BizGapMap

Home / Beauty & hair salons / Minnesota / Dakota County, MN

Dakota County, MN — Beauty salons Saturation

How many beauty salons exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 20 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Hair salons · Beauty salons · Blow-dry & styling bars · Makeup & skincare studios. Counted together because official statistics use one 812112 code.

Measured density: Above average — 1.04× the U.S. rate (between 1.04× and 1.13× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 6 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 5 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

In line with the U.S. rate   Dakota County beauty salons — 104–113% of the U.S. rate

117 beauty salons are counted in Dakota County — 2.2 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 104% of the U.S. rate of 2.1.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has fallen 8% between 2015 and 2023 (119 → 110). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 55118 (Saint Paul), 55337 (Burnsville), 55122 (Saint Paul) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 55024 (Farmington), 55068 (Rosemount), 55075 (South Saint Paul).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 95 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Dakota County sits at 104% of the U.S. rate for beauty salons. 5 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 104% and 113% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 55118 and 55337; the lowest measured density is in 55024 and 55068.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing beauty salons and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Beauty salons
117–129
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (6 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
2.2
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
2.1
per 10,000 present
County index
1.04×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
95
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
447,813
19 ZIPs with data
Workers
184,893
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
453,156
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+2.9%
+12,720 people
Net migration 2024
+3,045
international +2,059, domestic +986
Jobs located here
178,790
LODES 2022, −4.5% since 2019

Dakota County had an estimated 453,156 residents on July 1, 2024 — 2.9% more than in 2020 (+12,720). In the latest year it gained 4,661 people: births minus deaths +1,624, international migration +2,059, domestic migration +986. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

178,790 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (−4.5% since 2019), and 222,010 employed residents lived there (−4.4% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
55044 Lakeville
+17.6%
55068 Rosemount
+12.7%
55337 Burnsville
+6.0%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses
772
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$35.8M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$46K
gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more beauty salons in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — down 8% since 2015

Number of beauty salons in Dakota County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

119
2015
119
2018
111
2020
118
2021
114
2022
110
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
55118 Saint Paul
226%
55337 Burnsville
143%
55122 Saint Paul
136%
55123 Saint Paul
120%
55306 Burnsville
114%
55077 Inver Grove Heights
113%
55124 Saint Paul
107%
55033 Hastings
100%
55044 Lakeville
96%
55076 Inver Grove Heights
81%
55075 South Saint Paul
81%
55068 Rosemount
52%
55024 Farmington
49%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
55024 Farmington
49%
55068 Rosemount
52%
55075 South Saint Paul
81%
55076 Inver Grove Heights
81%
55044 Lakeville
96%
55033 Hastings
100%
55124 Saint Paul
107%
55077 Inver Grove Heights
113%
55306 Burnsville
114%
55123 Saint Paul
120%
55122 Saint Paul
136%
55337 Burnsville
143%
55118 Saint Paul
226%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few beauty salons may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersBeauty salonsIndex
55121Saint Paul Employment hub 9,19833,227 3 56%
55120Saint Paul Employment hub 5,05813,061 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = beauty salons per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersBeauty salons Per 10kIndexStatus
55118Saint Paul 29,5649,120 16 4.7 226% High density
55337Burnsville 47,63326,036 18 3.0 143% Above average
55122Saint Paul 32,26113,385 11 2.8 136% Above average
55123Saint Paul 26,50111,247 8 2.5 120% Above average
55306Burnsville 16,8308,461 5 2.4 114% Above average
55077Inver Grove Heights 14,5034,941 4 2.4 113% Above average
55124Saint Paul 55,65814,290 14 2.2 107% Above average
55033Hastings 29,6748,261 7 2.1 100% Below average
55044Lakeville 64,76220,619 15 2.0 96% Below average
55076Inver Grove Heights 21,3744,503 4 1.7 81% Below average
55075South Saint Paul 20,7145,865 4 1.7 81% Below average
55121Saint Paul 9,19833,227 3 1.2 56% Below average
55068Rosemount 33,1197,383 4 1.1 52% Below average
55024Farmington 37,2873,757 4 1.0 49% Far below average
55010Castle Rock —66 0–2 — — Not published
55031Hampton 1,881308 0–2 — — Not published
55065Randolph 1,224137 0–2 — — Not published
55085Vermillion 371126 0–2 — — Not published
55120Saint Paul 5,05813,061 0–2 — — Not published
55150Mendota 201166 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Saint Paul

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Saint Paul retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Saint Paul retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Saint Paul retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Dakota County and beauty salons

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 812112 — beauty salons. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 95 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (2.08 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.