salary: $37,122
  • Degree: Associate Degree

States With The Most Nail Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active nail technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where nail technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Nail Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Florida1,048$30,326
2California909$34,070
3Texas840$30,223
4Illinois763$28,404
5New York715$36,280
6North Carolina623$31,983
7Georgia610$29,141
8Massachusetts547$36,431
9New Jersey476$30,368
10Pennsylvania466$31,675
11Virginia418$28,018
12Michigan405$31,297
13Missouri395$29,249
14Minnesota391$35,684
15Ohio377$33,800
16Colorado375$30,565
17Indiana360$28,603
18Maryland333$39,120
19Wisconsin312$31,357
20Arizona308$35,177
21Washington250$33,286
22Tennessee250$28,445
23Connecticut239$32,205
24Alabama222$23,178
25South Carolina218$32,277
26Iowa216$26,170
27Kentucky208$31,709
28Utah164$28,432
29Maine152$28,311
30Kansas146$25,100
31Louisiana140$33,458
32Oregon137$26,773
33Oklahoma126$28,209
34Arkansas119$28,371
35Mississippi118$30,499
36Nevada115$25,624
37Nebraska106$29,372
38West Virginia102$33,889
39New Hampshire91$28,271
40Alaska79$27,457
41Delaware74$33,116
42New Mexico62$28,599
43Vermont54$32,767
44Montana54$31,765
45Idaho52$26,616
46Rhode Island45$31,219
47South Dakota37$32,589
48Hawaii37$29,889
49North Dakota30$34,607
50Wyoming20$32,407

Nail Technician Education

Nail Technician Majors

16.0 %

Nail Technician Degrees

High School Diploma

27.6 %

Bachelors

26.6 %

Associate

24.8 %

Top Skills For a Nail Technician

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.8% of nail technicians listed work ethic on their resume, but soft skills such as business skills and dexterity are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Nail Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Nail Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Nail Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Nail Technician diversity

Nail Technician Gender Distribution

Female
Female
84%
Male
Male
16%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among nail technicians, 84.0% of them are women, while 16.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among nail technicians is Asian, which makes up 51.7% of all nail technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among nail technicians is Spanish at 37.8%.

Online Courses For Nail Technician That You May Like

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Best States For a Nail Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a nail technician. The best states for people in this position are Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Minnesota. Nail technicians make the most in Maryland with an average salary of $39,120. Whereas in Massachusetts and New York, they would average $36,431 and $36,280, respectively. While nail technicians would only make an average of $35,684 in Minnesota, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. West Virginia

Total Nail Technician Jobs: 102
Highest 10% Earn:
$57,000
Location Quotient:
1.33

2. Minnesota

Total Nail Technician Jobs: 391
Highest 10% Earn:
$53,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

3. Massachusetts

Total Nail Technician Jobs: 547
Highest 10% Earn:
$69,000
Location Quotient:
1.18
Full List Of Best States For Nail Technicians

How Do Nail Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Nail Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Nail Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Bliss$33,752$16.2325
2Polished Inc$33,444$16.0844
3Hair$33,126$15.9328
4Mitchell's Salon$33,031$15.8814
5MiniLuxe$32,976$15.8526
6Bella Salon and Spa$32,951$15.8414
7Creative Nail Design$32,582$15.6613
8Beauty Brands$32,375$15.5638
9Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas$32,179$15.4732
10XpresSpa$30,765$14.7913

Nail Technician Videos