Cosmetology Schools in Charlotte, NC, Ranked (2026)

The 7 Cosmetology Schools in and Near Charlotte, Ranked on Completion

9 cosmetology programs report to the US Department of Education from inside Charlotte or within 30 miles of downtown. 7 of them had at least 40 students and a published completion figure, and they are ordered on the share of students who finish within half again the program's normal length. The other 2 had too few students to rank, so the list stops at 7.

Where a school's board record was matched, the card carries it. A school that appears here without one is not unlicensed; it means the board's file and the federal file did not agree on its name, and the North Carolina page links the board's own lookup.

1. #1

   Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology-Rock Hill

   Rock Hill, SC

   71%

   Share of students who finish

   • 71% finish
   • 153 graduates a year
   • $8,692 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Rock Hill, Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology-Rock Hill is one of the cosmetology programs the federal government tracks. Of the 181 students in its fall count, 71 percent complete the course they started. Tuition is reported at $8,692 for the full program. Borrowing is pooled across Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology campuses in the federal file, 273 borrowers at a median of $6,333 in federal loans. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $67 a month. That puts it in the rare corner of this table: 15 points more of its students finish than the 56 percent median, and it charges 55 percent less than the $19,260 median to do it. The school conferred 153 credentials in the year reported. Verify the school's standing with the state board before any deposit changes hands, since that record and not this one governs your hours.

   Where it leads

   Pay for cosmetologists around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia runs from $28,160 at the tenth percentile to $61,530 at the ninetieth, with a median of $38,530. The metro median is about 14 percent above the South Carolina figure. A 2.2-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. The occupation is about as common around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia as it is nationally.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

2. #2

   Empire Beauty School-Concord

   Concord, NC · Cosmetic Art School (Private)

   65%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • $19,260 program cost

   What the record shows

   Empire Beauty School-Concord is licensed by the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners and trains in Concord. It is the only licensed school the board lists in Concord. The school graduates 65 percent, on a fall headcount of 110. The published cost is $19,260 for the full program. Borrowing is pooled across Empire Beauty campuses in the federal file, 746 borrowers at a median of $13,000 in federal loans. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $138 a month. $19,260 is exactly at the $19,260 median, and the completion is not ordinary: 65 percent against 56. That is the better half of the trade. It awarded 55 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Its board record is license 276, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.

   Where it leads

   Pay for cosmetologists around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia runs from $28,160 at the tenth percentile to $61,530 at the ninetieth, with a median of $38,530. Neither end of this market is extreme: the top tenth earns about 1.6 times the median and the floor sits 27 percent under it, which makes the first year a budget question rather than a survival one. The occupation is about as common around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia as it is nationally.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

3. #3

   Gaston College

   Dallas, NC · Cosmetic Art School (High School)

   63%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology

   What the record shows

   Gaston College operates in Gastonia under license from the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners. It is filed as a high school program, which means it serves students still in school. 63 percent of students across the college finish, out of 3,518 enrolled, and cosmetology is one of the programs inside that figure. At 63 percent the college as a whole keeps its students better than most schools on this page. It is a good sign about the institution; the cosmetology program's own completion is a separate number to ask the cosmetology department for. Its 33 completions a year make cosmetology a small program inside a college of 3,518. It is a public college, so the cosmetology course is priced at in-district tuition rather than at an academy price. Its board record is license 509, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.

   Where it leads

   Around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, the median cosmetologist earns $38,530, the bottom tenth $28,160 and the top tenth $61,530. The upside is capped near 1.6 times the median and the floor is 27 percent under it, a market where the first year is tight rather than dangerous and the ceiling is earned slowly. Local concentration around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia sits near the national average.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

4. #4

   Paul Mitchell the School-Charlotte

   Charlotte, NC · Cosmetic Art School (Private)

   56%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • $19,425 program cost

   What the record shows

   Paul Mitchell the School-Charlotte operates in Charlotte under license from the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners. Charlotte has 21 licensed schools, so there is a real choice locally. Of the 97 students in its fall count, 56 percent complete the course they started. Tuition is reported at $19,425 for the full program. Graduates who borrowed took on $15,541 in federal loans at the median, 270 of them. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $165 a month. That is most of the $19,425 price arriving as debt, so the published cost and what a student actually finances are close to the same number here. Completion and price both sit close to the page median, 56 percent, exactly the median and $19,425 against $19,260, and that median is low: 44 in a hundred here do not finish, which at $19,425 makes the purchase closer to a coin flip than a sure thing. 30 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. Its board record is license 354, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.

   Where it leads

   For cosmetologists around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, the range runs $28,160 to $61,530 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $38,530. An ordinary shape: the top tenth at 1.6 times the median and a floor 27 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. The occupation is about as common around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia as it is nationally.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

5. #5

   Empire Beauty School-Pineville

   Charlotte, NC · Cosmetic Art School (Private)

   48%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • $19,260 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Charlotte, Empire Beauty School-Pineville is on the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners register. With 21 licensed schools in Charlotte, this one is competing for students rather than the only option. 48 percent of students see the course through, out of 75 enrolled. The published cost is $19,260 for the full program. Empire Beauty campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $13,000 in federal loans at the median over 746 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $138 a month. 8 points fewer of its students finish than the 56 percent median, priced exactly at the $19,260 median, so you would be paying the going rate for worse odds of getting through. Ask the school what happens to the ones who leave. It awarded 24 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Its board record is license 345, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.

   Where it leads

   For cosmetologists around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, the range runs $28,160 to $61,530 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $38,530. An ordinary shape: the top tenth at 1.6 times the median and a floor 27 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. On concentration, Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is unremarkable, tracking the national rate closely.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

6. #6

   Central Piedmont Community College

   Charlotte, NC · Cosmetic Art School (Public)

   31%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology

   What the record shows

   Central Piedmont Community College is licensed by the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners and trains in Charlotte. The board records it as public rather than private. With 21 licensed schools in Charlotte, this one is competing for students rather than the only option. Across all 15,067 students at the college, 31 percent finish, which covers cosmetology along with everything else it teaches. Most of the students behind that 31 percent are in other programs, so ask the cosmetology department for its own figure rather than reading this one as the program's. Its 25 completions a year make cosmetology a small program inside a college of 15,067. The award here is an associate degree rather than the certificate most cosmetology programs issue, so the hours come with transferable college credit attached. It is a public college, so the cosmetology course is priced at in-district tuition rather than at an academy price. The board files it under license 376; that record, not this one, is what makes your hours count.

   Where it leads

   Pay for cosmetologists around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia runs from $28,160 at the tenth percentile to $61,530 at the ninetieth, with a median of $38,530. A 2.2-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. The occupation is about as common around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia as it is nationally.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

7. #7

   Empire Beauty School-Charlotte

   Charlotte, NC · Cosmetic Art School (Private)

   24%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • $19,260 program cost

   What the record shows

   Empire Beauty School-Charlotte operates in Charlotte under license from the North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners. With 21 licensed schools in Charlotte, this one is competing for students rather than the only option. 24 percent of students see the course through, out of 90 enrolled. Tuition is reported at $19,260 for the full program. Empire Beauty campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $10,667 in federal loans at the median over 841 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $113 a month. Only 24 in a hundred finish here, 32 points under the 56 percent median that is not high to begin with. Treat that as the headline, not a footnote, and hold the $19,260 price against it. 21 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. From 90 enrolled that is slow throughput for a clock-hour course, and it belongs beside the completion figure above. License 342 is the board's entry for it, and that is the record to confirm is still current before a deposit.

   Where it leads

   Around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, the median cosmetologist earns $38,530, the bottom tenth $28,160 and the top tenth $61,530. The ninetieth percentile at $61,530 is 1.6 times the median, so the upside is real but bounded, and the floor sits 27 percent under the median, so the first year is lean but not the cliff it is in some states. Local concentration around Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia sits near the national average.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, read 2026-08-28.

Other Licensed Cosmetology Schools in Charlotte

North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners lists 21 currently licensed schools in Charlotte. These 17 appear above, either because the school takes no federal aid and so reports no completion figure, or because its cohort was too small to rank. Being on this list means the board licenses the school, which is the thing that makes your hours count.

What North Carolina Requires From Charlotte Students

The North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners licenses cosmetic art schools and the people who graduate from them, and it sets 1,500 hours for a cosmetologist license. Its Charlotte roster is a mailing list carrying a school code, a type and an address on each line. Presence on that list is the board saying the school is licensed.

Barbering sits somewhere else entirely. North Carolina licenses barber schools through the Board of Barber and Electrolysis Examiners, a separate agency, so a Charlotte barber school never appears on the cosmetic art list at all. If a barbershop chair is the goal, start with the barber route and that second board.

Up to 30 percent of the 1,500 hours, 450 of them, can be delivered at a distance. The other 1,050 are hours on a clinic floor in Charlotte. Online hour rules by state shows where North Carolina sits against states that allow half or none.

Figures in this section: North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners; College Scorecard, June 2026.

What the Charlotte Ranking Shows

The board's mailing list says a school is licensed. It does not say a school is good, so the ordering below is the federal completion figure. Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology-Rock Hill leads at 71 percent on 181 students, and at $8,692 it is less than half the price of the Charlotte private schools under it.

Empire Beauty School has three campuses on this list, and they finish very different shares of their students. Concord is at 65 percent, the Pineville campus at 48 percent, and the Charlotte campus at 24 percent, the lowest of the seven. All three charge the same $19,260.

Two of the seven are colleges, so their completion figures cover the whole institution rather than the cosmetology department. Central Piedmont Community College enrolls 15,067 students and finishes 31 percent. Gaston College, 20 miles out in Dallas, North Carolina, enrolls 3,518 and finishes 63 percent. Read those two differently, and see community college programs for the wider group.

Debt is the other split. Paul Mitchell the School-Charlotte, one mile out, charges $19,425 and its graduates carry $15,541 in median debt. The figure at Kenneth Shuler is $6,333. Both sit in the North Carolina ranking alongside the schools on the Raleigh list.

Figures in this section: North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners; BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

What Hairdressers and Estheticians Earn in Charlotte

The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro reaches into South Carolina, and BLS reports it as one labor market. Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists here earn a median of $38,530, a little above the $38,410 North Carolina figure, and the metro employs 2,940 of the state's 8,490 hairdressers.

The top tenth of Charlotte hairdressers earn $61,530 and the bottom tenth $28,160. That gap is the real answer to what this work pays, and the number is narrower than the trade is, because BLS surveys employers. Booth renters and chair renters are self-employed and sit outside these figures altogether.

Skin work pays better at the top of the scale. Charlotte skincare specialists post a $39,120 median, the same as the state, but their 90th percentile is $96,670 against $61,530 for hairdressers. There are 770 of them employed in the metro, against 2,940 hairdressers, so it is a much smaller trade to break into. Cosmetologist pay by state puts North Carolina in context.

Figures in this section: BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

What Cosmetology Careers Pay in Charlotte

Median annual pay in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area, from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. A cosmetologist here earns a median of $38,530 against $38,410 across North Carolina, with 2,940 employed in the metro. Booth renters and salon owners are self-employed and outside the survey, so these figures describe stylists on a payroll.

Each occupation has its own salary page with the range and every state, and a career page on the work and the license it needs.

Cosmetology Schools in Nearby Cities

• Cosmetology schools in Raleigh, NC
• All of North Carolina
• All 50 cities

Common Questions About Cosmetology School in Charlotte

Answers draw on North Carolina State Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, the College Scorecard and the May 2025 BLS wage release.