Beauty Industry Revenue & Booking Trends: What 2024–2025 Data Tells Us About 2026

Why Bookings Don’t Tell the Whole Story

If you’ve felt like your salon was busy in 2025 but the money didn’t always feel consistent — you’re not imagining it.

Across the U.S. beauty industry, 2025 told a very clear story: Revenue growth did not always come from more bookings. Instead, the salons that performed best focused on pricing, retention, memberships, and average ticket value.

By comparing industry-wide data from the last four quarters of 2024 vs 2025, we can clearly see what worked, what stalled, and what will matter most heading into 2026.

2025 vs 2024: Industry Overview

Based on aggregated U.S. salon benchmarks across booking and payment platforms, here’s how each segment performed year-over-year:

• Hair salons: Modest revenue growth driven by pricing, not volume

• Nail salons: Steady, predictable growth with consistent booking cycles

• Lash & brow studios: The strongest performer across revenue and retention

• Spas: Higher ticket services offset fewer visits

  
  

The biggest shift? Clients are spacing out appointments, but they’re still willing to spend — when the value is clear.

Hair Salons: Higher Prices, Fewer Appointments

2025 Performance

• Booking volume: Mostly flat

• Revenue growth: ~3–5%

• Average ticket: Increased due to service restructuring and price increases

  
  

Hair salons protected revenue by raising prices, adding surcharges, and focusing on higher-value services like blonding, extensions, and specialty treatments. However, clients extended time between visits, opting for lower-maintenance color and fewer full services.

What this tells us for 2026:Hair salons that rely purely on volume will feel more pressure. Those with maintenance plans, strong rebooking habits, and intentional pricing will remain stable.

Nail Salons: Quietly Consistent

2025 Performance

• Booking volume: Up 4–6%

• Revenue growth: 5–7%

• Client behavior: Regular, predictable maintenance

  
  

Nail salons proved to be one of the most resilient categories. Their lower price point, frequent visits, and add-on services helped maintain strong cash flow even as discretionary spending tightened.

What this tells us for 2026: Consistency wins. Nail businesses with efficient scheduling and upsell systems will continue to outperform.

Lash & Brow Studios: The Standout Category

2025 Performance

• Booking volume: Up 7–10%

• Revenue growth: 8–12%

• Client retention: Exceptionally high

  
  

Lash and brow studios dominated in 2025 thanks to short maintenance cycles and widespread adoption of memberships and subscriptions. Clients returned every 2–3 weeks, creating predictable revenue many salons still struggle to achieve.

What this tells us for 2026:Recurring revenue models are no longer optional — they’re the gold standard.

Spas: Fewer Visits, Higher Spend

2025 Performance

• Booking volume: Up slightly

• Revenue growth: 6–9%

• Average ticket: Significantly higher

  
  

Spas leaned into experience-based services, facial memberships, and retail skincare. While clients visited less often, they spent more per visit — especially when retail was positioned as part of the service, not an add-on.

What this tells us for 2026:Retail and memberships will be a major differentiator between profitable spas and those struggling with cash flow.

The Big Patterns We Can’t Ignore

Across all beauty segments, the same themes showed up again and again:

• Revenue grew without more bookings

• Memberships stabilized cash flow

• Retail separated strong businesses from stressed ones

• Pricing strategy mattered more than marketing spend

2026 Revenue Predictions (Conservative Outlook)

• Hair salons: +2–4%

• Nail salons: +4–6%

• Lash & brow studios: +7–10%

• Spas: +5–8%

Growth in 2026 won’t come from doing more. It will come from doing things smarter.

Final Thought: Know Your Numbers

Salons that understand:

• where their revenue actually comes from

• which services are most profitable

• and how consistent their cash flow really is

will enter 2026 with confidence — not stress.

If your financials don’t clearly show this yet, that’s the place to start.