Best programs to become a barber
You do not need a college degree to become a barber. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Barbering/Barber; Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design; and Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor (IPEDS completions).
4 college programs at 783 schools train barbers, graduating 15,533 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $38,210 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About barbers
Provide barbering services, such as cutting, trimming, shampooing, and styling hair; trimming beards; or giving shaves.
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted as places of social interaction and public discourse since at least classical antiquity. In some instances, barbershops were also public forums. They were the locations of open debates, voicing public concerns, and engaging citizens in discussions about contemporary issues.
Read more on Wikipedia →Best programs to study to become a barber
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 12.0402 | 12,249 | 78.9% | 503 | $17,113 | $10,000 |
| 2 | CIP 12.0407 | 1,479 | 9.5% | 88 | $17,113 | $10,000 |
| 3 | CIP 12.0413 | 1,259 | 8.1% | 319 | $17,113 | $10,000 |
| 4 | CIP 12.0412 | 546 | 3.5% | 17 | $17,113 | $10,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NUC University Bayamon, PR Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 535 | Barbering/Barber | 54% | $9,377 | — |
| 2 | Parisian Beauty School Hackensack, NJ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 248 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 88% | $22,332 | — |
| 3 | Career Schools of Texas Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 191 | Barbering/Barber | 26% | $16,605 | — |
| 4 | Houston Barber School Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 182 | Barbering/Barber | 93% | $14,760 | — |
| 5 | Urban Barber College Concord, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 182 | Barbering/Barber | 78% | $25,510 | — |
| 6 | Miami Barber Institute Miami, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 176 | Barbering/Barber | 34% | — | — |
| 7 | Futura Career Institute Hialeah, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 169 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 89% | $22,298 | — |
| 8 | J F Ingram State Technical College Deatsville, AL Public · 1 feeder program | 167 | Barbering/Barber | 21% | — | — |
| 9 | D'Mart Institute Barranquitas, PR Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 159 | Barbering/Barber | 70% | $7,248 | — |
| 10 | Moler Barber College Oakland, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 143 | Barbering/Barber | 23% | $22,135 | — |
| 11 | Central Georgia Technical College Warner Robins, GA Public · 1 feeder program | 141 | Barbering/Barber | 47% | — | — |
| 12 | Instituto Educativo Premier Ponce, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 124 | Barbering/Barber | 78% | $12,011 | — |
| 13 | Central Valley Barber College Riverbank, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 105 | Barbering/Barber | 98% | $13,926 | — |
| 14 | Clarendon College Clarendon, TX Public · 1 feeder program | 102 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 41% | — | — |
| 15 | Shelton State Community College Tuscaloosa, AL Public · 1 feeder program | 102 | Salon/Beauty Salon Management/Manager | 30% | — | — |
| 16 | Modern Hairstyling Institute - Carolina Carolina, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 101 | Barbering/Barber | 79% | $6,419 | 90% |
| 17 | Florida Barber Academy Plantation, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 93 | Barbering/Barber | 80% | $27,315 | — |
| 18 | ZMS The Academy Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 91 | Barbering/Barber | 40% | $6,854 | — |
| 19 | Academy of Hair Design - Springfield Springfield, MO Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 90 | Barbering/Barber | 64% | $17,700 | — |
| 20 | Alamo City Barber College San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 85 | Barbering/Barber | 57% | $14,511 | — |
| 21 | American Beauty College West Covina, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 84 | Barbering/Barber | 69% | $25,703 | — |
| 22 | CRU Institute of Cosmetology and Barbering Garden Grove, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 84 | Barbering/Barber | 68% | $19,008 | — |
| 23 | The Barber School Midvale, UT Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 83 | Barbering/Barber | 59% | $22,128 | — |
| 24 | Mei Barber School Brownsville, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 82 | Barbering/Barber | 76% | $6,713 | — |
| 25 | Bellus Academy - Poway Poway, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 78 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 73% | $29,485 | — |
| 26 | Emily Griffith Technical College Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder program | 78 | Barbering/Barber | 97% | — | — |
| 27 | Sharp Edgez Barber Institute Rochester, NY Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 78 | Barbering/Barber | 97% | $13,205 | — |
| 28 | Advantage Technical College San Juan, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 77 | Barbering/Barber | 59% | $3,345 | — |
| 29 | Modern Hairstyling Institute - Bayamon Bayamon, PR Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 74 | Barbering/Barber | 80% | $6,575 | — |
| 30 | Ohio State College of Barber Styling Columbus, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 74 | Barbering/Barber | 68% | $14,607 | — |
| 31 | Gadsden State Community College Gadsden, AL Public · 1 feeder program | 72 | Salon/Beauty Salon Management/Manager | 38% | — | — |
| 32 | LaBarberia Institute of Hair Mayfield Hts, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 72 | Barbering/Barber | 63% | $11,615 | — |
| 33 | Deluxe Barber College San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 71 | Barbering/Barber | 63% | $19,529 | — |
| 34 | Bellus Academy - Chula Vista Chula Vista, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 70 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 68% | $21,982 | — |
| 35 | Winston Salem Barber School Winston-Salem, NC Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 70 | Barbering/Barber | 63% | $10,947 | — |
| 36 | Advanced Barber College and Hair Design Weslaco, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 68 | Barbering/Barber | 60% | $20,784 | — |
| 37 | Cosmetology & Spa Academy Crystal Lake, IL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 68 | Barbering/Barber | 70% | $16,160 | — |
| 38 | Hacienda La Puente Adult Education La Puente, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 68 | Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor | 77% | — | 100% |
| 39 | J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College Huntsville, AL Public · 1 feeder program | 66 | Salon/Beauty Salon Management/Manager | 14% | — | — |
| 40 | Gateway Technical College Kenosha, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 63 | Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor | 51% | — | — |
| 41 | Phagans Central Oregon Beauty College Bend, OR Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 63 | Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design | 77% | $11,952 | — |
| 42 | Associated Barber College of San Diego San Diego, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 61 | Barbering/Barber | 81% | $20,683 | — |
| 43 | Atlanta Technical College Atlanta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs | 61 | Barbering/Barber | 49% | — | — |
| 44 | Emma's Beauty Academy - Juana Diaz Juana Diaz, PR Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 61 | Barbering/Barber | 64% | $3,686 | — |
| 45 | Paul Mitchell the School - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 60 | Barbering/Barber | 79% | $20,104 | — |
| 46 | Century College San Juan, PR Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 58 | Barbering/Barber | 90% | — | — |
| 47 | Hawaii Institute of Hair Design Honolulu, HI Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 58 | Barbering/Barber | 82% | $14,518 | — |
| 48 | George C Wallace State Community College - Hanceville Hanceville, AL Public · 1 feeder program | 57 | Salon/Beauty Salon Management/Manager | 51% | — | — |
| 49 | Milan Institute - Clovis Clovis, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 57 | Barbering/Barber | 63% | $22,885 | — |
| 50 | MIXED Institute of Cosmetology & Barber Sacramento, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder program | 57 | Barbering/Barber | 73% | $21,829 | — |
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What barbers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $38,380 | 1,390 | 0.79× | 77 | 2,556 |
| Texas | $30,760 | 2,580 | 1.90× | 63 | 1,696 |
| Florida | $49,410 | 1,240 | 1.30× | 63 | 1,650 |
| Alabama | $29,120 | — | — | 16 | 688 |
| Georgia | $30,750 | 550 | 1.16× | 30 | 641 |
| New Jersey | $54,850 | — | — | 14 | 464 |
| Illinois | $65,430 | — | — | 38 | 407 |
| Pennsylvania | $36,920 | 530 | 0.91× | 46 | 397 |
| Oregon | $77,430 | — | — | 16 | 353 |
| Arizona | $34,380 | — | — | 21 | 290 |
| Utah | $25,370 | 320 | 1.91× | 18 | 290 |
| Colorado | $61,500 | 480 | 1.73× | 10 | 272 |
| New York | $38,580 | — | — | 7 | 239 |
| Washington | $61,150 | 1,220 | 3.57× | 14 | 228 |
| Oklahoma | $34,860 | 170 | 1.01× | 27 | 226 |
| Missouri | $47,880 | 580 | 2.05× | 13 | 225 |
| Arkansas | $25,640 | 170 | 1.33× | 18 | 198 |
| Maryland | $35,400 | — | — | 9 | 185 |
| North Carolina | $31,050 | 330 | 0.70× | 16 | 185 |
| Indiana | $33,600 | 370 | 1.20× | 22 | 182 |
| Tennessee | $24,690 | — | — | 19 | 176 |
| Mississippi | $38,480 | — | — | 14 | 171 |
| Wisconsin | $36,540 | 450 | 1.58× | 11 | 160 |
| Idaho | $36,040 | 130 | 1.53× | 11 | 149 |
| Michigan | $35,490 | — | — | 24 | 148 |
| Louisiana | $44,430 | 40 | 0.19× | 18 | 142 |
| New Mexico | $39,100 | 50 | 0.56× | 10 | 115 |
| South Carolina | $32,900 | 220 | 0.97× | 7 | 100 |
| Minnesota | $53,990 | 260 | 0.90× | 5 | 77 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $39,090 | — | — | 4 | 66 |
| Virginia | $46,730 | 160 | 0.41× | 6 | 64 |
| Connecticutmoderate | $41,400 | 330 | 2.02× | 4 | 63 |
| Iowamoderate | $58,900 | 130 | 0.87× | 4 | 50 |
| Mainemoderate | $35,300 | 50 | 0.87× | 3 | 28 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $34,900 | — | — | 2 | 2 |
| North Dakotalimited | $48,540 | 80 | 1.91× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Clean and sterilize scissors, combs, clippers, and other instruments.
- Drape and pin protective cloths around customers' shoulders.
- Cut and trim hair according to clients' instructions or current hairstyles, using clippers, combs, hand-held blow driers, and scissors.
- Question patrons regarding desired services and haircut styles.
- Clean work stations and sweep floors.
- Apply lather and shave beards or neck and temple hair contours, using razors.
- Record services provided on cashiers' tickets or receive payment from customers.
- Shape and trim beards and moustaches, using scissors.
Skills
- Active Listening3.4
- Speaking3.1
- Monitoring2.9
- Critical Thinking2.9
- Reading Comprehension2.8
- Active Learning2.5
- Writing2.0
- Mathematics1.9
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.4
- Administration and Management3.2
- English Language3.1
- Economics and Accounting3.0
- Psychology3.0
- Mathematics2.8
Abilities
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.9
- Near Vision3.6
- Oral Comprehension3.6
- Manual Dexterity3.4
- Finger Dexterity3.4
- Oral Expression3.3
Core activities
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.7
- Thinking Creatively3.9
- Performing General Physical Activities3.9
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships3.8
- Assisting and Caring for Others3.5
- Handling and Moving Objects3.5
How to get in
How to become a barber
- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Barbers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 12.0402Barbering/Barber
- 12.0407Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design
- 12.0412Salon/Beauty Salon Management/Manager
- 12.0413Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a barber?+
You do not need a college degree to become a barber. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Barbering/Barber; Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design; and Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a barber?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Barbering/Barber; Hair Styling/Stylist and Hair Design; and Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this job, which together graduate about 15,533 people a year.
How much do barbers earn?+
The median is $38,210 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $28,600 at the 10th percentile to $76,460 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for barbers growing?+
BLS projects a +4.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 8,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
783 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do barbers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Barber, Stylist, Barber Stylist, Barber Shop Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-5011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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