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How to Start a Barbershop in Michigan: Licenses, Costs & Requirements

Michigan barbering is its own world inside state licensing: its own board, its own article of the Occupational Code, 1,800 hours of training, and a shop license that is automatically revoked the moment the shop is sold or moved. The money is small, $80 for the barber and $130 for the shop, but the structure is unforgiving about transfers, the partition between the shop and any home, and the barber who lets a license lapse into a new examination.

Researched from Michigan state sources. Our guides are free. We may earn a commission when you use a partner service, at no additional cost to you.

The regulator: the Board of Barber Examiners

A Michigan barbershop answers to its own regulator, the Board of Barber Examiners, part of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Professional Licensing. Barbering is regulated under Article 11 of the Occupational Code, Act 299 of 1980, and the board is created by section 339.1102 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. That separation is the first thing a Michigan shop owner has to internalize: cosmetology sits next door in Article 12 under a different board, with different hours, different fees and a different establishment license. A barber is not a cosmetologist with shorter hair, and neither license substitutes for the other. Applications and renewals run through MiPLUS, the Michigan Professional Licensing User System.

The second feature of the system is the renewal clock. Under rule R 339.1003, barber licenses and barbershop licenses renew every 2 years on the biennial anniversary of the issue date, not on a fixed calendar date. A shop with four barbers licensed in four different months has four renewal dates to track, plus the shop license date of its own, so build a license calendar at opening.

Michigan barbershop requirements at a glance

Practitioner licenses: the barber license and the student license

Every barber working in your shop must hold their own barber license. The barbershop license described below covers the premises; it does not cover a single person standing behind a chair. Section 339.1108 of the Michigan Compiled Laws sets two routes to the license, and both are long. The school route is a 1,800 hour course of study at a licensed barber college. The apprenticeship route is at least 1,800 hours served as an apprentice in a barber apprenticeship program, a program run by a barber college or a barbershop owner, with attendance capped at 40 hours a week and records kept for at least 3 years. Either way, the applicant must be age 17 or older, show good moral character, hold a completion of the tenth grade or its equivalent, and pass an examination approved by the board and the department.

The fee schedule for barbers sits in section 338.2217 of the State License Fee Act, at rates in effect for payments through September 30, 2027. The examination fee is $75 for the complete examination, split as $35 for the written portion and $45 for the practical portion, with an examination review priced at $20. The license itself is a $20 application processing fee plus a license fee of $30 per year, which is $80 for the initial 2 year license and $60 at renewal. Below the licensed barber sits the student barber. Under section 339.1105, the department issues a student license, at the same $20 application fee plus $30 per year, to an individual who has completed the tenth grade or its equivalent and is of good moral character. The license is valid for 2 years, renewable for 1 additional year, with further extension requiring board approval. A student may serve the public only under an instructor's supervision, and may not be paid: students are a training pipeline, not a source of unpaid chair labor.

Renewal discipline matters more for a Michigan barber than the renewal fee suggests. Under section 339.1114, a barber who fails to renew for 3 or more years must retake the licensing examination. A short lapse is a paperwork problem; a lapse that runs past the 3 year line turns back into an examination problem, with the written and practical portions to pass again before the barber can legally return to the chair. Verify every applicant's license in MiPLUS before their first shift, and keep the shop's renewal calendar current enough that no license on the wall drifts anywhere near that line.

The establishment credential: the barbershop license

The premises credential is the barbershop license under section 339.1111. The owner applies and includes a description of the premises with the application. The shop must pass an inspection for sanitation and establishment standards before it operates, and the physical rule owners underestimate is separation: the shop must be completely partitioned from any dwelling, and may not be used for lodging or residential purposes. A storefront cut out of the front of a house has to be built so the shop and the home are genuinely separate premises.

The fee is the largest license fee in this guide and still modest: a $50 application processing fee plus a license fee of $40 per year, which is $130 for the initial 2 year license and $80 at renewal, at the State License Fee Act rates in effect for payments through September 30, 2027. Once licensed, the barbershop license and the licenses of all barbers working in the shop must be displayed prominently; an individual barber's license may be posted at the barber's workstation. Display is not decoration in Michigan: it is a stated condition of both the shop license and the individual licenses, and it is one of the first things an inspector can check from the door.

The transfer rule is absolute. Under section 339.1111(3), a transfer of ownership or location automatically revokes the license. A new license issues only if the application requirements are met again, including the inspection. Buying a going concern buys the chairs, the name and the clientele; it does not buy the license on the wall, so the purchase price should assume a fresh $130 application and a fresh inspection. A move works the same way: file for the new address early enough that the new license covers opening day.

Forming your LLC and the February 15 annual statement

Most Michigan barbershop owners form a limited liability company so the business's debts and legal problems stay with the business instead of following them home. An LLC is formed by filing Articles of Organization, Form 700, with the Corporations Division of LARA, and the filing fee is $50. A professional LLC files Form 701, also $50. The recurring duty is the annual statement of resident agent and registered office, due not later than February 15 of each year under section 450.4207, at a fee of $25. An LLC formed after September 30 skips the immediately following February 15.

Michigan's penalty structure for a missed statement is unusual, and worth understanding precisely. There is no late fee for a standard LLC. If an LLC fails to file annual statements for 2 consecutive years, the administrator sends a notice; if the missing statements and fees are not filed within 60 days after that notice, the LLC is not in good standing under section 450.4207a. Not in good standing means no certificate of good standing will issue, the company's name becomes available for use by another entity, and the administrator accepts no filings from it except a certificate of restoration of good standing, which costs $50. The LLC is not dissolved: it remains in existence and may continue to transact business. A shop that cannot produce a certificate of good standing will still feel it with landlords, lenders and payment processors, so the February 15 date belongs on the calendar from year one.

Registering your assumed name

If your shop will trade under a name different from the legal name of the person or entity that owns it, Michigan calls that name an assumed name, and where you file depends on your structure. Sole proprietors and general partnerships file a certificate of assumed name with the county clerk of each county where business is conducted or a location is maintained, under Act 101 of 1907. The filing fee is $6, the certificate runs 5 years, and a renewal certificate filed before expiration costs $4 and extends the name another 5 years; letting it lapse is treated as abandonment of the name.

An LLC files its certificate of assumed name with LARA instead, for $25. The LLC certificate expires December 31 of the fifth full calendar year after the filing year, and renews for $25, filed within 90 days before expiration. A corporation pays $10 on the same term. An assumed name filing is not a license and does not create your entity: it puts the public on notice of the trade name, and your bank will typically want to see it.

Getting your federal Employer Identification Number

Your EIN is your business's federal tax ID, issued by the IRS, and it is free. You need one to hire employees, open most business bank accounts, and file business taxes. Apply directly through the IRS and ignore any website that offers to obtain one for a fee. If the business has an EIN, it doubles as the Treasury account number for state tax registration, so apply early, after the entity exists.

Sales tax: services sit outside the tax, retail products are taxed

Michigan charges a 6 percent state sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property, and there is no city, local or county sales tax anywhere in the state, so the rate at your register is the same in Detroit, Grand Rapids or Marquette. The tax reaches retail transfers of property. The service charge itself sits outside the tax, while products the client takes home are taxable retail sales: the pomade, shampoo and grooming products sold at the front desk are rung up with tax, and Treasury guidance treats any property that goes with the customer in connection with a service as a sale at retail. Set your booking and point of sale system to itemize services and products separately from day one, so the tax lands on the products and not on the haircut.

A business that sells tangible personal property in addition to providing a service must hold a sales tax license. Register through Michigan Treasury Online e-registration, or on paper with Form 518. The online application is recognized within 15 minutes and processed within up to 48 hours. The license runs January through December and renews annually.

Chair rent in Michigan: a business arrangement, not a license

Chair rental in a Michigan barbershop is handled differently from Ohio, where the board licenses the renter directly. The barber fee schedule in section 338.2217 lists the barber license, the student barber license and the barbershop license, and Article 11 builds the shop model around those credentials: the shop holds the barbershop license, each barber holds a barber license, and the licenses of all barbers working in the shop are displayed in it. A barber renting a chair in your shop therefore works under their own barber license inside your licensed shop, and the rental itself is a business arrangement between the two of you rather than a separate premises credential for the chair.

That arrangement still has to be real. A renter who sets their own prices and hours and collects their own money is running a business inside your business; a barber whose schedule and prices you control looks like an employee to the tax and unemployment agencies. Put rental agreements in writing and keep payment handling separate. Owners building self-contained leased rooms rather than chairs inside one shop should read the Michigan salon suite guide, which works through the cosmetology suite model on the salon side of the code.

Hiring staff: withholding, unemployment, and wages

The first hire triggers the employer stack, and Michigan lets you start most of it with one form. Form 518 registers a business for sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, corporate income tax and unemployment insurance tax, and the Michigan Treasury Online e-registration replaces it online. The Unemployment Insurance Agency issues the unemployment account number, in as little as three days online. An employer required to withhold federal tax must also withhold Michigan income tax, at 4.25 percent.

Unemployment tax is paid entirely by the employer. A new non-construction employer pays 2.7 percent plus one third of its chargeable benefits component in year 1, two thirds in year 2, and the full experience rated formula from year 3. The tax applies to the first $9,000 of each employee's wages for 2026 for employers in good standing, and the first $9,500 for employers who do not meet those criteria. Quarterly Wage and Tax reports are due even with no employees and no wages, and late submission can bring penalties and interest. Accounts are managed in the new MiUI system: MiWAM was permanently retired on November 2, 2026.

The wage floor is set by the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act. From January 1, 2026, the minimum wage is $13.73 an hour, and the tipped wage is $5.49 an hour, provided the employee receives at least $8.24 in tips. On January 1, 2027 the full rate rises to $15.00 and the tipped rate to $6.30, so build the increase into first year pricing. Workers' compensation sits under the Worker's Disability Compensation Act, which reaches private employers who regularly employ 3 or more employees at one time, and employers with fewer than 3 if at least one employee has worked 35 or more hours a week for 13 of the preceding 52 weeks. Coverage is bought from an insurer authorized to sell workers' compensation insurance in Michigan.

The local layer: zoning, and services that live elsewhere

State licenses do not guarantee your location is legal. Your city or township controls zoning, and a barbershop has to be a permitted use at the address you choose, with local sign off on the buildout, occupancy and signage. Check zoning before the lease, not after: the barbershop application, with its description of the premises and its complete partition from any dwelling, assumes a premises you are entitled to occupy, and a cheap space in the wrong zoning category is not cheap once you have paid for chairs, plumbing and a sign you cannot legally use.

Services beside barbering do not ride on the barber license. Hair services beyond the barber scope belong to the cosmetology side of the code, as the Michigan hair salon guide works through. Microblading is body art, performed only at a body art facility licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services, as the Michigan microblading guide explains, and massage therapy carries its own license under the Public Health Code, covered in the Michigan massage guide. Plan the menu against the licenses each service actually requires, not against the chairs you happen to have free.

Insurance and the costs that keep coming back

Beyond the workers' compensation duty covered in the hiring section, barbershop owners typically shop for general liability coverage, professional liability coverage for the services performed, and property coverage for the buildout, chairs, clippers and retail inventory. Premiums vary widely with your city, service menu and team size, so this guide does not quote benchmark prices that would be wrong for your shop. Get quotes before your lease starts, because many landlords require proof of liability coverage as a lease condition.

Your recurring state costs are small and predictable: license renewals on the 2 year MiPLUS cycle, the $25 LLC annual statement each February, sales tax on retail products, and quarterly employer reports. The expensive mistakes in a Michigan barbershop launch are almost never the state fees. They are the lease signed before zoning was checked, the barber hired before their license was verified, and the purchased shop whose license was revoked by the sale itself.

Your Michigan renewal calendar

• Every 2 years, on the biennial anniversary of the issue date: barber licenses renew through MiPLUS at $60 each, and the barbershop license renews at $80. The State License Fee Act rates in this guide are in effect for payments through September 30, 2027
• Before any license sits lapsed for 3 years: a barber who fails to renew for 3 or more years must retake the licensing examination, so renew well inside that line
• February 15, every year: LLC annual statement due to LARA, $25. An LLC formed after September 30 skips the immediately following February 15
• January through December: the sales tax license runs with the calendar year and renews annually
• Every quarter: Wage and Tax reports to the Unemployment Insurance Agency in MiUI, due even with no employees and no wages
• January 1, 2027: minimum wage rises to $15.00, and the tipped wage to $6.30
• On any transfer of ownership or location: the barbershop license is automatically revoked, and a new license must be applied for before the shop operates under the new owner or at the new address
• Every 5 years: an assumed name certificate renews, $4 at the county clerk for a sole proprietor or $25 with LARA for an LLC, filed before expiration

Official Michigan sources for this guide

• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1108: barber qualifications, the 1,800 hour barber college course and the apprenticeship route
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1111: the barbershop license, the premises description, inspection, partition from a dwelling, display, and automatic revocation on transfer
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1105: the student barber license, its 2 year term and 1 year renewal, supervision, and the bar on compensation
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1114: renewal, and the rule that a barber lapsed 3 or more years must retake the examination
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 338.2217: the State License Fee Act rates for barbers, student barbers and barbershops in effect through September 30, 2027
• Administrative rule R 339.1003: the biennial renewal cycle keyed to the anniversary of the issue date for barber licenses and barbershops
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 450.4207a: good standing, the 2 consecutive year notice rule, and restoration for an LLC that misses annual statements
• Department of Treasury, who needs a sales tax license: the 6 percent state rate, the absence of local sales tax, and which service businesses must hold a license
• Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, minimum wage release: the January 1, 2026 minimum wage of $13.73, the tipped wage, and the January 1, 2027 increase

This guide is general information researched from official Michigan sources, not legal or tax advice. Requirements, fees and forms change; verify the current rules with the agencies linked above before you file, sign or spend.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of training does a Michigan barber need?

A barber completes a 1,800 hour course of study at a licensed barber college, or at least 1,800 hours as an apprentice in a barber apprenticeship program. The applicant must be age 17 or older, hold a completion of the tenth grade or its equivalent, and pass the board examination. The examination fee is $75 for the complete examination, and the license costs $80 initially and $60 to renew every 2 years.

How much does a barbershop license cost in Michigan?

A barbershop license costs $130 for the initial 2 year license, made up of a $50 application processing fee plus a license fee of $40 per year, and $80 to renew. The owner application includes a description of the premises, the shop must pass an inspection for sanitation and establishment standards, and it must be completely partitioned from any dwelling. These State License Fee Act rates are in effect for payments through September 30, 2027.

Does a barbershop license transfer when I buy a shop in Michigan?

No. A transfer of ownership or a transfer of location automatically revokes the barbershop license. A new license issues to a new owner or at a new location only if the application requirements are met, including a passed inspection. Buying an operating shop means applying for your own barbershop license before the shop operates under your ownership.

Can a student barber cut hair for customers in Michigan?

A student barber may render barber services to the public only under the supervision of an instructor, and a student may not receive compensation for those services. The student license is valid for 2 years and may be renewed for 1 additional year, with further extension requiring board approval. It costs a $20 application processing fee plus a license fee of $30 per year.

What happens if a Michigan barber lets the license lapse?

A barber who fails to renew for 3 or more years must retake the licensing examination before practicing again. Barber licenses renew every 2 years on the biennial anniversary of the issue date, through MiPLUS, at $60 per renewal. Keeping the license current is far cheaper than earning it a second time through a new written and practical examination.

When do Michigan barber licenses renew?

Barber licenses and the barbershop license renew every 2 years on the biennial anniversary of the issue date, through MiPLUS. Renewal is $60 for an individual barber license and $80 for the barbershop license. Because the date follows the license rather than a fixed calendar day, each barber in the shop can carry a different renewal date.