Manicurists and Pedicurists
Clean and shape customers' fingernails and toenails. May polish or decorate nails.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Coordination
- Time Management
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Sales and Marketing
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- Psychology
What the work involves
- Clean and sanitize tools and work environment.
- Schedule client appointments and accept payments.
- Remove previously applied nail polish, using liquid remover and swabs.
- Shape and smooth ends of nails, using scissors, files, or emery boards.
- Apply undercoat and clear or colored polish onto nails with brush.
- Advise clients on nail care and use of products and colors.
- Maintain supply inventories and records of client services.
- Roughen surfaces of fingernails, using abrasive wheel.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (49.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (33.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (31.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Manicurists and Pedicurists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 84% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 91% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 94% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 98% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.91%
- Contact with others about half the time: 15.56%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.87%
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0.91%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 3.69%
- Extremely important: 7.37%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 21.57%
- Fairly important: 6.7%
- Important: 15.56%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: 5.96%
- A lot of freedom: 42.25%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.38%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.22%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Conflict situations
- Never: 58.28%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 40.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.3%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.3%
- Every day: 0.3%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 15.94%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 76.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.46%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.3%
- Every day: 1.21%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 45.97%
- Fairly serious: 48.96%
- Serious: 0%
- Very serious: 0%
- Extremely serious: 5.06%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
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O*NET-SOC 39-5092.00 · SOC 39-5092 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8