Which Mississippi cosmetology program has the lowest debt?

Traxlers School of Hair reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,250, with first-year pay of $9,525.

How much do cosmetology graduates earn in Mississippi?

The median across 17 Mississippi cosmetology certificate programs is $13,865 in the first year after graduating and $19,753 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Mississippi earn a median of $27,560 across all experience levels.

How many cosmetology certificate programs are in Mississippi?

17 Mississippi programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Cosmetology (Certificate) Programs in Mississippi, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

17 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Certificate in Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Mississippi cosmetology certificate program pays its graduates $13,865 in their first year, $3,382 less than the national median. Hinds Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($17,704), and Traxlers School of Hair the lowest median debt ($5,250).

Median first-year pay$13,865National $17,247

Median pay after 5 years$19,753National $22,164

Median federal debt$9,003National $9,833

Debt-to-earnings55%National 55%

All 17 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Hinds Community CollegeRaymond · public	$17,704	$16,611	$9,781	55%
2	Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeSenatobia · public	$17,660	$25,394	$5,500	31%
3	Meridian Community CollegeMeridian · public	$17,559	$20,611	Not reported	Not reported
4	Hatfield's Mississippi College of Beauty CultureLaurel · private for-profit	$15,880	$18,874	$12,266	77%
5	Mississippi Institute of Aesthetics Nails & CosmetologyClinton · private for-profit	$15,875	$22,113	$5,616	35%
6	Academy of Hair Design-PearlPearl · private for-profit	$15,440	$24,575	$7,800	51%
7	Chris Beauty CollegeGulfport · private for-profit	$14,801	$23,318	$8,225	56%
8	Corinth Academy of CosmetologyCorinth · private for-profit	$14,608	$19,753	$10,500	72%
9	Holmes Community CollegeGoodman · public	$13,865	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Academy of Hair Design SixHattiesburg · private for-profit	$13,776	$16,339	$10,500	76%
11	Coahoma Community CollegeClarksdale · public	$13,615	$16,554	Not reported	Not reported
12	Mississippi Barber AcademyJackson · private for-profit	$13,348	$18,407	$10,005	75%
13	KC's School of Hair DesignPontotoc · private for-profit	$13,206	$19,889	$9,833	74%
14	East Mississippi Community CollegeScooba · public	$12,128	$12,972	$5,500	45%
15	Jones County Junior CollegeEllisville · public	$10,046	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
16	Traxlers School of HairJackson · private for-profit	$9,525	Not reported	$5,250	55%
17	Pearl River Community CollegePoplarville · public	$7,580	$16,709	Not reported	Not reported

5 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Mississippi cosmetology program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Mississippi medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Hinds Community College$17,704
Northwest Mississippi Community College$17,660
Meridian Community College$17,559
Hatfield's Mississippi College of Beauty Culture$15,880
Mississippi Institute of Aesthetics Nails & Cosmetology$15,875

Lowest median debt

Traxlers School of Hair$5,250
Northwest Mississippi Community College$5,500
East Mississippi Community College$5,500
Mississippi Institute of Aesthetics Nails & Cosmetology$5,616
Academy of Hair Design-Pearl$7,800

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists earn in Mississippi

Pay for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Mississippi, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

$27,560

Median pay in Mississippi. 1,040 people work in this job in Mississippi. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $17,370Top 10%: $58,790

Common questions

Hinds Community College in Raymond reports the highest median first-year pay, $17,704. Its median federal debt is $9,781.

Cosmetology (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked961 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Mississippi rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the cosmetology certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024