Business phone system for barber shops

Barber shops in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 7,789 barber shops in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 812111, Barber Shops). They employed 29,017 people in mid-March and paid $976.9 million in annual payroll. The average establishment has 3.7 employees. That is 2.3 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

New York has the most (1,000), followed by Florida (808), Texas (605), and California (594). Relative to population, New Jersey leads with 5.9 per 100,000 residents, and Wyoming has the fewest at 0.9.

Why the phone matters for barber shops

Barbers are busy with clients all day, and calls for appointments and wait times often go unanswered. Capturing calls and texting back helps fill chairs.

Calls barber shops commonly handle:

• A client calls to book a haircut.
• A client calls to ask about walk-in wait.
• A parent calls to book kids' cuts.
• The shop calls a client about a cancellation.
• A client calls about hours.

Texting and after-hours calls

Shops text appointment reminders.

After-hours calls are mostly booking requests.

How big barber shops are

75.5% of U.S. barber shops with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 90.0% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Barber shops by state

Establishment counts for the 51 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for barber shops

Census published barber shop counts for 264 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

Callata vs. per-seat pricing for barber shops in the U.S.

The average U.S. barber shop has 3.7 employees, so the comparison uses a 4-person team. On a per-user plan that headcount sets the bill: $99.80 a month on Ooma Office Pro or $120.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core at list price (checked September 28, 2026). On Callata the same 4 people cost $99.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $252. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

How Callata works for barber shops

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

Existing numbers can be ported at no charge, and team texting turns on after the one-time $49 carrier registration (10DLC) is approved.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.