Salon assistant vs hair designer

The differences between salon assistants and hair designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a salon assistant and a hair designer. Additionally, a hair designer has an average salary of $37,277, which is higher than the $26,083 average annual salary of a salon assistant.

The top three skills for a salon assistant include PET, cleanliness and customer service. The most important skills for a hair designer are customer service, front desk, and appointment scheduling.

Salon assistant vs hair designer overview

	Salon Assistant	Hair Designer
Yearly salary	$26,083	$37,277
Hourly rate	$12.54	$17.92
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	23,585	86,536
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Associate Degree, 25%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Salon assistant vs hair designer salary

Salon assistants and hair designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Salon Assistant	Hair Designer
Average salary	$26,083	$37,277
Salary range	Between $18,000 And $37,000	Between $25,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between salon assistant and hair designer education

There are a few differences between a salon assistant and a hair designer in terms of educational background:

	Salon Assistant	Hair Designer
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Associate Degree, 25%
Most common major	Cosmetology	Cosmetology
Most common college	-	-

Salon assistant vs hair designer demographics

Here are the differences between salon assistants' and hair designers' demographics:

	Salon Assistant	Hair Designer
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 12.6% Female, 87.4%	Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 7.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 7.5% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between salon assistant and hair designer duties and responsibilities

Salon assistant example responsibilities.

Maintain salon appearance ensuring cleanliness, organization and manage inventory of salon products.
Color, bleach, perm and relax hair.
Assist in blow drying clients hair by holding hair dryers and brushes in place.
Maintain and style wigs and hair pieces for the production shows through grooming techniques.
Assist clients with consultations on products, braids, lock maintenance and other desire styles.
Assist in blow drying and styling activities by holding dryers and brushes and clips in place.

Hair designer example responsibilities.

Manage beautiful hairstyles with the use of flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers, and other hair products.
Care for wigs and hairpieces and in some cases sell them.
Attach prosthetics to performers and apply makeup to create special features.
Aid with the build, application, and removal of prosthetics.
Develop diverse cosmetology skills and expertise through education
Provide hairstylist services/professional makeup/manicures/pedicures and modeling.

Salon assistant vs hair designer skills

Common salon assistant skills

PET, 22%
Cleanliness, 16%
Customer Service, 15%
Appointment Scheduling, 10%
Front Desk, 7%
Makeup, 3%

Common hair designer skills

Customer Service, 16%
Front Desk, 16%
Appointment Scheduling, 15%
Cosmetology, 11%
Product Sales, 10%
Retail Sales, 7%