How To Become A Hair Colorist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a hair colorist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a hair colorist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.28 an hour? That's $35,934 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 65,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHair ColoristUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,934

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.6

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.53%

Asian 7.52%

Black or African American 10.56%

Hispanic or Latino 20.70%

Unknown 4.15%

White 56.55%

Gender

female 81.55%

male 18.45%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.5

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a hair colorist

Explore hair colorist education requirements

Most common hair colorist degrees

Bachelor's

32.3 %

Associate

29.0 %

High School Diploma

22.6 %

Start to develop specific hair colorist skills

Skills	Percentages
Front Desk	81.77%
Client Appointments	13.23%
Product Knowledge	5.01%

Complete relevant hair colorist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hair colorists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a hair colorist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hair colorist resumes.

Research hair colorist duties and responsibilities

Manage product inventory for cosmetology products, place product orders, maintain the inventory.
Provide hairstylist services/professional makeup/manicures/pedicures and modeling.
Perform cosmetology services on clients-scheduling appointments-Inventory

Prepare your hair colorist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your hair colorist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a hair colorist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Hair Colorist Resume templates

Build a professional Hair Colorist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Hair Colorist resume.

Apply for hair colorist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a hair colorist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams