Iowa Cosmetologist Salary

Although cosmetologists are typically trained to work on nails, they generally specialize in providing haircuts and hair styling. Salons usually hire manicurists and pedicurists licensed as nail technicians to treat their customers’ nails. Thus, both Iowa Workforce Development and the federal government provide separate salary information for cosmetologists and manicurists.

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The average 2013 cosmetologist salary in Iowa was $25,949 while manicurists earned an average of $29,498. Iowa had the second highest average manicurist salary in the country according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the salaries for professionals in the 90th percentile in both fields were similar, Iowa manicurists in the 10th percentile earned more than cosmetologists in that salary bracket.

Profession
10th Percentile
Cosmetologists
$16494
Manicurists
$17389

Since customers normally tip cosmetologists and manicurists, their take home pay is generally much higher than indicated here.

Iowa Job Growth Rates for Cosmetologists

The number of jobs for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists is expected to increase 18.2% between 2010 and 2020. This is 1.4 times higher than the national rate.

Job growth is expected to be higher than the state’s average in two regions. The highest rate will be 19.4% in the region that encompasses Grundy, Butler, Buchanan, Bremer, and Black Hawk counties. The cosmetology field in central Iowa is expected to grow by 18.4% in the ten years between 2010 and 2020.

Cosmetology Employment Levels Throughout Iowa’s Regions

In 2010, some 8,090 cosmetologists working as hairdressers, and hairstylists were employed in Iowa. Most of these professionals were concentrated in Iowa’s central region. More than 30% of Iowa’s hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists worked in this region that year.

The second highest concentration of these professionals was in the region that is comprised of Washington, Linn, Jones, Johnson, Benton, Cedar, and Iowa counties. Sixteen percent of Iowa’s cosmetologists were employed in this region.

The BLS provides a breakdown by percentile of 2013 cosmetologist salaries in Iowa:

Area name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Ames IA
150
24700
Cedar Rapids IA
350
24680
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL
580
22650
Des Moines-West Des Moines IA
930
32700
Dubuque IA
140
27920
Iowa City IA
300
25440
Omaha-Council Bluffs NE-IA
1650
28050
Sioux City IA-NE-SD
280
21890
Waterloo-Cedar Falls IA
180
25670
Northeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area
220
21710
Northwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area
330
26080
Southwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area
120
23480
Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area
550
23120

The BLS has additional data for manicurist and pedicurist salaries in Iowa as of 2013:

Area name
Employment
Annual mean wage
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL
Estimate not released
31150
Des Moines-West Des Moines IA
Estimate not released
31680
Omaha-Council Bluffs NE-IA
Estimate not released
19800

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