2026 Edition · An annual reference on what work pays

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area. Estimated employment 1,350.

Data released May 2025 BLS OEWS · SOC 39-5012
Fig. 1 — The wage rule

Where you sit in the distribution

Drag the marker, or type a figure
$37,690 · 50th
$28,49010th
$30,50025th
$37,69050th
$60,01075th
$95,84090th

That is the medianhalf of people in this occupation in Allentown earn more.

Table 1 — Adjusted

$37,690 in Allentown buys what $37,700 buys across the country as a whole.

Allentown's regional price parity is 100.0 — almost exactly the national average — the nominal figure is close to the real one here, which is not true of most large metros. Adjusted figures for other metros are in the nearby-metros table below.

Table 2 — Nearby metros

The same job, elsewhere in Pennsylvania

Adjusted figures apply each metro's regional price parity, so the columns are directly comparable.

Metro areaMedianAdjustedRPPvs. Allentown
Pittsburgh$38,100$40,20094.7+6.7%
Lebanon$37,920$40,70093.2+7.9%
Allentown This page$37,690$37,700100.0
Philadelphia$37,320$36,400102.6−3.5%
State College$36,540$37,80096.8+0.2%
Reading$36,350$37,50097.1−0.7%
Gettysburg$36,100$37,80095.4+0.4%
York$36,050$37,60096.0−0.4%

Price parity and difference against Allentown are in the full table on wider screens.

Fig. 2 — Five-year trend

Nominal against real

The same median, once as published and once restated in 2025 dollars.

25k30k35k40k 20212022202320242025
Nominal, as published Real, in 2025 dollars US$ thousands

Published pay rose 35.0% over the five years to 2025. Adjusted for inflation it still rose 13.7% — pay has outrun prices since 2021. The two lines meet at the right edge by construction, since 2025 is the base year.

Sources

How this page was made

Wage data
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
Price parity
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
Inflation
Real figures deflate by CPI-U annual averages (BLS, all items, US city average).
Employment
1,350 employed in this occupation in the metro (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
Occupation
SOC 39-5012, Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists. Mapped to our taxonomy as hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists.

Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.