SEPTEMBER 1, 2026
5 min read
How much should I charge for dog grooming in 2026?
Photo: daveynin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
Where the published 2026 ranges sit
Grooming prices have risen over the last few years, and plenty of shops are still charging their old rates. If you set your price list in 2023 and haven't touched it since, check it against the numbers below before anything else. This guide gives you the published 2026 ranges and a way to turn your own hourly floor into a price you can raise each year without losing the book.
QC Pet Studies' 2026 cost guide, published in August 2025, puts a full groom at:
- Small dogs, under 20 pounds: $30 to $60
- Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: $50 to $80
- Large dogs, 50 to 80 pounds: $70 to $120
- Extra-large dogs, 80 pounds and up: $90 to $150 and up
Bark.com's 2026 cost page gives a national average of $85 in one paragraph and $100 in another, so don't set your price from any single national figure. Use the bands to see how prices step up by size, and set your own level from your groom times and what shops in your town charge.
Turn your hourly floor into a price
You may organize your price list by breed, but each price has to pay for the hours the dog spends on your table. Work out your floor once: what an hour on the table has to bring in to cover rent or the van payment, shampoo and blades, insurance, card fees, the slots that go empty, and your own pay. Then price each dog at that rate for the minutes it takes you.
At a $60 floor each minute is worth $1, which keeps the math easy. The times below are the starting minutes in FurSlot's breed table, built in September 2026 from published US price lists. Once you've timed your own grooms, use your minutes instead.
| Dog | Full groom | At $60 an hour | QC's 2026 band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beagle | 55 minutes | $55 | $30 to $60 |
| Shih Tzu | 90 minutes | $90 | $30 to $60 |
| Labrador Retriever | 110 minutes | $110 | $70 to $120 |
| Goldendoodle | 150 minutes | $150 | $80 to $150 and up |
The Beagle, Lab and Goldendoodle land inside QC's bands, but the Shih Tzu at $90 sits $30 above the top of its $30 to $60 band. At 90 minutes, a $60 Shih Tzu groom pays you $40 an hour, so you have to raise the price or cut the minutes. Check the minutes first: if you're spending twenty minutes drying a long coat and could cut that, fix it before you quote $90 to a Shih Tzu owner. The full method is in how to price dog grooming.
Coat moves the price more than size
Start from the dog's size, then price the extra work its coat adds, the way QC's guide does:
- Doodles and poodles: $80 to $150 and up. Curly coats keep growing and mat near the skin, and they need scissor work over the whole body. Dapper Doodle Grooming's 2026 cost guide says a standard doodle takes 2.5 to 3.5 hours of one-on-one work.
- Huskies and shepherds: $70 to $120 for double coats like the Siberian Husky, which need less scissoring and far more deshedding and drying.
- Short coats like Pugs and Chihuahuas: $30 to $50, for dogs about the size of a Shih Tzu that need no scissor work.
Matting can come with any of these coats, and QC lists a dematting surcharge of $20 to $60 and up. Print the surcharge on your price list so you aren't negotiating it at the table; you can compare flat, per-minute and longer-booking versions in what to charge for a matted dog.
A client with a felted Goldendoodle let the coat mat at home, before the visit. With the surcharge on your printed list, the owner can see what the extra hour costs and has a reason to book sooner next time.
City, suburb and rural price bands
QC's guide splits a full groom by where you work:
- Big cities like New York and Los Angeles: $70 to $150 and up
- Suburbs: $50 to $100
- Rural areas: $30 to $80
Bark.com's page says prices in major metro areas run 30 to 50 percent above smaller towns. You'll learn more from the three shops a client would call instead of you than from any national figure, so get their current price lists and pick your spot in that local spread on purpose.
Mobile grooming runs higher than all of these bands: QC puts it 10 to 30 percent over salon prices, and Bark says 20 to 30 percent. You'll find the reasons, and a travel fee worked out per mile, in the mobile pricing guide.
Add-ons to put on the price list
New groomers often lose money by giving the same extras away, and QC's guide prices the common ones at:
- Nail trim: $10 to $20, or $15 to $25 with buffing
- Teeth brushing: $10 to $20
- Flea and tick treatment: $15 to $30
- Specialty shampoo: $5 to $20
- Dematting: the $20 to $60 surcharge above, on the hardest hour of the week and the one most often given away
Copying a competitor's price list loses you money too, because you don't know if that shop is profitable, and the one charging $45 for full grooms may be on its way out of business. Start from the printable free price list template so you've written your extras down before anyone asks.
How to raise prices without drama
- Small steps, once a year. Few clients notice a $5 bump each year, but plenty complain about a $20 correction after three flat years.
- At least 30 days' notice, in writing. That gives each regular time to hear it from you at the table before the new price applies.
- Honor what's already booked. Keeping the old price on booked appointments costs you little, and clients remember that you did it.
- Raise the price that's wrong. If doodles run long, fix the doodle price and leave your short-coated regulars alone.
Keep the message short and don't apologize, since a client who reads an apology will take the price as open to negotiation:
"Hi [name], starting [date], [dog's name]'s full groom will be $[new price]. Anything already on the book stays at today's price. Thanks for trusting me with [dog's name] all this time."
If you're turning people away each week, it's time to raise, and how many dogs a solo groomer can do has the arithmetic on how many clients a 10 percent raise can lose before it costs you anything. For groom times by coat, the other half of pricing, see how long a groom takes.
References
FAQ
Should I price by the hour or by a price list?
Show clients a price list, but build it from an hourly floor. Clients want a predictable number, and you want each service to earn at least your hourly floor. If a groom keeps running over its slot, you've priced it too low.
How often should I raise prices?
Raise once a year by a small amount, and announce it in writing at least 30 days ahead. Most clients won't notice a small yearly step, but a big catch-up raise after years of flat prices is the one that loses clients.
Why do doodles cost so much more to groom?
Their curly coats keep growing and mat close to the skin, so each groom needs line brushing, longer drying and scissor work over the whole body. QC Pet Studies' 2026 guide puts doodle and poodle grooms at $80 to $150 and up, and Dapper Doodle Grooming's 2026 guide says a standard doodle takes 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Should matted dogs pay more?
Yes. Put the surcharge on your printed price list; QC Pet Studies' 2026 guide lists $20 to $60 and up. Dematting takes extra labor and carries extra risk, and once owners see the charge in print, they have a reason to book more often.