A Class A Barber license is the main barber credential in Texas, and the path to it is clear once you know the order of the steps. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) sets the rules, a TDLR-licensed school delivers the training, and a testing company called PSI runs the exams. This guide walks through each step, explains exactly what the license lets you do, and covers what most guides skip: how barbers actually earn once they are licensed.
Everything below comes from TDLR’s own pages. Fees and forms change, so always confirm the current details on TDLR’s Class A Barber license page before you apply.
Texas barber license requirements at a glance
- Age: at least 17 years old.
- Training: 1,000 hours of instruction at a barbering or cosmetology school licensed in Texas.
- Exams: a written exam and a practical exam, both administered by PSI.
- Application: submitted to TDLR after you pass both exams, with a non-refundable application fee (check TDLR for the current amount).
- License term: two years from the date it is issued, then renewal.
Step 1: Complete 1,000 hours at a TDLR-licensed school
Your hours must come from a school that holds a Texas barbering or cosmetology school license, so confirm a school’s TDLR license before you enroll. While you train, TDLR issues you a student permit. The course covers cutting, fades and tapers, shaving with a straight razor, beard work, chemical services, sanitation and Texas laws and rules.
Treat school as the start of your business, not just your education. The clients who sit in your chair as a student, and the cuts you become known for, are the beginning of your book. Our post on keeping your clientele is worth reading before you graduate.
Step 2: Pass the written and practical exams
You become eligible for the written exam once you have completed 900 of your 1,000 hours. The practical exam comes after you pass the written exam and finish all of your training hours. Both are run by PSI on TDLR’s behalf:
- Written exam: barbering theory, safety and sanitation, and Texas laws and rules.
- Practical exam: you perform procedures in front of an examiner, so drill your setup, sanitation steps and timing until they are second nature.
Sanitation and procedure order trip up more candidates than cutting skill does. Rehearse the full sequence, start to finish, as often as you can.
Step 3: Apply to TDLR
Once you have passed both exams, submit your Class A Barber application to TDLR. Keep copies of your school records and exam results until your license appears on TDLR’s license search.
Licensed or trained outside Texas? TDLR handles that through its license-by-equivalence process instead of the standard application, so start on its Apply for a Cosmetology or Barbering License by Equivalence page.
What a Texas Class A Barber license lets you do
According to TDLR’s Class A Barber scope-of-practice guide, the license is broad. A Class A Barber may:
- Cut, clip, style, color, bleach, straighten, wave and otherwise treat hair
- Shave the face or neck with any type of razor, and style, trim, color or shave beards and mustaches
- Give facials and cleansing or beautifying treatments of the face, neck, scalp, shoulders and arms
- Remove body hair with depilatories, tweezers or other devices
- Massage the scalp, neck, shoulders, arms, face, hands or feet
- Perform nail services, including manicures, pedicures and false nails
- Weave or attach commercial hair to a client’s hair or scalp
The one service TDLR lists as outside a Class A Barber’s scope is eyelash extensions. That breadth is a real advantage: a barber can add beard care, facials or hair replacement to a menu without a second license.
Keeping your license: renewal
Your Class A Barber license is valid for two years. Renewal includes TDLR-approved continuing education, and the required hours and topics have changed in recent years, so check TDLR’s renewal page at the start of each cycle rather than relying on what you heard in school.
How barbers earn after they’re licensed
There is no single “barber salary” in Texas, because how you are paid depends on where you work. New barbers in Houston usually choose between three models:
- Commission or hourly in a shop. The shop brings walk-ins and sets prices; you keep a share of each service. It is the fastest way to build speed and confidence.
- Renting a chair. You pay the shop to work from one of its chairs and keep your service income, but you share the floor and work under the shop’s rules. We compare it with a private room in our guide to booth and chair rental in Houston.
- Your own private suite. A lockable room with your own chair, your own music, your own hours and your own prices, for a flat monthly rent. You keep everything you earn above that.
Most barbers move along that path as their book grows. To see what you would actually keep at your current numbers, use our commission vs. lease comparison, and read how to move from employee to suite owner before you make the jump.
Licensing your own suite
When you work from your own enclosed suite, the room itself needs its own TDLR license as well as your personal barber license. We explain how that works in Do you need a license to rent a salon suite in Texas?
Image Salon Studios offers barber suites for rent in Houston at Royal Oaks Village on Westheimer Rd, plus suites in Sugar Land’s First Colony. Every suite is private and lockable, with utilities, Wi-Fi and 24/7 access included. Schedule a tour and see whether a suite fits the way you cut.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours do you need for a barber license in Texas?
1,000 hours of instruction at a Texas-licensed barbering or cosmetology school for a Class A Barber license.
When can I take the Texas barber written exam?
After you have completed 900 of your 1,000 training hours. The practical exam follows once you pass the written exam and finish all your hours.
Can a Texas barber do nails and facials?
Yes. TDLR’s scope of practice for a Class A Barber includes nail services and facial treatments. Eyelash extensions are the main service it does not cover.
How long is a Texas barber license valid?
Two years from the date of issue, after which you renew with TDLR.
Related at Image Salon Studios Looking for space of your own? See our barber suites for rent.
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