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Barbers vs Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Barbers and Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Barbers Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$38,960
$35,250
Employment · BLS OEWS
18,100
295,460
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
29th pct
17th pct

At a glance

Dimension Barbers Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
Median pay $38,960 $35,250
Employment 18,100 295,460
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.1%) About average (+5.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 8,400 75,800
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 29th pct Low · 17th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 23rd pct · 17% of tasks 26th pct · 18% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (41.3%) Augmentation-leaning (65.6%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Customer and Personal Service, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Oral Comprehension, Near Vision, Active Listening, Manual Dexterity, Finger Dexterity, Oral Expression, Speech Recognition, Administration and Management, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Selective Attention, Speech Clarity, Judgment and Decision Making, Problem Sensitivity, Visualization, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Deductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Written Comprehension, Fluency of Ideas, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Sales and Marketing, Time Management, Education and Training, Active Learning, Coordination, Originality.

Specific to Barbers

  • English Language
  • Economics and Accounting
  • Psychology
  • Control Precision
  • Trunk Strength
  • Mathematics
  • Time Sharing
  • Production and Processing

Specific to Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Category Flexibility
  • Writing
  • Learning Strategies
  • Persuasion
  • Instructing
  • Written Expression

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Web page creation and editing software , Operating system software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Word processing software , Calendar and scheduling software , Data base user interface and query software , Point of sale POS software , Video creation and editing software .

Specific to Barbers

Specific to Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Barbers or Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Barbers vs Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/barbers-vs-hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Barbers vs Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/barbers-vs-hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-barbers-vs-hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists,
  title  = {Barbers vs Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/barbers-vs-hairdressers-hairstylists-and-cosmetologists}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.