Best Hair Guide hair salon Price Index 2026
An original study of what hair salons actually charge in 2026 — built from 67 real salon service menus across 35 U.S. cities, not surveys or estimates.
Based on real published menu prices from 67+ hair salons, a highlights typically costs $90–$165 (median $120) as of August 2026. Full breakdown by service below.
Key findings
The biggest surprise: a sew-in / weave costs about 14.0× more in Cleveland, OH ($350) than in Atlanta, GA ($25) — same service, wildly different price depending on your city.
Same service, biggest price gaps by city
| Service | Cheapest city | Priciest city | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sew-in / weave | $25 · Atlanta, GA | $350 · Cleveland, OH | 14.0× |
| Highlights | $30 · Naperville, Illinois | $310 · San Francisco, CA | 10.3× |
| Braids | $50 · Atlanta, GA | $350 · Katy, TX | 7.0× |
| Hair color | $30 · Goose Creek, SC | $190 · Placentia, CA | 6.3× |
| Twists (Senegalese/passion/kinky) | $35 · Rockford, IL | $210 · Chicago, IL | 6.0× |
| Haircut | $25 · Lexington, Kentucky | $135 · San Francisco, CA | 5.4× |
Every hair salonservice — median & typical range
| Service | Typical range | Median | Salons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlights | $90–$165 | $120 | 18 |
| Braids | $65–$185 | $100 | 15 |
| Sew-in / weave | $125–$250 | $180 | 13 |
| Hair color | $54–$143 | $85 | 20 |
| Twists (Senegalese/passion/kinky) | $85–$200 | $150 | 12 |
| Haircut | $45–$95 | $75 | 19 |
| Knotless braids | $180–$240 | $220 | 10 |
| Relaxer | $85–$131 | $110 | 9 |
| Blowout | $50–$98 | $68 | 13 |
| Root touch-up / color | $76–$179 | $103 | 12 |
| Keratin / smoothing | $200–$300 | $250 | 16 |
| Box braids | $148–$183 | $170 | 10 |
| Silk press | $101–$144 | $118 | 7 |
| Men's haircut | $40–$60 | $45 | 9 |
| Balayage | $208–$289 | $253 | 7 |
| Deep conditioning / treatment | $15–$55 | $35 | 9 |
| Boho braids | $188–$475 | $260 | 5 |
| Kids haircut | $18–$33 | $25 | 3 |
How we built this
The Best Hair Guide Price Index aggregates real, published service-menu prices from 67+ hair salons in our network — not surveys or estimates. For each service we drop non-positive and outlier prices, then report the median and the typical range (the middle 50% of prices). Figures were last refreshed in August 2026 and update as menus change.
Prices vary by provider experience, products, location, and add-ons. Get a personalized estimate with our hair salon cost calculator, read our cost guides, or browse the directory to book directly.
These figures come from real published service-menu prices across 67 hair salons in 35 U.S. cities on the Zoca network — free to cite with attribution. Journalists welcome; reach out for the underlying breakdowns.
Cite as: “Best Hair Guide hair salon Price Index, August 2026.”