Barbershop Statistics That Barbers Need to Know

You might be new to the barbershop industry and considering setting up shop, or a seasoned veteran. Either way these statistics will help you improve your shop’s growth and profits, plan for the future, and ultimately run a more efficient operation.

In this post, I’m going to share 19 barbershop statistics every owner and manager should know to navigate the current environment and identify areas of opportunity in 2023 and beyond.

Let’s dig in.

19 Interesting Barbershop Statistics

1. There are over 125,000 barbershops in the U.S.

2. Over 150,000 people work directly in the U.S. barbershop industry.

3. Annual sales in the U.S. barbershop industry are projected to top $5 billion.

4. The men’s grooming industry (including products) has a value approaching $26 billion.

5. The overall annual growth rate of the U.S. barbershop market is around 2%.

6. There was a 23% decline in the number of barbershops in the U.S. from 1992 through 2012.

7. However since 2013 the number of newly licensed barbers has been growing at 10% per annum.

8. Barbers report that the average cost of a men’s cut at their shop is $28.30.

9. 81% of men’s grooming product sales occur at brick-and-mortar locations within the barber shop industry.

10. Only 1 out of 5 men who visit a barber shop ask for a coloring service for their hair.

11. 88% of men say that they’ve never ordered a color blending service or had their hair colored to mask gray.

12. Of the men who do receive hair coloring services, 43% of them say that they receive it with every appointment, or at least “most of the time”.

13. 44% of men in the U.S. visited a barber in the past year.

14. The average time men wait between haircuts is 3.8 weeks.

15. 56% of men say that the cost of their haircut is an important factor when choosing a barbershop.

16. 44% of men say that location convenience is an important factor when choosing a barbershop.

17. 42% of men say that cleanliness is an important factor when choosing a barbershop.

18. 54% of men say that if they have a problem with their haircut, they’ll discuss the issue with their barber immediately.

19. 16% of men say that if they have a problem with their haircut they just take their business elsewhere.

20. 71% of men stay loyal to their barber.

21. The average man stays with the same barber for longer than 7 years.

22. 44% of men say that they prefer to get their haircut at a barber shop.

23. 32% of men say they prefer to go to a hair salon.

24. 67% of men say that they rarely, if ever, change the style of their hair or their haircut.

25. Only 25% of men say that they regularly try to do something different with their hair.

26. Men say that they rely on the advice of their barber for their look about 46% of the time.

27. Barbers say that their clients take their suggestions about 66% of the time.

28. 82% of men say it is their own opinion which matters the most when deciding which haircut they want or if it looks good.

29. 63% of men also say that the opinion of their significant other also matters to them.

30. 40% of men say that they are willing to experiment with their hair when visiting the barber, even if they have a standard haircut which they prefer.

Barbers must always be on the lookout for trends and developments in the industry. Both as a source of threats, and opportunities. We believe industry statistics are a good place to start looking, and hope they are valuable to you.

I hope you’ve walked away from this post with a handful of useful statistics to help you understand your business and the industry.

P.S. Did you know: With some simple changes the average business can grow revenue by 10%+, improve margins by 5% and generate tens of thousands of dollars in extra earnings per year.

What would that mean for you?

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Note: The statistics presented here are U.S. centric but will provide an indication on the conditions in most other markets. I haven’t provided sources for each statistics as the links often expire. You can copy and paste the text into a Google search to find the source for a statistic.