Best cosmetology programs in New Hampshire 2026

• #1

  Paul Mitchell the School-Portsmouth

  Portsmouth, NH · Cosmetology Program

  95%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • $19,050 program cost

  What the record shows

  Paul Mitchell the School-Portsmouth is licensed by the state board and trains in Portsmouth. It is the only licensed school the board lists in Portsmouth. 95 percent of its students finish, out of 73 enrolled in the fall count. Tuition is reported at $19,050 for the full program. Graduates who borrowed took on $9,833 in federal loans at the median, 44 of them. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $104 a month. 28 points more of its students finish than the 67 percent median, priced within 12 percent of the $21,480 median, so you pay the going rate for better than average odds of getting through. 51 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. The license from the state board is the thing to verify before you pay, since that is what decides whether these hours count toward your exam.

  Where it leads

  undefined The metro median is about 8 percent above the New Hampshire figure.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), read 2026-08-31.

• #2

  Empire Beauty School-Hooksett

  Hooksett, NH · Cosmetology Program

  83%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • $21,480 program cost

  What the record shows

  Empire Beauty School-Hooksett is licensed by the state board and trains in Hooksett. The board lists no other licensed school in Hooksett. The school graduates 83 percent, on a fall headcount of 306. The published cost is $21,480 for the full program. Empire Beauty campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $8,389 in federal loans at the median over 218 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $89 a month. $21,480 is exactly at the $21,480 median, and the completion is not ordinary: 83 percent against 67. That is the better half of the trade. It awarded 180 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Ask the state board directly whether the license is in good standing, because a lapse while you are enrolled costs you the hours rather than the school.

  Where it leads

  In New Hampshire, the median cosmetologist earns $34,650, the bottom tenth $25,720 and the top tenth $58,210. An ordinary shape: the top tenth at 1.7 times the median and a floor 26 percent below it, so a good first year and a good tenth year here are separated by a client book rather than by a cliff. New Hampshire employs the trade at about 1.4 times the national rate, so the local market is thicker than average.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), read 2026-08-31.

• #3

  Empire Beauty School-Somersworth

  Somersworth, NH · Cosmetology Program

  67%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • $21,480 program cost

  What the record shows

  Empire Beauty School-Somersworth trains in Somersworth, licensed by the state board. The board lists no other licensed school in Somersworth. The school graduates 67 percent, on a fall headcount of 184. Tuition is reported at $21,480 for the full program. The median graduate left with $7,819 in federal loans, across 138 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $83 a month. Completion, price and borrowing all sit near the page's middle here, 67 percent, exactly the median and $21,480, exactly the median, 36 percent of the price borrowed against 39 for the page. Nothing federal separates it, so the clinic floor and the board file will. It awarded 64 beauty credentials in the reporting year. The license from the state board is the thing to verify before you pay, since that is what decides whether these hours count toward your exam.

  Where it leads

  undefined Boston-Cambridge-Newton employs the trade at about 1.5 times the national rate, so the local market is thicker than average.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), read 2026-08-31.

• #4

  Empire Beauty School-Laconia

  Laconia, NH · Cosmetology Program

  64%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • $21,480 program cost

  What the record shows

  Empire Beauty School-Laconia operates in Laconia under license from the state board. The board lists no other licensed school in Laconia. 64 percent of its students finish, out of 92 enrolled in the fall count. The published cost is $21,480 for the full program. Empire Beauty campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $8,389 in federal loans at the median over 218 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $89 a month. On completion and price it is close to the median school on this page, 64 percent against 67 and $21,480, exactly the median, which is neither a warning nor a recommendation: the choice comes down to the visit and the board file. 44 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. Ask the state board directly whether the license is in good standing, because a lapse while you are enrolled costs you the hours rather than the school.

  Where it leads

  Half of cosmetologists in New Hampshire earn under $34,650, with the tenth percentile at $25,720 and the ninetieth at $58,210. A 2.3-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. Concentration in New Hampshire runs modestly above the national rate, about 1.4 times, or 1,950 people in the occupation.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), read 2026-08-31.

• #5

  Keene Beauty Academy

  Keene, NH · Cosmetology/Esthetics Program

  62%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • Esthetics
  • $20,100 program cost

  What the record shows

  Based in Keene, Keene Beauty Academy is on the state board register. Its license covers cosmetology and esthetics. The board lists no other licensed school in Keene. Of the 50 students in its fall count, 62 percent complete the course they started. The published cost is $20,100 for the full program. The price is close to the $21,480 median and the completion is not: 62 percent against 67. In a clock-hour course that is the wrong half of the trade, and the reason to ask hard questions before a deposit. 27 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. Confirm the school's current license with the state board first: that entry is what qualifies your hours, whatever the federal figures say.

  Where it leads

  In New Hampshire, the median cosmetologist earns $34,650, the bottom tenth $25,720 and the top tenth $58,210. The upside is capped near 1.7 times the median and the floor is 26 percent under it, a market where the first year is tight rather than dangerous and the ceiling is earned slowly. In New Hampshire, the gap between esthetics and cosmetology is real: a $46,890 median against one 26 percent lower. Concentration in New Hampshire runs modestly above the national rate, about 1.4 times, or 1,950 people in the occupation.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), read 2026-08-31.

Which other cosmetology schools in New Hampshire are state licensed?

These New Hampshire cosmetology schools hold a current license from New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) but have no published earnings figure, because the ranking above reads federal data that covers only schools taking federal financial aid. Their hours count toward the New Hampshire exam exactly as the ranked schools' hours do. They are listed by city rather than ordered, since nothing published about them supports an ordering.

How do you become a cosmetologist in New Hampshire in 2026?

To become a cosmetologist in New Hampshire you need 1,200 clock hours at a school licensed by New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), then a passing score on the state exam. At the pace most clock-hour schools run, that is roughly 9.2 months full time. Only 7 states ask less, so this is at the shorter end of a range that reaches 2,000 hours.

Those hours only count if the school held a license from New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) while you were enrolled, so check the license before the brochure when comparing cosmetology programs.

How much do cosmetologists make in New Hampshire in 2026?

Cosmetologists in New Hampshire earn a median of $34,650 , with the bottom tenth on $25,720 and the top tenth on $58,210 . The related licenses pay differently again, which matters because you pick the license before you start the hours.

What is different about cosmetology licensing in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire's 1,200 hours is among the lowest cosmetology requirements in the country, and RSA 313-A:11 I(c)(2) lets an applicant skip school entirely via 3,000 hours over at least 18 months under a licensed cosmetologist. The state also collapses the student/apprentice distinction: RSA 313-A:24 makes anyone 'receiving instruction within a licensed school and/or shop' an apprentice certificate holder, which is why the school-based online-learning rules live in the rule titled 'Apprenticeship.' Its board is a combined barbering/cosmetology/esthetics board that separately licenses barbers (800 hours) and master barbers (1,500 hours), and RSA 313-A:7 II lets it license dedicated cosmetology programs inside secondary schools as well as postsecondary ones. Read New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification)'s own rules .

Where are the cosmetology schools in New Hampshire?

The licensed cosmetology schools in New Hampshire cluster hardest in Bedford, which holds 1 of the 11 the board currently lists. At 9 percent of the state total, no single city dominates training in New Hampshire.

11 towns have exactly one licensed school, which is worth knowing if you cannot easily move: losing that school means losing the option locally.

Is it better to be a cosmetologist, esthetician or nail tech in New Hampshire?

In New Hampshire, salon managers are the best paid of the beauty licenses at a $50,580 median. That is above the $34,650 cosmetologist median, so the longer general license is not automatically the better-paid route here.

Adding a second license later is common, so the question is less which career to pick than which of these programs to start with.

Can you use a cosmetology license from another state in New Hampshire?

Using a cosmetology license from another state in New Hampshire means satisfying New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), which decides case by case, and the number it weighs is hours. Against the other Northeast states, New Hampshire is its 1,200 hour requirement is about the regional norm, and it pays about 12 percent below the regional average.

It is worth knowing before you train if there is any chance you will move, since transferring a license is an application to the receiving board rather than a formality.

What does this New Hampshire cosmetology program ranking not tell you?

This New Hampshire cosmetology program ranking does not tell you everything you need. This is a completion rate, not a teaching inspection, and a school can lift it by enrolling only students likely to finish just as easily as by teaching well. It is reported for the institution rather than for the cosmetology course alone, which is exact at the beauty schools that teach nothing else and broader at a community college, where cosmetology is one program among many; each card says which kind it is describing. Schools enrolling fewer than 40 students are left out, because a completion rate over a handful of people moves too far on one person's decision to be worth ordering on. It covers only schools that take federal financial aid, a large share of the field but not all of it, so a school missing here takes no federal aid rather than performing badly. Finishing also says nothing about whether a school's hours will count toward your license, which is what the board record on this page is for.

Check a school against the NACCAS accredited school search if federal financial aid matters to you, and against New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics (administered by the NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) for the license itself.

Common questions about cosmetology programs in New Hampshire