Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists job market in Alabama
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Alabama industry employment changed 1.5 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Alabama.
Occupation pay
What Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists earn in Alabama
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$29,150Alabama- Middle 50% of published wages
- $23,610 – $37,230
- U.S. median annual wage
- $35,790
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Alabama
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, compared with the Alabama median of $29,150.
Montgomery, AL$30,530+4.7% vs. state
Tuscaloosa, AL$30,250+3.8% vs. state
Columbus, GA-AL$29,790+2.2% vs. state
Mobile, AL$29,700+1.9% vs. state
Huntsville, AL$29,150Same as state at displayed precision
Birmingham, AL$29,000−0.5% vs. state
View 5 more published metro areas
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL$28,550−2.1% vs. state
Decatur, AL$28,430−2.5% vs. state
Dothan, AL$28,150−3.4% vs. state
Auburn-Opelika, AL$27,980−4.0% vs. state
Gadsden, AL$27,070−7.1% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Alabama median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Alabama’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 10,128 represented establishments, 87.76% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Alabama
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market
Among 10 comparable metro estimates associated with Alabama in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. Montgomery, AL has the highest median annual pay at $30,530, with estimated employment of 260. Birmingham, AL has the largest employment estimate at 1,050, with median pay of $29,000. The pay leader's median is 5.3% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSSome metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists account for 0.79 times their national share of employment in Alabama, according to OEWS May 2025. This is the published location quotient. The state estimate is 3,300 jobs, 1.1% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 1.56 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Concentration describes employment share, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Other services has the largest positive weighted contribution
Other services supplies 97.8% of the positive weighted contributions to this occupation's industry employment-growth proxy in Alabama in January to March 2026. Its own year-over-year employment change was +1.4%. Each leading industry group is weighted by its share of the occupation's national industry mix, and the groups examined cover 99.6% of that mix. These contributions do not count occupation jobs created.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPublished median pay is below the U.S. median
Alabama's published median annual wage for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists is 18.6% below the national median in OEWS May 2025. The state estimate is $29,150, compared with $35,790 across the U.S. These medians are not adjusted for living costs and do not describe every worker.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Alabama industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Alabama · 2026 Q1+1.2%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.2%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Alabama | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +2.4% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +2.7% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +2.5% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | +1.2% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | +0.5% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | 0.0% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | -0.4% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | +1.2% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Alabama’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- -0.2%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists Work
The occupation mix determines which Alabama industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other services | 87.5% | +1.4% | 10,128 | $1,024 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 10.2% | -0.2% | 35,578 | $1,160 |
| Private education and health services | 0.5% | +1.9% | 24,909 | $1,137 |
| Information | 0.5% | -0.8% | 4,907 | $1,916 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 0.5% | +2.9% | 13,822 | $468 |
| Professional and business services | 0.4% | +0.7% | 32,790 | $1,600 |
Which industries are growing?
4 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Alabama employment change are listed.
- Leisure and hospitality+2.9%
- Private education and health services+1.9%
- Other services+1.4%
- Professional and business services+0.7%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Alabama context
Current Alabama Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Alabama. They are not Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Alabama
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 128.34 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 127.55 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 127.31 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 127.28 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 127.66 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 128.80 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 130.83 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 132.97 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 133.61 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 134.52 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 133.77 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 133.40 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 132.86 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 133.43 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Statewide WARN notices
Alabama statewide10 notices in this source
Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.
What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Alabama’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.
Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.
Alabama Department of Workforce About WARN data
Source last checked
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Alabama FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Alabama?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Alabama industries weighted to Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists changed +1.2% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.2% nationwide.
Are wages for Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists rising in Alabama?
QCEW does not publish pay for Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Alabama industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists
- SOC code
- 39-5012
- State
- Alabama
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +1.2%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- -0.2%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +1.5 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +3.0%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +2.9%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists/alabama#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.