Stylist vs salon manager

The differences between stylists and salon managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a stylist, becoming a salon manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a salon manager has an average salary of $43,893, which is higher than the $37,985 average annual salary of a stylist.

The top three skills for a stylist include good time management, POS and data entry. The most important skills for a salon manager are PET, cosmetology, and clips.

Stylist vs salon manager overview

	Stylist	Salon Manager
Yearly salary	$37,985	$43,893
Hourly rate	$18.26	$21.10
Growth rate	11%	6%
Number of jobs	49,296	347,470
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	2	6

What does a stylist do?

A stylist is responsible for providing fashion advice, choosing the appropriate clothing for models, maintaining the fashion style, and supervising photoshoots. Stylists must always be updated with the latest fashion trends for recommendations. A stylist must have excellent communication skills to connect with various brand management and fashion stores for purchasing items or inquiring about clothing collections. In some cases, stylists are usually consulted by a team of the fashion brand to give inputs on the appropriate style, including color schemes and overall design.

What does a salon manager do?

A salon manager is responsible for monitoring the overall operations of a salon, ensuring the highest customer satisfaction, including the area's cleanliness and orderliness, and maintaining the adequacy of salon supplies to meet customers' requests and demands. Salon managers regularly strategize promotional offers and new services to attract customers and increase the business' revenues and profitability. They also provide training for salon staff and enhance their skills to maximize productivity. A salon manager must have excellent leadership, communication, and analytical skills, especially on managing financial reports and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns.

Stylist vs salon manager salary

Stylists and salon managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Stylist	Salon Manager
Average salary	$37,985	$43,893
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $53,000	Between $31,000 And $61,000
Highest paying City	Denver, CO	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Washington	Virginia
Best paying company	Columbia International University	Craft Brew Alliance
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Professional

Differences between stylist and salon manager education

There are a few differences between a stylist and a salon manager in terms of educational background:

	Stylist	Salon Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Cosmetology	Cosmetology
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Stylist vs salon manager demographics

Here are the differences between stylists' and salon managers' demographics:

	Stylist	Salon Manager
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 13.6% Female, 86.4%	Male, 12.2% Female, 87.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.1% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	10%

Differences between stylist and salon manager duties and responsibilities

Stylist example responsibilities.

Manage salon, payroll, purchasing and inventory utilizing corporate policies.
Manage cleaning up activities after hair care appointments by ensuring appropriate cleanliness and sterilization of cutting and trimming equipment.
Perform general receptionist tasks such as answering phones, using POS system, handling money transactions, and scheduling appointments.
Create personal``Lookbooks"for clients through social media.
Assist in marketing and social media via Instagram, Facebook and USD club meetings.
Contract great clips for service to hire temps on a temporary basis to assist shifts salons need.

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Salon manager example responsibilities.

Manage salon operations including advertising, administration, managing stylists.
Manage biweekly payroll, and daily tip payouts.
Create utilities to automate generation of Java code for SNMP data GUI interface from MIBs.
Maintain a very strong clientele as a hair stylist, makeup artist and esthetician while managing the salon.
Manage and handle cash on a daily basis, including vault, ATM, and individual cash boxes.
Manage and lead a team seven associates and leverage responsibilities for team to meet and exceed sales goal.

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Stylist vs salon manager skills

Common stylist skills

Good Time Management, 14%
POS, 11%
Data Entry, 8%
Excellent Training, 8%
Safety Standards, 8%
Product Knowledge, 6%

Common salon manager skills

PET, 58%
Cosmetology, 6%
Clips, 6%
GRASS, 4%
Retail Products, 4%
Good Judgment, 3%

Stylist vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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