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Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

Personal Care and Service · SOC 39-5012

3.0% AI Exposure — Medium
$35,790
Median Annual Salary
Bright ↗
O*NET Outlook
94,600
Proj. Annual Openings
305,710
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-3.8%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
97/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 39-5012 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
3.0%
Medium · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
54/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$35,790
No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
Projected openings
94,600
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +5.6%.
Observed/proxy demand
0
FY2025 certified LCAs; 115,671 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Active ListeningSpeakingService OrientationCritical ThinkingActive Learning
  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure3.0%
AI Resiliency97/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure2.1%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

19.4%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic3%
AI capability · OpenAI7.9%
AI ability · AIOE47.3%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne11%

Top Skills

1.Active Listening
2.Speaking
3.Service Orientation
4.Critical Thinking
5.Active Learning

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

5
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
0
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$0
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#515 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Provide beauty services, such as cutting, coloring, and styling hair, and massaging and treating scalp. May shampoo hair, apply makeup, dress wigs, remove hair, and provide nail and skincare services.

Common titles: Beautician, Cosmetologist, Hair Dresser, Hair Stylist, Hairdresser, Hairstylist

Representative Tasks

  • Keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs.
  • Bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush.
  • Cut, trim and shape hair or hairpieces, based on customers' instructions, hair type, and facial features, using clippers, scissors, trimmers and razors.
  • Schedule client appointments.
  • Update and maintain customer information records, such as beauty services provided.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Clean facilities or work areas.
  • Clean tools or equipment.
  • Apply solutions to hair for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes.
  • Groom wigs or hairpieces.
  • Trim client hair.

Tools & Technologies

Intuit QuickBooks · hotMicrosoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Office software · hotSale processing softwareYouTube

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
1.6%
Avg AI Exposure
11
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 39-5012: 2019 — employment: 385,960, median wage: $26,090; 2020 — employment: 302,410, median wage: $27,380; 2021 — employment: 285,980, median wage: $29,670; 2022 — employment: 298,050, median wage: $33,290; 2023 — employment: 294,840, median wage: $34,970; 2025 — employment: 305,710, median wage: $35,790.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure3.0%2.1%
OutlookBright ↗52% Bright
Median Salary$35,790N/A
AI Resiliency97/100N/A