What do I really earn an hour as a self-employed stylist?
Probably less than you think. Your real hourly rate isn't your price, and it isn't your sales divided by the hours you're with clients. It's what's left after everything, spread over every hour you work.
By Stevee Devonda, co-owner of two hair salons, Iron + Ivy and Revolver. Updated 17 October 2026.
Why the number on your price list is misleading
Charging $90 an hour feels like earning $90 an hour. But out of that come chair rent or salon costs, product, card fees, insurance, software, education, then income tax and the Medicare levy. And the hours keep going after the last client leaves: admin, ordering, social media, cleaning, the BAS, and the gaps nobody booked.
The number that surprises people
Take a chair renter in a busy salon, bringing in $2,200 a week with $800 a week going out on rent, product and the rest. Once GST is set aside, every cost is paid and the money is spread over every hour they actually work, admin included, they're on about $30 an hour before tax. After income tax and the Medicare levy, around $26.
Now put that beside what an employee gets. The national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour, and the award's Level 3 rate for a qualified hairdresser is $29.45. On top of that an employee gets 12% super, 4 weeks of paid leave with 17.5% loading, 10 days of personal leave, public holidays paid, and penalty rates on a Saturday. A sole trader gets none of that unless they fund it themselves, and nobody pays their super for them.
Where the gap usually comes from
- Unpaid hours. Admin and gaps between clients can quietly add a day to your week.
- Weeks off. Holidays, sick days and quiet weeks all come out of the same sales. The chair rent doesn't stop.
- Prices set by feel. A price set years ago, or copied, rarely keeps up with rent and product costs.
- Tax left to EOFY. There's no employer withholding tax for you. Income tax, the Medicare levy of 2% and your GST all come out of the same account, and once the ATO puts you on PAYG instalments they come out quarterly with the BAS.
What changes it
There are three levers: charge more per service, fill more of the hours you're already there, or cut the hours nobody pays for. Which one matters most, and by how much, depends entirely on your own numbers. That's the bit worth knowing before you change anything.
Take-Home Hourly Rate Calculator
Your own sales turned into a real hourly wage, after rent, product, income tax, the Medicare levy and every hour of admin, side by side with what an employed stylist gets with super and leave counted, and exactly how much more to charge or book to reach the income you want.
An example, worked on resident tax rates for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 with no other income. Your own costs and tax will differ. General information, not tax or financial advice.