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

Pennsylvania barbering runs on its own statute, its own board, and its own shop license, parallel to cosmetology and different in the details that matter: a manager credential cosmetology abolished, a shop supervision rule with no cosmetology equivalent, and one renewal date for every license the board issues.

Researched from Pennsylvania 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 State Board of Barber Examiners

A Pennsylvania barbershop answers to the State Board of Barber Examiners, a separate licensing board inside the Department of State's Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, under the Barbers' License Law. Barbering never merged with cosmetology in Pennsylvania. The two systems share a building and an application portal, PALS, and differ in almost everything else: separate practitioner licenses, separate shop licenses, separate fee schedules in separate chapters of the regulations, and separate renewal calendars.

The trades do touch. The Barbers' License Law recognizes the shared shop, premises where barbering and cosmetology operate side by side under their respective licenses, and a licensed cosmetologist gets substantial credit toward the barber license, covered in the practitioner section. What a barbershop owner cannot do is borrow the cosmetology side's rules: the cosmetology salon license does not license a barbershop, and the Board of Barber Examiners licenses shops itself.

Pennsylvania barbershop requirements at a glance

Practitioner licenses: barber, manager-barber, and teacher

The barber license covers the classic shop menu: the Board defines barbering around shaving and trimming the beard and cutting, shaping, trimming, and blending the hair, and its licensure guide lists the fuller scope, including facial and scalp massage and treatment, shampooing, coloring and bleaching, straightening and processing, weaving and waving, wig services, and shaping eyebrows. Qualifying takes 1,250 hours of instruction in not less than 9 months at a licensed barber school under a licensed barber teacher, or 1,250 hours of training in a licensed Pennsylvania barber shop under a licensed barber manager or barber teacher. Applicants must be at least 16 and have completed the 8th grade or its equivalent, and must pass both a theory examination and a practical examination, the two passed within a year of each other.

The fee is $173 in total: a $33 application fee plus $63 for the theory exam and $77 for the practical. Renewal is $184 every two years, and there is no continuing education requirement. Barbers licensed elsewhere come in two ways: reciprocity, for licensees from California, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Virginia, at a $65 fee, or endorsement by examination, sitting the theory exam, for everyone else. A licensed cosmetologist crossing over receives 555 hours of credit toward the 1,250 and completes 695 hours of specified barber subjects under 49 Pa. Code Section 3.71.

Two credentials sit above the barber license. The manager-barber license requires one year of experience as a licensed barber in a licensed barber shop or cosmetology salon and passage of the theory examination only; it costs $96 and renews at $260. The barber teacher license requires an applicant of at least 23 with a high school education and either five years of experience as a licensed barber in a licensed Pennsylvania shop or shared shop, or the manager-barber route plus 1,250 hours of teacher training in a licensed barber school; it costs $173 and renews at $270. Most shop owners need the manager credential, not the teacher's, because the shop license runs on it.

The establishment license: the barber shop license

The premises license is the barber shop license, $160 to open and $287 to renew under the Board's fee schedule at 49 Pa. Code Section 3.103, and it must be prominently displayed in the shop. A change in the shop that requires inspection costs $125. Every license the Barber Examiners issue, personal and shop alike, expires on April 30 of every even-numbered year, which makes the barber board's calendar the simplest in Pennsylvania beauty: one date, every two years, for the whole roster.

The rule that shapes daily operations is supervision. Under 63 P.S. Section 562, except for shops licensed under section 13(b) and for one-barber shops, which are operated by a licensed barber, every barber shop must at all times be under the immediate supervision of a manager-barber or a licensee designated in charge of the shop. A multi-chair shop that opens with neither a manager-barber nor a designated licensee on the floor is out of compliance even if every barber working is licensed. The statute also carves out the shared shop pattern: an owner who is a cosmetologist may employ a barber without also having to employ a manager-barber. Staff the supervision first, on every shift, and the rest of the shop's compliance follows from it.

Forming your LLC: the $125 filing and the $7 annual report

Most Pennsylvania barbershop owners form a limited liability company, and Pennsylvania makes formation simple and then adds a yearly habit owners are still learning. The Certificate of Organization, Form DSCB:15-8821, is filed with the Department of State through Business Filing Services at file.dos.pa.gov, together with a Docketing Statement, Form DSCB:15-134A, for a filing fee of $125 set by 15 Pa.C.S. Section 153. Pennsylvania requires no newspaper publication to form a domestic LLC, so the $125 is the whole state formation bill.

The follow-on duty is new. Act 122 of 2022 replaced the old once-a-decade decennial report with an Annual Report, Form DSCB:15-146, required from 2025. An LLC files it between January 1 and September 30 of each year for $7, and the first report is due the year after the LLC forms, so a shop formed in 2026 files its first report in 2027. The report is short: entity name, jurisdiction, registered office, principal office, at least one governor, the officers, and the Department of State file number. Beginning with reports due in 2027, a missed report starts a path to administrative dissolution six months after the due date, a serious problem for an entity holding a lease and a shop license. Adopt a written operating agreement even though it is never filed; it governs the money between members, and default rules are a poor substitute.

Trading under a name: the fictitious name registration

A barbershop rarely trades under its legal entity name, and Pennsylvania calls the filing a fictitious name registration. Any business operating under a name other than its proper legal name registers that name with the Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, on Form DSCB:54-311, for a $70 fee. Pennsylvania moved this filing to the state in the early 1980s under the Fictitious Names Act, so there is no county filing for most businesses. An individual trading under their own full and proper name does not register at all.

One Pennsylvania quirk deserves attention: newspaper advertising. A registration that lists an individual as a party, which means sole proprietors and partnerships with individual owners, must officially publish notice of the filing in two newspapers of general circulation in the county where the business is located, one of them the county's legal newspaper where one exists. A registration that lists only an entity, such as an LLC registering its own trade name, requires no advertising at all. Proofs of publication are kept with your business records, not sent to the Department. The registration creates no exclusive right to the name, no liability protection, and no separate entity, and an unregistered business cannot use the Pennsylvania courts to enforce a contract made under that name until it files.

Getting your EIN

Your Employer Identification Number is the one free, fast step in a Pennsylvania opening. Apply on the IRS website and the number issues immediately; every LLC and corporation needs one for banking and payroll, and a sole proprietor needs one once they have employees. Pennsylvania paperwork keys off it: the myPATH business tax registration, the unemployment compensation account, and payroll withholding all run under the EIN, and your bank and card processor will ask for it. Get it after the entity exists and before the first state application.

Sales tax: services are not taxed, retail is

Pennsylvania's sales tax reaches a barbershop's shelves, not its chairs. The Department of Revenue imposes the tax on retail sales of tangible personal property, including digital products, and on a list of specified services. Barbering and hair services are not on that list, so the service ticket carries no sales tax anywhere in the Commonwealth. What a client takes home is different: clippers oil, styling products, and aftercare sold at retail are taxable, and inventory you buy to resell is bought under the resale exemption so the tax lands once, on the sale to your client.

The rate depends on the county line. The state rate is 6 percent. Allegheny County adds 1 percent, for a 7 percent combined rate in and around Pittsburgh. Philadelphia adds 2 percent, for an 8 percent combined rate inside the city. Act 21 of 2026 has also moved collection of the two local taxes to a destination basis, with Department of Revenue enforcement from October 1, 2026, which matters when you ship products to customers. Any business making taxable sales needs a Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Tax License before it sells; the registration route is the myPATH business registration covered in the employment section. The Department's Retailer's Information Guide, REV-717, is its reference for what is and is not taxable.

Chair rent in a Pennsylvania barbershop

Owners arriving from the cosmetology side often ask whether the booth rental ban follows them across the hall. It does not, at least not by its own terms: Section 8.1 of the Cosmetology Law makes booth rental unlawful in a cosmetology salon or a salon limited to esthetics or nail technology, and the Barbers' License Law contains no matching provision for barber shops. Chair rental in a barbershop is a real structure in Pennsylvania, but it is fenced in by two other rules instead of a ban.

The first fence is supervision. A rented chair does not dilute the requirement that the shop be under a manager-barber or a designated licensee in charge at all times; the landlord model in which the owner is never on the floor fails the statute regardless of how the leases are written. The second fence is classification. A renter who genuinely runs their own book, sets their own hours and prices, and takes their own payments fits the rental structure. A renter who works the owner's schedule, the owner's prices, and the owner's clientele looks like an employee to the Department of Labor and Industry and the IRS, whatever the agreement calls him, and every barber on the floor must hold a barber license in either structure. Rent chairs if the model suits the shop, and run it like a rental in fact, with the supervision rule staffed on top of it.

Hiring staff: withholding, unemployment, and wages

The first hire triggers the employer stack, and one registration opens most of it. The Pennsylvania Online Business Tax Registration on myPATH, the system that replaced the old PA-100 form, registers the business in a single pass for the sales tax license, the employer withholding account, unemployment compensation, and workers compensation information. Employers withhold Pennsylvania personal income tax at a flat rate of 3.07 percent of compensation; there is no state W-4, because the flat rate leaves nothing to elect. Withholding is reported on the quarterly PA W-3 and reconciled annually on Form REV-1667.

Unemployment compensation carries two Pennsylvania features worth knowing before the first payroll. The new employer contribution rate is 3.8220 percent for 2023 and thereafter, charged on the first $10,000 of each employee's wages per year. Pennsylvania is also one of the few states that charges the employee: employers withhold an employee contribution of 0.07 percent of gross wages, with no wage cap, and remit it with the quarterly contributions. Nearly every employer must also carry workers compensation coverage, arranged with a private insurer and recorded in the same registration.

The wage floor is the federal one. Pennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour under the Minimum Wage Act, with overtime at one and one half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week. Barbers are tipped workers in most shops, and the tipped rule is strict: a cash wage of $2.83 an hour is allowed only when the employee actually receives at least $135 a month in tips and the total reaches $7.25, and the employer makes up any shortfall. Report every new hire and rehire to the Pennsylvania New Hire Reporting Program through PA CareerLink within 20 days of the date of hire.

The local layer: Philadelphia, Allegheny County, and everywhere else

The state licenses the shop; the locality decides where it can sit and what its retail shelf owes. Pennsylvania has no county barber license and no city shop license layered on top of the Board's, so the operative credential is the state barber shop license in every municipality. The local layer is zoning and occupancy: whether a barbershop is a permitted use in the storefront or the home, signage rules, and building and fire inspections. Run that check with the municipal zoning office for the specific address before the lease is signed.

Two local differences are worth pricing into the plan. Inside Philadelphia, retail products are taxed at the 8 percent combined rate described in the tax section, the highest in the state. In Allegheny County the combined rate is 7 percent. Everywhere else the shelf runs at 6 percent.

Insurance and recurring costs

The barber shop license application carries no bond or insurance condition, so coverage enters through the lease and through prudence instead. Landlords require general liability coverage with the landlord named as an additional insured before handing over keys, and a working shop carries professional liability for services and property coverage for the buildout, equipment, and retail inventory. Treat the absence of a state insurance filing as one less form, not as a signal that coverage is optional.

Recurring state costs are light and run on the board's single clock: barber renewals at $184, manager-barber renewals at $260, the shop license at $287, all every two years, plus the $7 LLC annual report and quarterly unemployment and withholding filings. The date that matters is April 30 of the even years.

Your Pennsylvania renewal calendar

• Every 2 years, expiring April 30 of even-numbered years: barber licenses renew at $184, manager-barber licenses at $260, teacher licenses at $270, and the shop license at $287
• Every year, January 1 to September 30: LLC annual report, Form DSCB:15-146, $7, starting the year after formation
• Every quarter, due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31: unemployment compensation reports and contributions, including the 0.07 percent employee contribution
• Every quarter: employer withholding return, PA W-3, with the annual reconciliation on Form REV-1667
• Within 20 days of each hire: new hire report through PA CareerLink
• On the Department of Revenue's schedule in myPATH: sales tax returns covering retail product sales
• Every January: confirm the minimum wage and the unemployment wage base for the new year
• On any shop change requiring inspection: file the change application, $125, before the changed shop operates

Official Pennsylvania sources for this guide

• State Board of Barber Examiners, barber snapshot: the 1,250 hours, both examinations, and the $173 fee
• Barber Examiners Licensure Guide: the training routes, reciprocity states, and endorsement by examination
• 49 Pa. Code Section 3.103: the barber board fee schedule, including the $160 shop license
• 63 P.S. Section 562: shop licensing, display, and the manager-barber supervision rule
• Department of State, fictitious names: Form DSCB:54-311 and the advertising rule
• Department of State, annual reports: Form DSCB:15-146, the $7 fee, and the LLC filing window
• Department of Revenue, sales and use tax: the 6 percent rate, the county additions, and REV-717
• Department of Revenue, employer withholding: the flat 3.07 percent rate and the quarterly return
• Department of Labor and Industry, Minimum Wage Act: the $7.25 wage and the $2.83 tipped cash wage
• Department of Labor and Industry, report newly hired employees: reporting through PA CareerLink

This guide is general information researched from official Pennsylvania 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

Do I need a barber license to own a barbershop in Pennsylvania?

No, but the shop does. The premises need a barber shop license, $160 to open and $287 to renew every two years, and every barber needs a personal license. Unless the shop is a one-barber shop run by a licensed barber, it must be under the immediate supervision of a manager-barber or a licensee designated in charge at all times.

How many hours of training does a Pennsylvania barber need?

A barber license takes 1,250 hours of instruction in not less than 9 months at a licensed barber school, or 1,250 hours of training in a licensed Pennsylvania barber shop. The applicant must be at least 16, have an 8th grade education, and pass both the theory and practical examinations within a year of each other. The total initial fee is $173, and renewal is $184 every two years.

What is a manager-barber, and does my shop need one?

A manager-barber is a licensed barber with at least one year of experience in a licensed shop who has passed the theory examination for the manager credential. The license costs $96 and renews at $260 every two years. Multi-chair barbershops must be under a manager-barber's immediate supervision, or that of a licensee designated in charge, whenever they are open; a one-barber shop operated by a licensed barber is the exception.

Can barbers rent chairs in my Pennsylvania barbershop?

The statutory booth rental ban sits in the Cosmetology Law and names cosmetology salons; the Barbers' License Law contains no matching provision. Chair rental in a barbershop is therefore governed by supervision and classification instead: the shop must stay under a manager-barber or designated licensee in charge, every barber must hold a barber license, and a renter who works your schedule, prices, and clientele can still be an employee under Department of Labor and IRS control tests.

How much does it cost to form an LLC for a Pennsylvania barbershop?

The Certificate of Organization, Form DSCB:15-8821, costs $125 to file with the Department of State, and Pennsylvania requires no newspaper publication for a domestic LLC. From the year after formation, the LLC files an annual report, Form DSCB:15-146, between January 1 and September 30 for $7.

Are haircuts subject to sales tax in Pennsylvania?

No. Pennsylvania taxes retail sales of tangible personal property and a list of specified services, and barbering is not on that list. Products you sell for clients to take home are taxable at 6 percent statewide, 7 percent in Allegheny County, and 8 percent in Philadelphia.