For booth renters and commission stylists
Booth rent vs. commission calculator
Put your own numbers in and see what each side leaves you in a year, plus the weekly rent at which the two come out equal. Every figure below is yours; the numbers that are already there are examples, not averages.
Every number starts as an example so the page shows a result on load. Replace them with yours; the result updates as you type.
Your week
Weeks off are not counted here.
Leave it at 0 if you do not sell product.
If you take commission
My commission job is W-2
Your employer pays half of the payroll tax. Turn it off if you are paid as a 1099 contractor.
If you rent
Usually 52: the rent is owed in the weeks you do not work too.
As a renter you buy these yourself.
Insurance, booking software, card fees, marketing.
Commission
- You bring in
- $102,000
- Your commission
- $45,900
- Your half of payroll tax (7.65%)
- −$3,511
Take-home, a year
$42,389
Renting
- You bring in
- $102,000
- Rent, supplies, other
- −$17,680
- Self-employment tax
- −$11,914
Take-home, a year
$72,406
Renting leaves you about $30,017 more a year.
That is about $577 a week, over 52 weeks.
The rent that breaks even
$922 a week
At that rent the two sides come out equal. Below it, renting leaves you more; above it, commission does. Your own rent is $250 a week.
This ignores benefits that some W-2 jobs include, such as health insurance, paid time off and an employer retirement match. It also leaves out income tax on both sides; when the two results are close, that can change which one comes out ahead.
Some fields still hold the example numbers.
How we calculate thisShow
The year, both sides
services = services per week × average ticket × weeks worked retail = retail per week × weeks worked
Commission
gross = services × commission % + retail × retail commission % tax = W-2 ? gross × 7.65% : gross × 92.35% × 15.3% net = gross − tax
Renting
costs = rent per week × rent weeks + supplies per week × weeks worked
+ other monthly × 12
profit = services + retail − costs
tax = max(profit, 0) × 92.35% × 15.3%
net = profit − taxThe gap
difference = renting net − commission net break-even = the weekly rent where the two nets are equal
- 7.65% is the employee share of payroll tax (FICA) when your commission job is W-2. Your employer pays the other half. If you are a 1099 contractor, both halves are yours, which is why the toggle changes the number.
- 92.35% × 15.3% is the self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings. The IRS publishes this in Topic 554 and Schedule SE.
- Income tax is left out on both sides on purpose, because it depends on your filing status, state and deductions. It usually shrinks the gap rather than flipping it, but a renter can deduct business costs and half of the self-employment tax, so when the two results are close the order can change. Health insurance you would buy yourself as a renter is not included either; add it to other renter costs.
- The W-2 rate is 7.65% and the self-employment rate is 15.3% on 92.35% of the profit. This is an estimate, not tax advice. Check your own situation with a tax professional.
What this does not include
The arithmetic is only as good as what goes into it, so here is what it deliberately leaves out.
Benefits a commission job may include
Health insurance, paid time off and an employer retirement match are real money. This calculator counts none of them, because it cannot know what your employer offers. If your commission job comes with a health plan, put that value against the renting column by hand before you decide.
Income tax
Left out on both sides on purpose, because it depends on your filing status, your state and your deductions. It usually shrinks the gap rather than flipping it, but when the two columns are close it can change which one comes out ahead: a renter can deduct business costs and half of the self-employment tax, and may qualify for other deductions a W-2 job does not get. Run both numbers past a tax professional before you decide.
Local license and permit fees
A booth or suite usually needs its own business license, and some states add a separate establishment fee. Those are per-city and per-state numbers, so they are not here. Ask your own city what a chair rental costs to license before you sign a lease.
Setting your own prices and hours
As a renter you set the price, the hours and the days off. That has a value, and it is not a number this page can compute for you. Some stylists would pay for it; some would rather have the chair filled for them.
The weeks you do not work
The rent input is multiplied by its own week count, defaulting to 52, because rent is usually owed in the weeks you are away too. Your services and supplies follow the weeks you actually work.
If the renting column is the one you want
Chairwarden is a booking app for one person renting one chair or a small suite. It does not change any number above; it is what the second column runs on once you have signed the lease, and its calendar protection exists so a short service cannot be booked into the middle of a long, high-value block.
Free to try, up to 15 bookings/month · calendar protection included on every plan
Embed or cite this calculator: link to chairwarden.com/booth-rent-vs-commission. It runs in the browser, it stores nothing, and the numbers update as your reader types.
The tax part is an estimate, not tax advice. The self-employment rate is the one the IRS publishes; your own situation, your state and your deductions are yours to check with a tax professional. Compare the tools if you are choosing software rather than a chair.