Home › State guides › Michigan
Renting a booth or a suite in a Michigan salon? The big question is whether you need your own establishment license or whether you are covered by the salon you rent from. Here is exactly how Michigan treats it in 2026 — the license question, the fees, the inspection rule, how your rent is taxed, and the steps and postings to get compliant — sourced to the state’s own rules and dated.
Michigan does not issue a standalone "booth rental" license. Every place of business where cosmetology services are offered or provided must hold a Cosmetology Establishment license, and the statutory definition of "cosmetology establishment" expressly includes a "cosmetology suite" (and a mobile salon). So if you rent or operate an individual, self-contained suite (e.g. a salon-suite / suite-gallery setup), that suite is itself an establishment and needs its own Cosmetology Establishment license, held by you or the suite operator. A chair/booth renter who works on the open or shared floor of an already-licensed salon is covered by that salon's establishment license and does not obtain a separate establishment license — but must still hold and display their own individual cosmetologist license. One honest caveat: LARA's official guide never uses the words "booth rental", so the open-floor conclusion follows from the statutory definition of "cosmetology establishment" rather than from an explicit sentence — confirm your exact arrangement with LARA.
Cosmetology Establishment: $75.00 (application fee + 2-year license), paid by Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover through the MiPLUS online system. Renewal: $50.00 for the 2-year cycle. A "Limited Cosmetology Establishment" (for premises offering only one or more specified services) is the same establishment license category; the guide does not itemize a separate fee for it, so confirm the current amount with LARA before you budget.
Yes — cosmetology is a licensed profession under Article 12. Every cosmetologist working in the establishment must hold a current Michigan individual license for the services provided, and that individual license must be displayed and visible to the public at all times.
Yes — a pre-opening inspection is required. The applicant certifies all licensure requirements are met "except for the inspection" pursuant to MCL 339.1204(1)(c), and provides a calendar date on which the premises will be ready for inspection. Business is NOT permitted to be conducted in the cosmetology establishment until after the inspection has occurred and the license has been issued.
Michigan has no separate booth-rental license; the relevant vehicle is the "cosmetology suite," which the statute treats as a cosmetology establishment in its own right. An enclosed/individual suite therefore requires its own Cosmetology Establishment license, a floorplan/diagram labeling all designated work areas and sanitation areas (and, for a mobile salon, the restroom and water heater), required sanitation equipment, and a passing pre-opening inspection. The establishment (or suite) license plus the individual license of each cosmetologist working there must be displayed and visible to the public at all times.
Michigan sales tax applies to sales of tangible personal property, not to services or to the rental of real property; suite/chair rent is therefore generally not subject to Michigan sales tax. There is no salon-specific ruling — confirm your exact arrangement with the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Work through these in order — the kit turns them into a checklist you can tick off:
Michigan's SEO differentiator: unlike states that issue a separate, cheaper 'booth rental permit' or an individual independent-contractor registration, Michigan has no booth-specific tier at all. Its official guide expressly names the 'cosmetology suite' (alongside permanent salons and mobile salons) as an establishment premises, so a solo suite/booth renter needs the exact same $75 two-year establishment license, and the same physical inspection, as a full multi-chair salon. Two more Michigan-specific hooks competitors usually miss: (1) the license is non-transferable and goes VOID on any sale, ownership change, or relocation — you re-apply, you don't transfer; and (2) both the establishment license and every practitioner's individual license must be posted for the public. The correct legal term to rank for is 'cosmetology establishment license' under Article 12 of PA 299 of 1980, filed through MiPLUS — not 'booth license,' which is the searcher's word but not Michigan's.
Michigan's official Establishment Licensing Guide (rev. 1/26/2026) explicitly lists a 'cosmetology suite' as an establishment premises. If you rent and control your own suite or booth, you are the establishment operator and need your OWN establishment license ($75) plus your own passing inspection. The landlord's or host salon's license does not cover you. There is no separate discounted 'booth license' tier in Michigan — a solo suite is licensed the same way as a multi-chair salon.
Michigan shop-inspection rules (Occupational Code sec. 1204(2)(b); Rule 80(2)) require the establishment license AND each individual practitioner's license to be visible to the public at all times. Booth renters routinely display only their personal cosmetologist license and fail the establishment requirement. Both must be up on the wall.
A Michigan cosmetology establishment license becomes VOID if the business is sold, ownership is transferred, or (except for a mobile salon) the location changes — you must file for a NEW license, not transfer the old one. On lapse there is a 60-day grace period to renew; miss it and you must pay the $95 relicensure fee instead of the $50 renewal, and you cannot legally practice at that location in the meantime.
Timeline: Realistically, plan several weeks. Step 1: make sure you already hold your individual Michigan license (cosmetologist, manicurist, or esthetician) — you can't operate on the establishment license alone. Step 2: file the establishment application online through MiPLUS (www.michigan.gov/miplus); this part can be done in a single sitting. Step 3: the gating item is the inspection — on the application you name the date your premises will be ready, and the license is issued only after it passes (MCL 339.1204(1)(c)), so scheduling and readiness of the space drive the timeline more than paperwork. LARA does not publish a guaranteed processing-day figure in the establishment guide, so I can't cite an exact number of days — build in a buffer for inspection scheduling and set your opening date accordingly.
Cost: Figures below are from the official LARA Cosmetology Establishment Licensing Guide (revision date 1/26/2026), paid online by credit/debit card via MiPLUS: New cosmetology establishment (application fee + 2-year license fee): $75.00. Renewal (every 2 years): $50.00. Relicensure if the license lapsed or became void: $95.00. The guide lists no separate inspection fee. These are only the establishment costs — your individual cosmetologist/manicurist/esthetician license is a separate license with its own fee, which I did not pull here.
Going independent takes time, and states revise these rules. Leave your email and we'll write to you when Michigan's booth/suite licensing requirements change. Nothing else, ever — and you can unsubscribe from any message.
Pick Michigan and get one clear kit: whether you need your own license, the fees, the inspection rule, how your rent is taxed, plus the steps to get compliant and what to display — as interactive checklists that save your progress. Free watermarked preview; clean printable PDF for $29.
Build my Michigan kit →Michigan does not issue a standalone "booth rental" license. Every place of business where cosmetology services are offered or provided must hold a Cosmetology Establishment license, and the statutory definition of "cosmetology establishment" expressly includes a "cosmetology suite" (and a mobile salon). So if you rent or operate an individual, self-contained suite (e.g. a salon-suite / suite-gallery setup), that suite is itself an establishment and needs its own Cosmetology Establishment license, held by you or the suite operator. A chair/booth renter who works on the open or shared floor of an already-licensed salon is covered by that salon's establishment license and does not obtain a separate establishment license — but must still hold and display their own individual cosmetologist license. One honest caveat: LARA's official guide never uses the words "booth rental", so the open-floor conclusion follows from the statutory definition of "cosmetology establishment" rather than from an explicit sentence — confirm your exact arrangement with LARA.
Cosmetology Establishment: $75.00 (application fee + 2-year license), paid by Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover through the MiPLUS online system. Renewal: $50.00 for the 2-year cycle. A "Limited Cosmetology Establishment" (for premises offering only one or more specified services) is the same establishment license category; the guide does not itemize a separate fee for it, so confirm the current amount with LARA before you budget.
Yes — cosmetology is a licensed profession under Article 12. Every cosmetologist working in the establishment must hold a current Michigan individual license for the services provided, and that individual license must be displayed and visible to the public at all times.
Yes — a pre-opening inspection is required. The applicant certifies all licensure requirements are met "except for the inspection" pursuant to MCL 339.1204(1)(c), and provides a calendar date on which the premises will be ready for inspection. Business is NOT permitted to be conducted in the cosmetology establishment until after the inspection has occurred and the license has been issued.
Michigan sales tax applies to sales of tangible personal property, not to services or to the rental of real property; suite/chair rent is therefore generally not subject to Michigan sales tax. There is no salon-specific ruling — confirm your exact arrangement with the Michigan Department of Treasury.
No. SalonBoothLicense gives general information based on each state's published cosmetology/barbering and tax rules, dated to when we last verified them, and is not a guarantee of licensure. Booth/suite rules also depend on local permitting and your written rental agreement. Always confirm with your state board and local authority.
Sources: www.michigan.gov · www.michigan.gov · www.michigan.gov. Verified 2026-08-09. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state board and local authority before you open.