Pay data
Nail technician salary in 2026
The median salary is $35,760 and the top tenth earns $50,140, so the number that matters here is the spread rather than the middle.
Published
Edited by Zoe MacDougall, BS in Psychology
How much do nail technicians make in 2026?
Nail technicians make a median salary of $35,760 a year in 2026, or $17.19 an hour, across 152,770 people on a payroll nationally in the May 2025 OEWS release, which is the most recent published. The mean is $38,570, 8% above the median, and the gap between the two is the first thing worth noticing: an average pulled that far above the midpoint means a minority earning a great deal more than the middle.
Nail technician pay has the flattest distribution of the six roles here, and that is the finding rather than the median. The gap between the bottom tenth and the top tenth is narrower than in any other role covered on this site, so the ceiling arrives early. What moves the number after that is location and whether the work is enhancement rather than basic manicure.
Before you use these numbers
The self-employment exclusion bites hard in this role, and salon ownership is a common route out of the flat ceiling that these payroll figures cannot see.
What is the full salary range for nail technicians in 2026?
The full salary range for nail technicians in 2026 runs from $28,920 at the bottom tenth to $50,140 at the top tenth, a factor of 1.7. Half of them earn between $34,010 and $41,650, which is the band a reader should plan around rather than the single median figure.
- Bottom 10% $28,920 $28,920
- Lower quarter $34,010 $34,010
- Median $35,760 $35,760
- Upper quarter $41,650 $41,650
- Top 10% $50,140 $50,140
Annual figures are hourly wages multiplied by 2,080 hours, which assumes full-time year-round work. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Which states pay nail technicians the most in 2026?
The states paying nail technicians the most in 2026 are Hawaii at $60,790, Nebraska at $56,940, and Washington at $49,900. Across every state that publishes a figure, the best-paying is 126% above the worst, and none of it is adjusted for what living there costs.
| State | Median | Bottom 10% | Top 10% | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $60,790 | $29,120 | $79,730 | 40 |
| Nebraska | $56,940 | $29,070 | $100,610 | 310 |
| Washington | $49,900 | $38,660 | $63,430 | 5,570 |
| Maine | $48,540 | $36,800 | $81,490 | 200 |
| Alaska | $47,890 | $28,020 | $59,620 | 180 |
| Oregon | $46,080 | $35,230 | $77,420 | 2,210 |
| Iowa | $45,420 | $15,800 | $58,150 | 190 |
| Kentucky | $45,310 | $31,480 | $65,430 | 240 |
| South Dakota | $45,310 | $34,280 | $54,850 | 250 |
| Nevada | $41,880 | $30,000 | $78,300 | 1,020 |
The median nail technician salary by state comes from OEWS state estimates for 39-5092, and is not adjusted for cost of living.
At the other end, the lowest published medians are Georgia at $26,910, Arkansas at $27,690, Pennsylvania at $27,990, Louisiana at $28,170, Utah at $28,820.
46 of the 51 jurisdictions publish a median for this occupation. A state missing from it is one BLS withheld for a small sample, not one paying nothing.
Do these figures include self-employed nail technicians?
These figures do not include self-employed nail technicians. The OEWS survey collects from employers, so everyone who works for themselves is outside its scope, and BLS says so plainly in its own footnote: estimates do not include self-employed workers.
That exclusion matters more in this field than in most. Renting a chair or a booth makes a stylist self-employed for this purpose even though they work in someone else's salon every day, and it is a normal way to work rather than an edge case. So read every figure on this page as the pay of nail technicians on a salon's payroll, and treat the trade as a whole as unmeasured by it.
How does nail technician pay compare with other beauty careers?
Nail technician pay ranks 6 of the 6 roles this site covers, at $35,760. The roles paying more at the median are makeup artists, salon managers, estheticians, barbers, cosmetologists.
Median pay for all six rows is BLS national figures from the same May 2025 release, so they are comparable with each other.
| Role | Median | Top 10% | On payrolls |
|---|---|---|---|
| makeup artist | $97,150 | $167,470 | 2,340 |
| salon manager | $48,590 | $75,330 | 114,110 |
| esthetician | $45,330 | $82,050 | 72,890 |
| barber | $38,210 | $76,460 | 15,000 |
| cosmetologist | $35,790 | $71,190 | 305,710 |
| nail technician (this page) | $35,760 | $50,140 | 152,770 |
Common questions about nail technician pay
Every figure in the answers below is from the May 2025 OEWS release for 39-5092, and describes nail technicians on a payroll rather than the trade as a whole.
How much does a nail technician make an hour in 2026?
Which state pays nail technicians the most in 2026?
Do these figures include self-employed nail technicians?
Sources
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. National and state medians, percentiles and employment for 39-5092.
- OEWS questions and answers. Survey scope, the exclusion of self-employed workers, and how annual figures are derived from hourly ones.