12 permits · verified 2026-09-10
What permits do you need to open a salon or barber in Davenport?
In short
A salon or barber in Davenport, IA has 5 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 7 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division charges $50 one-time, per sign for the sign permit. 3 of the 12 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-09-10 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
Permits particular to a salon or barber in Davenport
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Business License — Title 5 Categories and Exemptions (Davenport)only if it applies to you | City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed)only if it applies to you | City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division | Massage Therapy: $0.00 — the City's Business Licenses page states 'Regulations only, the City of Davenport does not issue a license,' and requires the practitioner to hold a valid State of Iowa massage therapist license. Reflexology, a physically separate service category under a different code chapter, carries its own genuine $100.00 annual City of Davenport business license. | annual — April 1 through March 31 | 2026-09-10 |
| Barbering or Cosmetology Establishment License | Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing | $80 to apply; renewal is $80 | renews on a schedule opening sixty days before expiry with a thirty-day grace period after | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Local permits that apply to every type of business in Davenport
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit (Commercial) | City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division | Varies — formula on the Davenport page | one-time, per project | 2026-09-10 |
| Zoning Determination / Administrative Exceptiononly if it applies to you | City of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic Development | No fee | one-time, no stated expiration | 2026-09-10 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division | No fee | one-time, no expiration | 2026-09-10 |
| Sign Permit | City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division | $50 one-time, per sign | one-time, per sign | 2026-09-10 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
IA registrations that apply to every type of business
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $50 one-time filing | perpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $50 one-time filing | perpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years | 2026-09-04 |
| Sales Tax Permit | Iowa Department of Revenue | No fee | no expiration — stays effective until cancelled or revoked | 2026-09-04 |
| General Business License — Iowa positiononly if it applies to you | Iowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information Center | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-04 |
| Biennial Reportonly if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | Varies — formula on the IA page | an LLC files between 1 January and 1 April of every odd year; a corporation files in the same window of every even year | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a salon or barber in Davenport?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 12 records listed for a salon or barber in Davenport, IA, 5 apply to every business of this type and 7 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.
Of the 5 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $130.00. That is a floor, not a total. 3 of the 12 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 5 have no fee published at all. The ones particular to this business that vary:
Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed): Massage Therapy: $0.00 — the City's Business Licenses page states 'Regulations only, the City of Davenport does not issue a license,' and requires the practitioner to hold a valid State of Iowa massage therapist license. Reflexology, a physically separate service category under a different code chapter, carries its own genuine $100.00 annual City of Davenport business license.
The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Davenport permits page and the IA state page.
Which offices issue these permits in Davenport?
Permits for a salon or barber in Davenport, IA come from 7 separate offices: City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division, City of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic Development, City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division, Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division, Iowa Department of Revenue, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information Center. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
- City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building DivisionIssues 3 permits on this page: Building Permit (Commercial), Certificate of Occupancy, Sign PermitDavenport Public Works Center, 1200 East 46th Street, Davenport, IA 52807 · (563) 326-7745www.davenportiowa.com/services/licenses/contractor_licenses
- City of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic DevelopmentIssues 1 permit on this page: Zoning Determination / Administrative Exception226 West 4th Street, Davenport, IA 52801 · (563) 326-7765www.davenportiowa.com/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=16263268
- City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue DivisionIssues 2 permits on this page: City Business License — Title 5 Categories and Exemptions (Davenport), Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed)226 West 4th Street, Davenport, IA 52801 · (563) 326-7707www.davenportiowa.com/services/licenses/business_licenses
- Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services DivisionIssues 3 permits on this page: Certificate of Organization (LLC), Articles of Incorporation, Biennial Report321 East 12th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319 · (515) 281-5204sos.iowa.gov/business
- Iowa Department of RevenueIssues 1 permit on this page: Sales Tax Permit1305 East Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50319 · (515) 281-3114revenue.iowa.gov/permits-licensing/business-permit-registration
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and LicensingIssues 1 permit on this page: Barbering or Cosmetology Establishment License6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, Des Moines, IA 50321 · (515) 281-3425dial.iowa.gov
- Iowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information CenterIssues 1 permit on this page: General Business License — Iowa position1963 Bell Avenue, Suite 200, Des Moines, IA 50315 · (515) 348-6200opportunityiowa.gov/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/small-business-resources/business-license-information-center
What does a salon or barber need in Davenport that other businesses do not?
2 of the 3 permits particular to a salon or barber here apply to no other business type we cover in Davenport: Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed) and Barbering or Cosmetology Establishment License.
Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed)
Only reaches a salon or spa that offers reflexology services specifically — the license is location-specific, so a business with multiple locations needs a separate reflexology license at each one, and requires Zoning, Police and Fire Department approval. A salon offering only massage, hair, nail or barbering services triggers no fee under either chapter; a State of Iowa-licensed massage therapist providing reflexology as part of a massage practice does not need this separate city reflexology license either.
Barbering or Cosmetology Establishment License
Iowa merged its cosmetology and barbering regulation into one board under a 2023 reorganisation, and a salon and a barbershop now pay the identical $80 establishment fee under the identical rule chapter — anything describing a separate cosmetology board, or citing the old chapter 645 numbering from before the merger, is describing an agency that no longer exists in that form. An individual practitioner's own license is $60, and renewing more than thirty days after expiry adds a further $60 late fee. The application fee is stated as nonrefundable regardless of outcome.
Shared with other businesses in Davenport
- City Business License — Title 5 Categories and Exemptions (Davenport) — City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division, No fee, not applicable. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, childcare centres, fitness studios and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
The other 4 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Davenport, IA; what each one involves is set out on the Davenport permits page. The 5 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across IA and are covered on the IA state page.
How does a salon or barber compare with other businesses in Davenport?
The closest match is a fitness studio, which shares 1 of these permits. A salon or barber also needs Reflexology Business License (Massage Therapy Regulated, Not Licensed) and Barbering or Cosmetology Establishment License. A fitness studio needs Tent Permit, which a salon or barber does not.
| Business | Its own permits | Shared with a salon or barber | Only a salon or barber needs | Only it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness studios | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Veterinary clinics | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Childcare centres | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Coffee shops | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Restaurants | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Auto repair shops | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Contractors and trades | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Food trucks | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Retail stores | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Sources
Every figure for the permits explained on this page was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Sources for the permits shared with other businesses are listed with their explanations on the restaurants page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Davenport permits page and the IA state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- Business Licenses — the City's own 'multi-business license fee code structure' framing, the April 1-March 31 license period with a 10% penalty after May 1 and half-year new-license pricing from October 1, and the full list of named license categories (retail/transient merchant, gasoline station/public garage, alarms, billboards/signs/canopies, cigarette/tobacco/vapor, closing-out sales, auctions, live entertainment, metal recyclers/salvage, pawnbrokers/secondhand/junk/antique dealers, public amusements/dancehalls, mobile food/mobile ice cream vendors, massage/reflexology, tent permits, tree trimmers)City of Davenport, Finance Department (Revenue Division) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing — barbering and cosmetology establishment license, $80 for either tradeIowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.