Salon Booth Rental Laws in Wyoming (2026)

Booth and suite rental in Wyoming — the whole program

Who may rent a booth or a suite in Wyoming

You practise under a licence issued by the Wyoming State Board of Cosmetology, 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 302, Cheyenne. W.S. 33-12-127(a) bars anyone from practising cosmetology, nail technology, esthetics or hair styling, and bars any place from being maintained for that practice, without a licence under the Wyoming Cosmetology Act (W.S. 33-12-119 through 33-12-140). The route is school then examination: W.S. 33-12-130 admits to the board examination only a graduate of a school meeting the training requirements in board rules, and Board Rules Chapter 6 sets those hours at 1,600 for cosmetology (a minimum of eight months), 1,000 for hair styling, 600 for esthetics, 400 for nail technology, 200 for the add-on lash and brow licence, 125 for the add-on hair removal licence and 500 for an instructor. There is no apprenticeship route: Chapter 1, Section 3 recognises apprenticeship only where it is a certified programme through a state regulatory agency, and the Board's own FAQ answers the question flatly, 'No. In order to take your board exams and receive a license, you must complete the required hours & training via a recognized cosmetology school.' Students must be at least sixteen and have a tenth-grade education (Chapter 5, Section 1). An out-of-state practitioner may come in by endorsement under W.S. 33-12-132 without examination, but not from a state that requires no board examination, and not, unless the Board finds the other state's requirements at least equal, where the applicant has not practised full time for a year. Two carve-outs matter. W.S. 33-12-140(d) puts natural hair braiding outside the Act entirely, and W.S. 33-12-140(c) exempts a person receiving compensation for facial make-up applications only. Two limits also matter: the Board's FAQ requires a cosmetology or esthetics licence for eyelash extensions, and prohibits licensees from any service that pierces the skin, including microblading, which the Board does not regulate at all.

The individual licences that qualify you

• Cosmetologist: the full scope, hair styling plus nail technology plus esthetics (Chapter 1, Section 6(d)); 1,600 school hours; $48.00 per year.
• Hair stylist: cutting, chemical services, styling and hair extensions (Chapter 1, Section 6(a)); 1,000 hours; $48.00 per year.
• Esthetician: skin treatment, make-up, hair removal other than electrolysis and laser, brow and lash work, facial extractions (Chapter 1, Section 6(c)); 600 hours; $48.00 per year. Procedures that pierce the epidermal or dermal layer are prohibited, and the title 'Medical Esthetician' is not allowed.
• Nail technician: nail services and massage of hands and arms to the elbow, feet and ankles to the knee (Chapter 1, Section 6(b)); 400 hours; $48.00 per year.
• Instructor: $48.00 per year; 500 hours.
• Add-on hair removal (125 hours) and add-on lash and brow (200 hours), both available only to licensed hair stylists and nail technicians (Chapter 1, Section 6(e)-(f)).
• Independent contractor licence: $75.00 per year, required of the booth or suite renter on top of the personal licence (Chapter 7, Section 15; Chapter 13, Section 1(c)).
• Salon licence: $75.00 per year plus a $225.00 salon application fee, held by the owner of the premises (Chapter 13, Section 1(d)-(e)). Mobile salon, temporary location ($75.00) and school ($200.00 per year) licences also exist.
• Renewal cycles differ and are the most common trap. The personal licence runs one year from the month it is issued, then moves to a two-year cycle expiring in the licensee's birth month at $96.00 for the two years (Chapter 13, Section 2(c); Board renewal form). The independent contractor licence expires every 31 August. The salon licence expires every 31 December. Other fees: practical examination $50.00, endorsement $225.00, reinstatement $175.00, duplicate licence $10.00, certification $25.00; the Board's change-of-ownership form charges $100.00. No continuing education is required to renew.

Do you need your own establishment licence?

Wyoming is one of the few states that licenses the renter personally. The building is licensed once, as a salon, in the owner's name, and the renter does not apply for that licence. But Chapter 7, Section 15 says that 'No person may operate as an independent contractor within a licensed salon without first securing an independent contractor license from the Board.' Chapter 1, Section 7 defines the independent contractor as a licensee 'who is self-employed working within a licensed salon'. So renting a chair or a suite triggers a second Board credential, at $75.00 a year, in addition to your $48.00 personal licence. The Board's FAQ ties it to the money rather than to the paperwork: 'If you are working in a salon and paying booth rent (not an employee) you will need to apply for an Independent Contactor license.' Note the statutory framing is softer than the rule: W.S. 33-12-127(e) says the Board 'may issue a certificate to the licensee to practice activities authorized under the license as an independent contractor within a salon', on request. The rule is where the obligation is stated as a bar, and the rule is what an inspector applies. The licence attaches to you, not to the chair. Chapter 7, Section 17 requires only that you notify the Board office when you stop providing services or relocate, the application form says 'If you relocate, take your independent contractor license with you to the new location and notify the Board office of the change', and the FAQ confirms a move does not require a new licence. If you rent the whole premises rather than a station inside someone else's salon, you are the salon and you file the salon application yourself.

The licence is issued by Wyoming State Board of Cosmetology, 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 302, Cheyenne, WY 82002, telephone 307-777-3534.

1. Hold a current Wyoming personal licence in the discipline you will sell. Renewal is $96.00 for two years after the first year, and Chapter 1, Section 8(a) treats work on an expired licence as unlicensed practice, the grace period delaying only the late fee.
2. Confirm the salon you are renting in holds a current Wyoming salon licence, and get its licence number, which the independent contractor application asks for.
3. Download the Application for New Independent Contractor from cosmetology.wyo.gov and pay the prorated fee for the month you apply, because the licence year ends 31 August: $75.00 in August, $68.75 in September, $62.50 in October, $56.25 in November, $50.00 in December, $43.75 in January, $37.50 in February, $31.25 in March, $25.00 in April, $18.75 in May, $12.50 in June, $6.25 in July, with an optional $75.00 to run through the following year.
4. Mail the application with a check or money order to the Board office. The application form says check or money order only; the FAQ adds credit cards and rules out cash in every case.
5. Equip your own station. Chapter 7, Section 16 makes you responsible for the basic equipment needed for the scope of your licence, and leaves shared equipment such as shampoo bowls and pedicure spas to the salon owner as common areas.
6. Post your independent contractor licence and your most recent inspection at your work station (Chapter 7, Section 18(b)), and keep the station accessible for inspection during salon business hours.
7. Register with the Wyoming Department of Revenue for a sales tax licence ($60.00 one-time) only if you will sell products or anything else with an imposition statute behind it. The rent you pay and the services you sell are not taxable.
8. Ask your city about a local business licence. The Board's own salon procedure sheet tells applicants that 'Cities have different requirements for a business license, contact your local city, business licensing division', and lists the Department of Revenue, the Department of Health, the Secretary of State and OSHA alongside it.
9. Renew by 31 August each year, and remember your personal licence renews on a different clock, in your birth month, every two years.

Fee: Independent contractor licence $75.00 per year, prorated from the month obtained to the 31 August expiry (Chapter 13, Sections 1(c) and 2(b)). The salon licence the owner holds is $75.00 per year with a $225.00 application fee, which the Board's current application collects as a single $300.00 payment, $306.00 to $318.00 for applications filed in the last quarter because those cover the rest of the year plus the following year. Salon relocation $225.00.

Renewal: Independent contractor licences expire 31 August every year and are renewed at $75.00; late renewal draws a late fee (Chapter 7, Section 19). Salon licences expire 31 December every year; a salon licence expired less than ninety days may be renewed with the Chapter 13 late fees of $20.00 up to thirty days, $40.00 up to sixty and $60.00 up to ninety, and one expired more than ninety days is gone, so the owner must apply afresh under current requirements (Chapter 7, Section 11). A personal licence may be renewed within ninety days of expiry and then lapses (W.S. 33-12-128), with reinstatement at $175.00 plus the fees for the lapsed period; a lapse of five years or more forces a 100-hour refresher course and re-examination (W.S. 33-12-129).

What the booth and suite rules actually say

Booth and suite rental are lawful and expressly contemplated by the rules, but Wyoming registers the renter rather than the room. There is one salon licence for the premises, held by the owner, and one independent contractor licence for each self-employed practitioner working inside it. Chapter 7, Section 16 divides the housekeeping: your own station and the basic equipment for your scope are yours, while shared shampoo bowls, pedicure spas and every other common area are the salon owner's responsibility for inspection purposes. Chapter 7, Section 18 then makes you, not the owner, answerable for your work area meeting the Chapter 10 infection control standards, and requires that area to be accessible for inspection during salon business hours. The practical effect is that an inspector walking the floor can write up the owner for the shampoo area and you for your station on the same visit. W.S. 33-12-123(a)(v) confirms the reach: the Board inspects annually for proper licensure of everyone practising 'whether practising as a proprietor, employee or independent contractor'. No rule prescribes the content of a rental agreement, and no statute regulates booth rent, so the lease is a private matter, but keep it: it is the document that evidences your independence if the Department of Workforce Services ever looks at the arrangement. Suites are not a separate category in Wyoming. A suite inside a licensed salon is a work area and its occupant needs the independent contractor licence; a suite that is its own separately controlled premises with its own entrance and equipment is, on the plain wording of W.S. 33-12-127(a) and Chapter 7, Section 1, a place maintained for the practice of cosmetology and therefore needs a salon licence in the occupant's name. Where a suite building falls between those two descriptions the rules give no test, and the Board office is the place to settle it before you sign.

What your own space must have

• Minimum equipment: one shampoo bowl with hot and cold running water and one work station; a nail or esthetics salon may apply in writing for a waiver of the shampoo bowl (Chapter 7, Sections 2 and 3). Where the restroom is shared with another business, a hand washing sink or shampoo bowl is required inside the salon area, all water supplies must be plumbed potable hot and cold water under pressure, and the Board's procedure sheet rules out portable sinks.
• No living or sleeping use of a salon, and no mattresses on the premises; toilet and hand washing facilities clean and in good repair for staff and patrons; adequate heat, light and ventilation (Chapter 7, Section 6(a)).
• Flooring must be tile, vinyl or another smooth non-porous material, with carpet or rugs only in the reception area; walls and ceilings clean and in good repair (Chapter 7, Section 6(a)(iv)). The Board applies this to inherited premises too: carpet outside the reception area of a salon you buy has to come out.
• In-home salons need a separate, clearly marked salon entrance that does not pass through living quarters, and a restroom and hand washing facility designated for salon use only and reachable without passing through living quarters (Chapter 7, Section 6(b)).
• Services the Board does not regulate, tattooing and permanent make-up, massage therapy, piercing, tanning and medical services, may be offered in the salon but must be clearly designated 'not regulated or licensed by the Board of Cosmetology' and posted in clear view; medical services need a separate room and licensed medical staff (Chapter 7, Sections 4 and 5(b)).
• Infection control under Chapter 10: clean then fully immerse every multi-use non-porous implement in an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal disinfectant for the label contact time, with UV light expressly not accepted as disinfection; mix disinfectant daily; store disinfected implements dry, covered and away from used ones; single-use porous items, including nail files other than metal, plastic or glass, buffing blocks, pumice stones and neck strips, are discarded after each client and may not be stored for or taken home by a client.
• Chapter 10 also governs clippers, hand washing before every client and after smoking, eating, drinking or the restroom, the full drain-clean-disinfect cycle for pedicure spas after each client, the blood exposure procedure, and chemical storage in original containers in overhead or locked cabinets, never in a customer area such as a bathroom.
• The Board's inspection sheet, filed with the salon application, additionally prohibits beds and mattresses, roll-on wax, multi-use puffs or sponges, styptic pencils, table dusters and neck brushes, credo blades and MMA, and requires lidded refuse containers, liquid soap and disposable towels.

What you must display

• Chapter 1, Section 4 is the general rule: every licensee, including schools and salons, must conspicuously display the appropriate licence or licences, the most recent inspection report and the infection control standards in an unobstructed location accessible and visible to the consumer.
• The independent contractor's licence and most recent inspection must be posted at the work station (Chapter 7, Section 18(b)).
• The salon licence and every personal licence, posted in the salon (Chapter 7 and the Board's salon requirement sheet). W.S. 33-12-127(c)(iii) independently requires each licence to be displayed at all times in a conspicuous place in the licensee's principal office, place of business or employment, and to state its licensing and expiration dates.
• The Wyoming Infection Control Standards, available from cosmetology.wyo.gov, and the compliance form once the Board office issues it.
• Signage designating any service not regulated by the Board, tattooing or permanent make-up, massage, piercing, tanning, as 'not regulated or licensed by the Board of Cosmetology', posted in clear view of the public (Chapter 7, Section 5(b)).
• A notice of closure due to disciplinary action, affixed to the front entrance during any mandatory closure (Chapter 1, Section 4).

Inspection

Inspection is annual and statutory. W.S. 33-12-123(a)(v) directs the Board to inspect, or appoint persons to inspect, all salons and schools every year, both for proper licensure of the salon and of everyone practising there, proprietor, employee or independent contractor alike, and for compliance with the Act and the rules. W.S. 33-12-136 backs it with a right of entry: any member of the Board, its agents or assistants may enter and inspect any salon at any time during business hours, and Chapter 7, Section 5(a) repeats that all licensed areas are open to inspection during normal business hours. A booth renter is not exempt from any of it; Chapter 7, Section 18 puts the duty to keep the work area compliant and accessible on the independent contractor personally. Inspection also comes before opening. A salon application must reach the Board at least fifteen days before the opening date and must carry the fee, a completed inspection sheet, a detailed floor plan showing work space, restrooms, entrances, exits, carpeted areas and equipment, and an equipment waiver if one is sought (Chapter 7, Section 1). The Board's procedure sheet states that the salon must have an inspection or verbal approval and must have the licence posted before opening, and the inspection sheet has the owner sign an undertaking to make any changes required once the physical inspection actually happens. Refusing an inspector is itself misconduct: Chapter 1, Section 8(i)(iv) lists interference with or refusal of access to any Board member, agent or assistant as unprofessional conduct.

Tax — on your rent and on your services

Rent. Booth or suite rent carries no Wyoming sales tax. The imposition statute, W.S. 39-15-103(a)(i), levies the excise tax on a closed list: retail sales of tangible personal property and taxable services, gross rental for the lease of tangible personal property, intrastate telecommunications, intrastate transportation of passengers, public utilities, meals and cover charges, transient lodging, admissions to amusement, repair or alteration of tangible personal property, oil and gas well site services, motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, computer hardware and specified digital products. A lease of floor space is a rental of real property and appears nowhere in that list. The Department of Revenue's own Sales Tax 101 briefing to the Joint Revenue Interim Committee states the point directly, listing 'Sales of real property', 'Rental of real property', 'Labor or service to real property' and 'Labor or service to humans or live animals' as not taxable, and stresses the statutory difference between something being 'not taxable' for want of an imposition statute and something being exempt. Services. Haircuts, colour, nails, waxing and facials are labour or service to humans and are therefore outside the imposition entirely, not exempt from it. That distinction matters if a rental agreement bundles in the use of equipment: the gross rental paid for the lease of tangible personal property is taxable under W.S. 39-15-103(a)(i)(B), so a lease that separately rents you chairs, dryers or a pedicure spa can reach that provision even though the floor space cannot. Retail. The moment you sell shampoo, tools or take-home product you are a vendor under W.S. 39-15-101(a)(xv) and W.S. 39-15-106(a) requires a Wyoming sales tax licence, a one-time $60.00 fee, before conducting business. The rate is 4% state, 3% under W.S. 39-15-104(a) plus the additional 1% under subsection (b), on top of which W.S. 39-15-202(b) and 39-15-204 let a county, city, town or resort district add voter-approved local taxes, so the rate you charge depends on your county. Income. Wyoming levies no individual income tax, so a renter's profit faces federal income tax and federal self-employment tax only. Take the sales tax question to the Excise Tax Division rather than guessing: the Department publishes dor_taxability@wyo.gov for taxability questions and dor@wyo.gov for account maintenance.

Renter or employee: the classification test

Wyoming has no cosmetology-specific booth rental statute, and the Board licence is not a classification ruling. Holding an independent contractor licence proves you paid $75.00; it does not decide whether the Department of Workforce Services will treat you as the salon's employee. Two statutes do that, and they ask the same three questions. For unemployment insurance, W.S. 27-3-104(b) provides that an individual who performs service for wages is an employee unless it is shown that the individual (i) is free from control or direction over the details of the performance of services by contract and by fact, (v) represents his services to the public as a self-employed individual or an independent contractor, and (vi) may substitute another individual to perform his services. For workers' compensation, W.S. 27-14-102(a)(xxiii) defines an independent contractor in identical terms: free from control by contract and in fact, holding out to the public as self-employed, and able to substitute another person. All three prongs must be met, and the burden is on the party asserting independence. Build the file accordingly: a written lease of a defined space at a fixed rent rather than a commission split, your own key and hours, your own prices, appointment book, clients, products and tools, your own liability insurance, your own advertising and signage naming you, and no requirement to take walk-ins, wear a uniform or attend staff meetings. The third prong is the one salon leases usually fail; a lease that forbids you to have anyone else cover your chair cuts against the statutory test. Note that W.S. 27-1-117(c) has one helpful carve-out: a contribution to a portable benefit account may not be used as a criterion for determining employment classification under either W.S. 27-3-104 or W.S. 27-14-102(a)(xxiii). Getting it wrong is expensive on both sides. An owner who was really an employer owes unemployment contributions with interest and penalties and loses the workers' compensation shield; a renter who was really an employee has paid the employer's half of federal employment taxes and may have no coverage after an injury.

What your city or county may add

There is no Wyoming state general business licence, and the Board licence does not substitute for a municipal one. The Board's own salon requirement and procedure sheet sends applicants to five other doors, OSHA, the Department of Revenue for the sales tax licence, the Department of Health, the Secretary of State for an LLC, and the city, noting that 'Cities have different requirements for a business license, contact your local city, business licensing division', and recommends contacting an insurance agent about business liability cover. Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Gillette, Sheridan and Jackson each run their own licensing and zoning regimes, and a home-based salon is where local rules bite hardest: the salon information page tells in-home applicants to contact the city or county for zoning information and then to call the Board office to confirm the home salon will comply with the Wyoming rules. Sales tax is the other local variable, since counties and municipalities may add voter-approved excise taxes on top of the 4% state rate under W.S. 39-15-202(b) and 39-15-204. Confirm your own city's business licence fee, zoning approval and any home occupation permit with that city's clerk before signing a lease; the amounts are set locally and change locally.

What operating unlicensed costs

Unlicensed practice is a misdemeanour. W.S. 33-12-127(d) makes any person who practises or teaches cosmetology, nail technology, esthetics or hair styling for compensation, or who carries on any business or operation governed by the Act, without the applicable licence, guilty of a misdemeanour punishable on conviction by a fine of not more than $750.00. W.S. 33-12-127(b) separately bars a salon or school from employing, hiring 'or in any manner' allowing an individual to practise without a current licence, which reaches a salon owner who lets an unlicensed renter take the chair. On the administrative side, W.S. 33-12-135(a) lets the Board refuse to issue, censure, revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a licence after at least twenty days notice and a contested case hearing under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. Chapter 1, Section 8 fills in what counts as unprofessional or dishonest conduct, and much of it is aimed at exactly the situations a renter meets: working on an expired or lapsed licence is treated as non-licensed practice, as is practising beyond the scope of your licence, aiding or abetting an unlicensed person, refusing an inspector access, misrepresenting a material fact on an application or renewal, false or misleading advertising, and any act constituting the practice of medicine. Chapter 15 sets the procedure, including summary suspension where continued practice imperatively requires emergency action, which lapses after 180 days unless a disciplinary petition follows, and a clear and convincing evidence standard on the Board's investigation committee. Unlike many states, the Wyoming rules publish no schedule of per-violation inspection fines; the sanctions on the books are censure, suspension, revocation, refusal to renew, and the criminal fine.

Program sources: https://cosmetology.wyo.gov/rules-regulations · https://cosmetology.wyo.gov/salon-information · https://cosmetology.wyo.gov/applications-forms · https://cosmetology.wyo.gov/faq · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1OtkWOD5Lxf4xvAmzqv4ko-2NJZ4hw9oC · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=16h7jBk-SkVLfZ3IJA9ckrlmljjsrwws3 · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=17a9UBfysXV1YTmkQ-OTv7VrsUR5pUGyM · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1NcC4LYKb5R-tezbQYCr-QfGJyLwkNxaa · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ihpi876w0wrzAhGdTiyuFBucehVsjIIs · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Sk31AcAAiskwBYOxjKup1rk7xEhYEDkW · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1AHVmDTigpR_vHNQjT_PV9Te7txINrZ02 · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1kx3dgLb4Ci8oBhSN9gJzaBtxhFF_s_8D · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=15st4mNbumwjTZyegdrbbHCsVzxgtODGs · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1r8FvnnSv_r2NizcXnSDDjDKihCEOwkkT · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1UW7aBJvtNdVEFCvfomG2I1jlhgUH7Zgo · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ujjZ1S86fOTp3rMEI9QwJ-4JpE8dVwXo · https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1nm7vWq4NUjnslZRkM431zd0Qadn71p86 · https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title33.pdf · https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title39.pdf · https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title27.pdf · https://wyoleg.gov/InterimCommittee/2023/03-202306265-01SalesTax101June2023.pdf · https://excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/home