$1.7 Million in Wages for Barbers and Beauticians

Twenty-four barbers and three beauticians received a total of $1.76 million in wages in 2008 from various departments, including the Department of Corrections.

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

Using our transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org, I found that in 2008, the State of Illinois paid $1,768,608.65 in wages for 24 barbers and 3 beauticians. Of the 27 total barbers and beauticians, twenty received more than $70,000 in wages. While there were no benefits listed for these positions, it does not mean these employees did not receive benefits, but rather that the data was unavailable. Twenty of the barbers and two of the beauticians were on the payroll for the Department of Corrections, three barbers worked for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Department of Human Serviceshad one beautician and one barber on its payroll. The table below shows the total wages, average wages, and number of workers for both positions in the three departments. To see how much the Department of Corrections paid teachers of barbering in 2008 check out this previous blog post.

To put these wages in perspective, barbers in Illinois made an average of $27,580 annually according to the most recent estimate by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2008).

To find this information on the IllinoisOpenGov site, go to “Payroll” and search for “barber” and “beautician” in the position field.