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