Personal Care and Service · Holland code RCS

Manicurists and Pedicurists

Clean and shape customers' fingernails and toenails. May polish or decorate nails.

Also called: Manicurist, Nail Technician (Nail Tech), Pedicurist.

O*NET 39-5092.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $35,760; Middle half earn $34,010 to $41,650. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 49% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +7% · Much faster than average; 210,100 jobs in 2024, projected 224,800. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Manicurists and pedicurists".

What the work involves

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

Clean and sanitize tools and work environment.
Apply undercoat and clear or colored polish onto nails with brush.
Maintain supply inventories and records of client services.
Shape and smooth ends of nails, using scissors, files, or emery boards.
Prepare nail cuticles with water and oil, using cuticle knives to push back cuticles and scissors or nippers to trim cuticles.
Prepare customers' nails in soapy water, using swabs, files, and orange sticks.
Remove previously applied nail polish, using liquid remover and swabs.
Use rotary abrasive wheels to shape and smooth nails or artificial extensions.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.8 / 5
Active Learning2.8 / 5
Monitoring2.6 / 5
Critical Thinking2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
English Language2.6 / 5
Administration and Management2.6 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources2.5 / 5
Sales and Marketing2.4 / 5
Production and Processing2.4 / 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.

Realistic77
Investigative5
Artistic22
Social34
Enterprising23
Conventional45

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)

body artist · DE Körperkünstler/Körperkünstlerin · FR tatoueur/tatoueuse
hairdresser · DE Friseur/Friseurin · FR coiffeur/coiffeuse
barber · DE Herrenfriseur/Herrenfriseurin · FR barbier/barbière
hairdresser assistant · DE Friseurhilfskraft · FR assistant coiffeur/assistante coiffeuse
aesthetician · DE Kosmetiker/Kosmetikerin · FR esthéticien/esthéticienne
tanning consultant · DE Solariumfachberater/Solariumfachberaterin · FR conseiller en bronzage/conseillère en bronzage

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Hairdressers and barbers (6221)129,300 employed
Beauticians and related occupations (6222)90,100 employed
Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 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 “美容サービス・浴場従事者（美容師を除く）”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥254,100; Middle half earn ¥205,300 to ¥300,200 a month.
Workers in the category: 25,240; 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 middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.03. 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 (39-5092).

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.

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