What Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists earn in Alexandria city, VA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the median pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA is $37,020 a year, or $17.80 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $30,545 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Alexandria city, VA.
The mean wage is $49,360, which is 33.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,010 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Alexandria city, VA has roughly 156,976 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $26,900 a year ($12.93 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $78,900 or more ($37.93 an hour). That is a gap of $52,000 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $29,050 at the 25th percentile and $55,680 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA is $17.80. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $37,020, and the same salary is $3,085 a month before taxes or about $1,424 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $14.69 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists this way: "Provide beauty services, such as cutting, coloring, and styling hair, and massaging and treating scalp. May shampoo hair, apply makeup, dress wigs, remove hair, and provide nail and skincare services."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs"; "Cut, trim and shape hair or hairpieces, based on customers' instructions, hair type, and facial features, using clippers, scissors, trimmers and razors"; "Analyze patrons' hair and other physical features to determine and recommend beauty treatment or suggest hair styles"; "Schedule client appointments".
Job outlook for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 595,000 jobs in 2025 to 640,900 in 2035, a change of +7.7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 73,400 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 12.3% of current employment each year. About 48.1% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: postsecondary nondegree award. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $35,790 for this occupation; the Alexandria city, VA median of $37,020 is 3.4% above it.
How pay in Alexandria city, VA compares
Compared with the Virginia average
Alexandria city, VA pays above the state benchmark. The Virginia employment-weighted average for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists is $35,840; the local median of $37,020 beats it by $1,180, or 3.3%. Within Virginia, Alexandria city, VA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists is $35,969 across the contiguous United States. At $37,020, Alexandria city, VA pays $1,051 more, which is 2.9% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Alexandria city, VA
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Alexandria city, VA, Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists ranks number 597 by median pay, ahead of about 3% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $158,170 more than the median for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $37,020 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $6,475 a year, which leaves $30,545, or $2,545 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,270. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,314, an effective 6.3% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,295 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $537. FICA totals $2,832, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Virginia
Virginia income tax on this salary is $1,329 a year, or 3.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 57% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $111 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Alexandria city, VA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Alexandria city, VA show an average adjusted gross income of $140,496 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.8%, compared with the 6.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Alexandria city, VA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Alexandria city, VA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,545 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Alexandria city, VA is $2,204 a month, or $26,448 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,438 a month. For Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, a one-bedroom absorbs 86.6% of take-home pay and 71.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.3% of gross pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Virginia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,523 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $597, for $2,119 in total. Gasoline in Virginia averages $3.09 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,429.
What is left over
The basics cost $33,432 a year in Alexandria city, VA, but take-home pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists is $30,545. That is a shortfall of $2,887 a year, or $241 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 197 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $14.69, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for Alexandria city, VA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Alexandria city, VA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Alexandria city, VA, set beside the Virginia and national medians.
Property taxes in Alexandria city, VA
Homeowners in Alexandria city, VA pay a median of $7,024 a year in real estate taxes, 152% above the Virginia median of $2,790 and 125% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $735,100, the median tax bill is 0.96% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists median of $37,020, a tax bill of that size would equal 19.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Alexandria city, VA
Renters in Alexandria city, VA pay a median gross rent of $2,089 a month in the Census survey, 32% above the Virginia median of $1,579. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $735,100, 92% above the Virginia median of $383,700. Median household income is $119,681, 28% above the Virginia median of $93,170, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 22.1% of that income.
Commuting in Alexandria city, VA
Workers in Alexandria city, VA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.4 minutes each way, 4% above the Virginia average of 27.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 28.9% of workers in Alexandria city, VA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists afford to live in Alexandria city, VA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $37,020 that ceiling is $926 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,279 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists is $17.80, which is 58% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.69 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 34.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $8,933, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $37,020 median, lower housing costs than the $2,204 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists pay in Alexandria city, VA
What is the hourly wage for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA?
The median is $17.80 per hour, based on $37,020 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $12.93 at the 10th percentile to $37.93 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $37,020 becomes $30,545 a year. That is $2,545 a month, $1,175 every two weeks or $587 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA?
Total taxes are $6,475 a year, an effective rate of 17.5%: $2,314 federal income tax, $2,832 FICA and $1,329 Virginia income tax.
Is pay for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA above the Virginia average?
Yes. The local median of $37,020 is +3.3% versus the Virginia average of $35,840, a difference of $1,180 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists salary in Alexandria city, VA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $2,545, which is 86.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $926 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Alexandria city, VA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $33,432 a year, which is $2,887 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $241.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Alexandria city, VA at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists is $17.80.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Virginia rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.