Do You Tip the Salon Owner?

The custom dates to a time when a tip was understood as a supplement to a modest hourly wage. Owners, by contrast, set their own prices and retained the profit from the business, so the logic went that they did not need a gratuity on top. For much of the twentieth century, refusing to tip the owner was considered correct, and some etiquette columns stated it plainly.

That reasoning still holds in some people's minds, and you will meet clients who follow it faithfully. But the salon industry has changed, and so has the guidance.

Today many salons are small, and the owner often works behind the chair full time rather than managing from an office. In that arrangement, the owner is providing the same hands-on service as any employee, and clients increasingly treat the tip the same way. A large share of salon owners now say they receive tips regularly.

At the same time, plenty of clients still skip the owner's tip and reserve gratuity for staff. Both habits coexist, so there is no single answer. If you are unsure, the safest course is to tip based on the service you received and let the owner decide whether to accept it.

Clients who tip an owner generally use the same range they would for any stylist. On a $120 service, here is how the common choices translate:

• 15% — $18.00, a modest thank-you.
• 18% — $21.60, a comfortable middle ground.
• 20% — $24.00, the most commonly cited figure for good service.
• 22% — $26.40, for a longer or more involved appointment.
• 25% — $30.00, for a special occasion or exceptional care.

None of these is required, and the owner may decline. To test your own numbers, use the salon tip calculator.

The table below shows what a standard tip would be at several price points if you decide to give one. See the hairdresser tip chart for a fuller list.

Not everyone who seems to be "the owner" fits the old rule. A booth renter pays the salon for chair space and keeps the money from each service; they are independent but not the business owner, and they are normally tipped like any provider. An employee stylist is clearly tipped. Only the person who owns the establishment falls into the optional category.

This overlaps with the broader question of self-employed stylists. Our guide on tipping a self-employed hairdresser explores the same tension from the other direction, and home-based hairdressers raise a similar set of choices.

If you decide to tip an owner, the mechanics are the same as any other tip: cash is immediate, and card is convenient and traceable. The only awkwardness is when an owner politely declines. If that happens, a warm thank-you is enough, and you can direct the tip to an assistant instead.

For clients who see the same owner-stylist all year, a holiday tip or small gift is a common alternative to tipping at every visit. Our holiday hairdresser tip guide covers how people handle that end-of-year gesture.