Personal Care and Service · Holland code RCS

Barbers

Provide barbering services, such as cutting, trimming, shampooing, and styling hair; trimming beards; or giving shaves.

Also called: Barber Shop Operator, Barber Stylist, Hair Stylist, Stylist.

O*NET 39-5011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $38,210; Middle half earn $31,570 to $58,960. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Clean and sterilize scissors, combs, clippers, and other instruments.
Cut and trim hair according to clients' instructions or current hairstyles, using clippers, combs, hand-held blow driers, and scissors.
Question patrons regarding desired services and haircut styles.
Clean work stations and sweep floors.
Drape and pin protective cloths around customers' shoulders.
Apply lather and shave beards or neck and temple hair contours, using razors.
Record services provided on cashiers' tickets or receive payment from customers.
Shape and trim beards and moustaches, using scissors.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.3 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.8 / 5
Monitoring2.8 / 5
Critical Thinking2.6 / 5
Active Learning2.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
English Language3.6 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.5 / 5
Education and Training3.5 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.4 / 5
Law and Government3.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic73
Investigative0
Artistic28
Social43
Enterprising43
Conventional48

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

hairdresser · DE Friseur/Friseurin · FR coiffeur/coiffeuse
barber · DE Herrenfriseur/Herrenfriseurin · FR barbier/barbière
hair stylist · DE Haarstylist/Haarstylistin · FR coiffeur styliste/coiffeuse styliste

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Hairdressers and barbers (6221)129,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “理容・美容師”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥260,000; Middle half earn ¥215,900 to ¥349,400 a month.
Workers in the category: 49,670; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Service and sales workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€32,957
Sweden	€32,596
Netherlands	€29,198
Austria	€29,068
Germany	€27,471
Ireland	€26,978
Italy	€24,995
France	€24,971
Spain	€18,303
Portugal	€10,656
Poland	€7,579

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.73. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (39-5011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test