A commission split is a simple idea that turns messy fast. Which price does the percentage apply to? What about color, where the product costs real money? What about a stylist who's just starting and a stylist with a full book? This guide covers the choices, with numbers from the one survey we could cite and clearly labeled examples where we're doing the math ourselves.
What a commission split is
You collect the client's payment. The stylist gets a percentage of the service price, and the salon keeps the rest. A 50/50 split means half and half. A 60/40 split usually means 60% to the stylist and 40% to the salon.
This is different from a booth renter, who pays a set fee for the chair and keeps what they earn. If you're not sure which setup you have, read is a booth renter an employee or a contractor before you set up anything.
What stylists actually get paid
Mangomint, a salon software company, surveyed salon and spa owners and their teams in the US and Canada (survey first published 2023, page dated 2026-09-25 and read 2026-10-28, source). Two cautions: it's a vendor's survey, and it covers salons and spas together, not hair salons alone. With that said:
- 75% of owners and managers use commission to pay staff.
- 44% of staff said they receive a rate between 50% and 59%. 17% said 40% to 49%, 12% said 30% to 39%, and 8% said 60% to 69%.
- Only 8% of staff reported a rate above 59%, so a 60/40 split is more common to ask for than to get.
- 33% of owners and managers use a sliding scale.
- On deductions: 60% take nothing off, 27% deduct the cost of supplies and 13% deduct credit card processing fees.
- 93% of owners and managers pay commission on retail.
Use these as a reference point. Your rate depends on your prices, your rent, who supplies product and what your market pays. For wage data, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay for hairstylists on its occupational outlook page.
Flat rate or sliding scale
Flat rate. One percentage for every service, say 50%. It's the easiest to explain and to run.
Per-service rates. A different percentage for different services. Color often gets its own rate because of the product cost.
Sliding scale. The percentage rises as the stylist's sales rise. Mangomint's own example: 40% on the first $3,000 in sales and 45% on the next $3,000. It rewards a stylist for building a full book, but it takes more tracking.
A worked example (our math, not survey data)
A stylist rings up $5,000 in services in a month and no retail.
| Model | Calculation | Stylist gets | Salon keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat 50% | $5,000 x 50% | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Sliding: 40% to $3,000, then 45% | ($3,000 x 40%) + ($2,000 x 45%) = $1,200 + $900 | $2,100 | $2,900 |
| Flat 50%, $200 of color supplies deducted from the stylist's share | $2,500 - $200 | $2,300 | $2,700 |
Tips are on top of all of these and belong to the stylist, if you keep tips outside the split.
Decide these 5 things before the first pay period
- Which price? The service price after discounts, or before? Say which.
- Tips. Do they stay with the stylist? Most salons keep them separate. See how to split tips between stylists if your team shares.
- Retail. Is there a commission on products sold, and at what rate?
- Deductions. Do supplies or card fees come off? If yes, which, and how much?
- Pay period. Weekly, every two weeks or monthly, and what day.
Then put it in writing and have each stylist sign. Also check how commission interacts with minimum wage in your state: does commission count toward minimum wage explains the basics.
Set it up in your booking software
A spreadsheet works until it doesn't. Someone enters a price wrong, a refund is missed, and now you're paying on a sale that didn't happen. Software that works it out from completed checkouts stops most of that.
In SupaDay, commission tracking is on the Grow plan, and works like this (from the feature page, read 2026-10-28):
- Set a flat rate per team member, with per-service overrides for services that need a different rate.
- Commission is calculated from completed tickets, and tips are kept separate.
- Each stylist can see their own earnings.
- Export to CSV for payroll.
If you run a sliding scale, check that any software you consider supports tiers. SupaDay's commission page describes a flat rate per person with per-service overrides.
Checkout records card tips from the reader and cash tips at the register, and can split tips evenly or by service. SupaDay Grow is $14 per team member a month, never more than $99, with no cut of your bookings and no setup fees or contracts. Standard card processing fees apply to card payments. The 30-day free trial runs on Grow with no credit card, and you can upgrade to Business in one click. If you're also comparing apps on fees, read booking apps with no commission.
A simple way to start
- New stylist building a book: a lower flat rate, with a written date to review it.
- Established stylist with a full book: a higher rate, with the same deductions rule as everyone else.
- Color: a per-service rate, or a clear supply deduction, so the stylist knows what color costs them.
- Review every six months. Reviews are easier when your software shows each stylist's sales.
For a nail version of this, see nail tech commission split.
The bottom line
A fair split is one every stylist understands, in writing, calculated the same way every pay period. Pick the rate, pick what's inside it, and let your software do the arithmetic. Start a free trial and set up your team's rates before your next pay period.
