One salon visit can cost $20. The next one can cost $125, and both are called “getting your nails done.” So how much do nails cost once you add the art, the length, the removal and the tip?
We checked the posted menus of 18 US salons in 11 metro areas in October 2026 and recorded every price ourselves. All the numbers in this guide come from those menus. You will see medians, real low and high prices, how cities compare, and what each service costs for every week you actually wear it.
Quick answer: Based on 18 US salon menus checked in October 2026, a basic manicure has a median price of $30, a gel manicure $50, an acrylic full set $65 and a Gel-X set $77. A basic pedicure is $38. Add 15% to 20% for the tip, plus extra for nail art or long length.
Posted ranges: basic manicure $20 to $50 | gel manicure $30 to $65 | acrylic set $50 to $100 | Gel-X $55 to $125 | basic pedicure $30 to $70
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Nail Prices at a Glance
This table answers how much do nails cost for each service in one place. The median is the middle price: half the salons charged less and half charged more, so one very cheap or very pricey salon cannot drag it around. The low and high columns show the cheapest and most expensive price we found on a menu.
Two rules shaped the numbers. When a menu said “starting at” or “$45 and up,” we used that starting number. When a menu listed sizes, we used the shortest length.
| Service | Median price | Lowest to highest posted | Salons that list it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic manicure (regular polish) | $30 | $20 to $50 | 16 |
| Gel manicure | $50 | $30 to $65 | 16 |
| Dip powder manicure | $50 | $47 to $65 | 9 |
| Builder gel (structured) manicure | $65 | $45 to $100 | 10 |
| Acrylic full set | $65 | $50 to $100 | 12 |
| Acrylic fill | $55 | $40 to $80 | 12 |
| Gel-X or soft gel extensions, full set | $77 | $55 to $125 | 15 |
| Basic pedicure | $38 | $30 to $70 | 17 |
| Deluxe or spa pedicure | $55 | $42 to $95 | 14 |
| Gel pedicure | $61 | $40 to $90 | 10 |
| Basic manicure + basic pedicure, booked separately | $68 (two medians added) | Varies | Sum of two services |
Very few salons post a mani-pedi bundle, so the $68 figure is simply the $30 manicure median plus the $38 pedicure median. A salon with a combo deal may charge less.
Gel manicures
A gel manicure runs about $20 more than a basic one at the median. Check whether removal of your old gel is part of the price, since Lux Nail Spa in Houston charges $36 without removal and $41 with it. Our gel nails cost breakdown goes further, and if you have never had one, read what a gel manicure involves first.
Gel-X and acrylic sets
Gel-X sat $12 above acrylic at the median, $77 against $65. Some of that gap comes from the salons themselves: several upscale studios sell soft gel extensions but no acrylic at all. The side-by-side numbers are in our Gel-X vs acrylic cost comparison.
Acrylic fills
A fill keeps an acrylic set going for about $10 less than a fresh set at the median. Purity Nail Bar in Boston lists acrylic refills at $40 and up, while Poppy Nails in West LA charges $80 for a builder gel or acrygel fill. Timing and fill pricing are covered in acrylic fill cost.
Pedicures
Pedicures climb in three steps: $38 for basic, $55 for the first deluxe tier and $61 with gel polish. Our guide to how much a pedicure costs explains what each tier adds for the money.
Nail Art Prices
Nail art is the hardest service to price because salons charge for it four different ways: per nail, per level, per set, or as a whole design manicure. Only 5 of our 18 salons state a clear price per nail. Their prices ran $3 to $10 per nail, with a median of $5. That is a small sample, so use it as a guide.
| Tier | How it is charged | Posted price | Where we saw it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple design (dots, lines, small decal) | Per nail | $3 to $6 per nail | Bellacures Dallas ($3 to $5), Poppy Nails ($5 and up), Purity Nail Bar ($5 and up), Bellacures Beverly Hills ($6 and up) |
| Hand-painted detail | Per nail | $10 and up per nail | Boston’s Nail Lounge |
| Art by difficulty level | Per level | $15+, $30+, $45+ | 312 Nails Spa, Chicago (Levels 1, 2 and 3) |
| Art by number of nails | Per set | $20 for up to 2 nails, $40 for all nails, $65 custom | Sundays, New York |
| Design manicure | Whole service, manicure included | $78 to $95 | Paintbox, Boston |
Here is how the per-nail math plays out. At $5 a nail, two accent nails add $10. All ten nails add $50, which equals the median price of the gel manicure underneath.
The whole-service menus show the same jump. Paintbox charges $50 for a single-color polish manicure and $78 for its Classic Design version, so the design adds $28. At Manhattan Nails Salon, a plain gel manicure is $55 and a nail art gel manicure is $105.
Before the tech picks up a brush, ask one question: “Is that per nail or for the whole set?” Angel Nail Salon in Miami, for example, lists nail art as a $10 to $40 add-on without saying which.
Add-On Costs
Add-ons are where a $30 visit turns into a $55 one. These three show up on most menus.
| Add-on | Median | Low | High | Salons that list it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French tips | $10 | $10 | $25 | 12 |
| Gel polish removal | $15 | $8 | $21 | 14 |
| Polish change, hands, regular polish | $15.50 | $12 | $25 | 8 |
Removal
Removal pricing is messy because many salons fold it into another service. Capital Nailbar in Nashville includes take-off in its $57 gel manicure. Poppy Nails adds $10 to its $60 gel manicure if you arrive with old gel. Purity Nail Bar charges $8, but only when you book another service. If you would rather take gel off yourself, follow our guide on how to get gel polish off so you do not peel your nails.
French style
Most salons charge $10 for French tips. Capital Nailbar splits it by depth, with a short French at $10 and a deep French at $20 on acrylic and dip.
Length and shape
Longer nails use more product and more time, and the menus that post size ladders show it clearly. Poppy Nails lists Gel-X at $80 short, $90 medium, $100 long and $120 extra long. Its acrylic sets run $100 short and $130 extra long. Lux Nail Spa in Houston starts Gel-X at $66 for short or medium and $76 for extra long.
Fills follow the same pattern. Angel Nail Salon charges $55 for a short or medium acrylic fill and $65 for long or extra long. If you love long, tapered shapes such as coffin nails, plan for the higher rung of the ladder.
Card fees
312 Nails Spa in Chicago posts two prices for every service. Card prices run about 3.5% above cash, so a Gel-X set is $80 in cash and $82.80 on a card.
What Makes Nails Cost More
Four things moved prices the most in our data: the city, the type of salon, the technique and the length.
Your city
The cleanest proof comes from one chain with two locations. Bellacures runs the same menu names in Beverly Hills and in Dallas, yet every item we could compare cost more in Beverly Hills.
| Bellacures service | Beverly Hills, CA | Dallas Preston Center, TX | Beverly Hills pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential manicure | $37 | $25 | $12 more |
| Gelicure (gel manicure) | $58 | $55 | $3 more |
| Essential pedicure | $47 | $35 | $12 more |
| Deep Hydration pedicure | $63 | $55 | $8 more |
| French add-on | $16 | $10 | $6 more |
| Gel polish removal | $21 | $20 | $1 more |
Same brand, same service names, and a basic manicure-plus-pedicure visit costs $24 more in California.
The kind of salon
Within one city, the salon type can matter more than the zip code. In Boston, Purity Nail Bar in Brighton lists a gel manicure at $34 and up. Boston’s Nail Lounge on Boylston Street charges $65. Its Essential pedicure is $70, compared with $38 at Purity.
Boutique studios also price gel differently. MiniLuxe lists a classic manicure starting at $32 and adds gel as a $25 add-on. Upscale studios such as Sundays, Paintbox and Bellacures Beverly Hills do not list acrylic sets at all. That pulls the acrylic median down, since most acrylic prices in our data come from neighborhood salons.
Technique and skill
A newer premium tier, the “Russian” manicure, adds detailed cuticle work and costs far more. Poppy Nails charges $95 for its Russian gel manicure, compared with $60 for its regular gel manicure. At Boston’s Nail Lounge, soft builder gel is $80 on the traditional menu and $110 on the Russian-inspired menu.
Length
As the add-on section showed, each step up in length adds $5 to $20 at salons with size ladders. Short nails keep you at the posted starting price.
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Nail Prices in Different US Cities
This table shows four common services at each neighborhood salon and studio we checked. “Not listed” means the menu did not show that service in a form we could compare. A “+” means the price is a starting price.
| Metro and salon | Basic manicure | Gel manicure | Basic pedicure | Gel-X or soft gel set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston: Boston’s Nail Lounge | Not listed | $65 | $70 | $125 |
| Boston: Purity Nail Bar | $21 | $34+ | $38 | $87 (medium) |
| Boston: Paintbox | $50 | $65 | Not offered | $105 |
| New York: Sundays | $40 | $65 | $60 | Not offered |
| New York: Manhattan Nails Salon | $37 | $55 | $37 | Not listed |
| Los Angeles: Poppy Nails | $40 | $60 | $50 | $80 |
| Los Angeles: Bellacures Beverly Hills | $37 | $58 | $47 | $105 |
| Nashville: Capital Nailbar | $32 | $57 | $47 | $77 |
| Dallas: Bellacures Preston Center | $25 | $55 | $35 | Not listed |
| Chicago: 312 Nails Spa (cash) | $30 | $45 | $40 | $80 |
| Des Moines: Creative Nail Spa | $30 | $45 | $42 | $65+ |
| Denver: The City Nail Bar & Lash | $30 | Gel is a +$15 add-on | $35 | $70 |
| Seattle: Kim Studio Nails | $27 | $37 | $37 | $65 |
| Houston: Coco Nail Spa | $23 | $40+ | $32 | $55+ |
| Houston: Lux Nail Spa | $20 | $36 | $32 | $66+ |
| Miami: Angel Nail Salon | $25 | $30 | $30 | $65 |
| Miami: Nail Box Miami | Not listed | $35 | $30 | $75+ |
How much do nails cost in your city? The rows give a clear answer. Houston and Miami posted the lowest prices in nearly every column, with gel manicures at $30 to $40. Boston, New York and Los Angeles held the top spots, and Boston’s Nail Lounge posted the single highest Gel-X price in the dataset at $125.
The Midwest and South sat in the middle. Chicago, Des Moines and Nashville all priced a basic manicure between $30 and $32.
Keep the sample size in mind. Boston has four salons in our data, while Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Des Moines and Nashville have one each. One salon cannot speak for a whole city, so read each row as a real example, not a city average.
Cost Per Week of Wear
A $30 manicure that chips in a week can cost you more over a month than a $50 one that lasts two.
To compare fairly, we divided each median price by a plain, cautious wear time. These are the low end of what most people get, not best-case numbers:
- Regular polish on hands: 1 week
- Gel polish on hands: 2 weeks
- Dip, builder gel and Gel-X: 3 weeks
- Acrylic full set or fill: 2 weeks before the next fill
- Basic pedicure: 2 weeks (toe polish takes less wear than fingers)
- Gel pedicure: 3 weeks
| Service | Median price | ÷ Weeks worn | = Cost per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dip powder manicure | $50 | 3 | $16.67 |
| Basic pedicure | $38 | 2 | $19.00 |
| Gel pedicure | $61 | 3 | $20.33 |
| Builder gel manicure | $65 | 3 | $21.67 |
| Gel manicure | $50 | 2 | $25.00 |
| Gel-X set | $77 | 3 | $25.67 |
| Acrylic fill | $55 | 2 | $27.50 |
| Basic manicure | $30 | 1 | $30.00 |
| Acrylic full set | $65 | 2 | $32.50 |
The cheapest menu item, the basic manicure, lands near the bottom on value. Dip powder costs $20 more up front but works out to about $13 less per week. If your gel lasts three weeks instead of two, its weekly cost drops to $16.67, the same as dip.
Acrylic looks worst here because the first set is the priciest visit. After that, you are paying the $55 fill every two weeks, which comes to about $110 every four weeks before tips.
How Much to Tip
The Emily Post Institute’s general tipping guide lists 15% to 20% for a manicurist. Here is what that looks like at common bill sizes from our data.
| Your bill | A typical service at this price | 15% tip | 20% tip | Total with 20% tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30 | Basic manicure | $4.50 | $6.00 | $36.00 |
| $50 | Gel manicure | $7.50 | $10.00 | $60.00 |
| $65 | Acrylic full set | $9.75 | $13.00 | $78.00 |
| $80 | Gel-X set at many salons | $12.00 | $16.00 | $96.00 |
Tip on the full amount, including add-ons like art and French tips. Those extras took the tech’s time too.
Salon vs Doing Your Nails at Home
Doing your own nails saves the service fee and the tip, but you pay in time and practice. Here is the honest trade.
| What you care about | At a salon | At home |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost per visit | The menu price plus a 15% to 20% tip | Supplies you buy once and reuse |
| Your time | Travel and waiting, but someone else does the work | Prep, painting and drying all on you |
| Neatness | Clean lines on both hands | Your dominant hand is usually the messy one |
| Extensions and builder gel | Shaped and balanced by a trained tech | Hard to get strong and even without training |
| Gel removal | Done for you, often for a fee | Safe if you soak, risky if you peel or pry |
Regular polish and press-ons are the easiest wins at home. Gel at home works too, but you need a lamp and the patience to remove it properly. If you are unsure which route suits your budget and routine, try our gel vs regular vs press-on nails tool.
7 Ways to Pay Less for Nails
- Choose a neighborhood salon for everyday sets. A basic manicure costs $20 at Lux Nail Spa in Houston and $40 at Sundays in New York.
- Pick the service that lasts. Dip and builder gel cost more per visit but less per week than a regular polish manicure.
- Stay short. At Poppy Nails, extra-long Gel-X costs $40 more than short.
- Ask if removal is included. Some salons build it into the price, and others charge $8 to $21 for it.
- Pay cash where the menu shows a cash price. At 312 Nails Spa, that saves about 3.5% on every service.
- Book fills on time. A fill costs about $10 less than a new acrylic set at the median, and waiting too long can mean you need a new set anyway.
- Put art on two nails, not ten. At $5 a nail, accent nails add $10 while a full set of art adds $50.
One more tip: ask about bundles. They are rare on posted menus, but Nail Box Miami lists a classic manicure plus classic pedicure for $55.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are nails so expensive now?
Salon prices are rising faster than prices overall. The BLS Consumer Price Index shows personal care services up 4.2% in the 12 months through August 2026, compared with 3.4% for all items. Most of what you pay for is a trained person’s time, and the BLS lists a median wage of $17.19 an hour for manicurists and pedicurists.
Is gel or acrylic cheaper?
Gel is cheaper per visit. A gel manicure has a median price of $50, while an acrylic full set is $65. Keep in mind they do different jobs: gel colors your natural nails, and acrylic adds length.
How much is a full set of nails?
An acrylic full set has a median price of $65, with posted prices of $50 to $100. A Gel-X or soft gel set has a median of $77 and runs $55 to $125. Long lengths and art cost extra.
Do you tip on a fill?
Yes. A fill takes real skill and time, so tip 15% to 20% as you would on any nail service. On a $55 fill, that is $8.25 to $11.
How often should you get your nails done?
It depends on the service. Regular polish usually needs a redo every week, gel every two to three weeks, and acrylic needs a fill every two to three weeks as your natural nail grows. Booking on time costs less than repairing a lifted or broken set.
How much does a mani-pedi cost?
Adding the two medians gives $68 for a basic manicure plus a basic pedicure, before the tip. Few salons post a bundle price, so ask at the desk whether booking both together saves you anything.
What to Budget Before You Book
Here is the short answer to how much do nails cost once the tip is in. For a plain manicure, budget about $36 with a 20% tip. For gel, plan on $60. For an acrylic or Gel-X set, set aside about $78 to $93, and more if you want long nails or art on every finger.
Then think in weeks, not visits. The service that lasts longest is often the one that costs you least over a month.
Prices in this guide are posted menu prices as of October 2026. Salons change menus often, so confirm the price when you book.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index, August 2026 (released September 11, 2026)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Manicurists and Pedicurists, Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Emily Post Institute: General Tipping Guide
- Bellacures Beverly Hills: services and prices
- Bellacures Dallas Preston Center: services and prices
- Poppy Nails: Services and Prices
- Sundays: NYC Studio Menu
- Manhattan Nails Salon: Price List
- Coco Nail Spa, Houston: Services
- Lux Nail Spa, Houston: Services
- 312 Nails Spa, Chicago: Price List
- Boston’s Nail Lounge: Services
- Purity Nail Bar: Natural Nails
- Purity Nail Bar: Nails Enhancement
- MiniLuxe: Services
- Paintbox: Services
- Nail Box Miami: Nail Services
- Angel Nail Salon, Miami: Our Services
- The City Nail Bar & Lash, Denver: Services
- Kim Studio Nails, Seattle: Services
- Creative Nail Spa, West Des Moines: Services
- Capital Nailbar, Nashville: Services
