Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs

Cosmetology Salon License

$142 to open and $144 every two years to renew — one of the few licenses where renewal costs more than the initial application. The same figure covers a cosmetology, nail technology or esthetician salon. The license expires on 31 January of odd-numbered years whatever month you were licensed, so a salon opening in December pays for barely a year the first time round. Nail technicians, teachers and schools renew in EVEN years, so a salon with staff runs two cycles. A pre-license inspection is mandatory and the Board will not issue until it is done, which is the step that sets your opening date. Moving premises costs $105 where a new inspection is needed and $45 where it is not; a reinspection is $91. The shop license is entirely separate from the individual licenses of the people working in it — an owner who also practises needs both.