How Much Do PMU Artists Make? The Math Behind a Full Calendar

Your price per procedure, times the procedures you do each week, times the weeks you work in a year, is what your studio brings in. Take away what it costs to run, and taxes, and what's left is what you make.

Every one of those is a number you can look up for your own studio, and they're different for every artist, which is why a single average can't tell you much.

This example is made up to show the math. It isn't any artist's or client's income, and it isn't a prediction or a promise of what you'll make. Swap in your own numbers as you go.

3 procedures at $600 is $1,800 a week. Over 48 weeks, that's $86,400 coming in.

Costs of $2,000 a month come to $24,000 a year, which leaves $62,400 before taxes in this example.

Taxes depend on where you live and how your business is set up, so ask a tax professional what to set aside. And remember the example is made up. Your price, your bookings and your costs will be different, and results vary from artist to artist.

Count the appointments behind those numbers. In the example, each week holds 6 consults and 3 procedures. Because the touch-up is included, each client comes back for it, so once you're a couple of months in, about 3 touch-ups land each week too.

That's about 12 appointments a week, and only the 3 procedures are paid. When you set your price, make sure it covers the consult, the procedure and the touch-up, not only the procedure.

Weeks off count the same way. Every week you're away is a week with no procedures, so build them into your yearly number from the start.

Change one thing at a time, keep the rest of the example the same, and see what happens to what's left before taxes:

In the example, one more booked client a week moved the year more than a higher price did. That won't hold for every studio, but it shows why the steps before the procedure matter so much: how many people reach out, how fast they hear back, whether they come to the consult and whether they book.

Speed matters at the first step. In the studios we work with, 58% of people who booked a consult did it within 24 hours of filling out the form (1,148 people across 26 studios, form fills Jun 1 to Sep 20, 2026).

So does follow-up: more than a third of the people who booked went quiet for a day or more first, and most of them came back within a day of a text from the studio (412 of 1,148 people, form fills Jun 1 to Sep 20, 2026).

And how far out she books may matter for whether she comes. We've seen that consults booked 5 or more days out were cancelled or moved more often than ones booked sooner, 61% against 46% (1,867 consults across 32 studios, appointments Jun 1 to Oct 13, 2026). That's a pattern, not proof.

Count consults that showed up, not ones booked. A consult who never comes in can't book a procedure.

Use your last 90 days, which is about 13 weeks, then put what you find into the math above:

Salary pages and forum threads give all kinds of numbers. They often mix employees and studio owners, part-time and full-time, new artists and established ones, and cities where prices are very different. An average across all of them can't tell you what your studio will make.

When you see a number, ask where it came from: how many artists, which dates, and whether it counts what came in or what was left after costs. And be careful with anyone who promises you a set income. What you make depends on your price, your market, your work and your costs, and nobody can promise those.

We can't tell you what you'll make, and nobody honest can. What we work on is the part of the math before the procedure: bringing in leads, answering them fast and getting consults to show up. You do the consult and the work, and you set your prices.

We run your Facebook and Instagram ads for brows (microblading, powder and combo brows) or lip blush, and our AI texting assistant texts your new leads as your studio, day or night. It answers her questions, follows up when she goes quiet, sends reminders and books consultations onto your own calendar.

It's $0 to start. For your first 45 days of ads, our only fee is $50 per consultation that shows up. Your ad spend goes straight to Meta on your own card, with a $500 minimum across the 45 days, and we suggest about $30 a day. Texts and calls pass through at carrier cost. At day 45, you decide. If you keep going, there's a one-time activation fee based on your results, then a small monthly amount plus a small fee for each consult that shows.