Pet Grooming Salon Rent Cost Calculator

Enter your salon details and the calculator adds up every monthly occupancy cost. The base rent comes from your salon size and location type, then CAM charges, utilities and the deposit share are added on top.

1. Enter the salon size in square feet. A small storefront runs 600 to 1,000 sq ft and a full service salon runs 1,500 to 3,000 sq ft.
2. Pick the location type. Suburban is the cheapest and a prime or mall spot is the dearest.
3. Enter the CAM rate in dollars per sq ft per year. Leave it at $5 if your quote does not list one.
4. Enter monthly utilities and the security deposit, then set the lease term in months.
5. Leave the deposit box ticked to spread the deposit across the lease term, or untick it to see the rent without it.
6. Press Calculate, or press Enter. The total monthly cost appears first and large, with the base rent, the annual cost and the cost per sq ft below.

Commercial rent is quoted as dollars per sq ft per year, so the monthly base rent is salon size x base rent rate / 12. CAM charges work the same way, with salon size x CAM rate / 12. The deposit is spread across the lease with security deposit / lease term in months, and the monthly total is base rent + CAM + utilities + deposit share. The annual cost is the monthly total x 12.

The base rent rates in this calculator are $18 per sq ft per year for a suburban spot, $25 for neighborhood retail, $35 for a busy high street and $48 for a prime or mall spot. They sit around the national retail average of about $25 per sq ft per year reported for 2026. If your landlord quotes a rate, pick the location type closest to it and check the result against your quote. Our square footage calculator helps you measure the space if you only have the room dimensions.

A salon takes a 1,200 sq ft space in a neighborhood retail spot at $25 per sq ft per year, with CAM of $5 per sq ft per year, utilities of $450 a month and a $6,000 deposit on a 36 month lease.

1. Base rent: 1,200 x $25 / 12 = $2,500 a month.
2. CAM: 1,200 x $5 / 12 = $500 a month.
3. Deposit share: $6,000 / 36 = $166.67 a month.
4. Utilities: $450 a month.
5. Total: $2,500 + $500 + $450 + $166.67 = $3,616.67 a month, or $43,400 a year. That is $3.01 per sq ft a month.

As a second check, an 800 sq ft suburban salon at $18 per sq ft per year with CAM of $3, utilities of $300 and a $4,000 deposit over 24 months costs $1,200 + $200 + $300 + $166.67 = $1,866.67 a month. The same steps work for any salon, so try your own numbers in the tool above.

Base rent is the headline number on the lease, and it is the rent for the space itself before any extra charges. It is quoted per sq ft per year, so a bigger salon or a busier street raises it fast. Always confirm whether the quoted rate is per year or per month, because the two are easy to mix up.

CAM, or common area maintenance, covers the shared costs of the building, and it usually includes property taxes, building insurance and upkeep of shared areas. Typical CAM and NNN charges run $3 to $16 per sq ft per year. A gross lease bundles these costs into the base rate, while a triple net lease charges them on top, so two quotes with the same headline rate can cost very different amounts.

Utilities run higher in a grooming salon than in a plain shop, because hot water, high powered dryers and ventilation run all day. Typical salon utilities run $250 to $600 a month. The security deposit is refundable at the end of the lease, so this calculator spreads it across the lease term only to show the cash you tie up each month. Our budget calculator helps you fit the total into your monthly business budget.

Location moves the rent more than any other choice. Take the same 1,200 sq ft salon with CAM of $5 per sq ft per year and utilities of $450 a month. In a suburban spot the base rent is 1,200 x $18 / 12 = $1,800 a month. In a neighborhood retail spot it is $2,500, on a busy high street it is $3,500 and in a prime or mall spot it is $4,800. The gap between the cheapest and dearest spot is $3,000 a month for the same four walls.

A busy spot can still be worth it when walk in traffic fills the appointment book, but the rent has to be paid from grooming income, so compare the extra rent with the extra dogs you expect to groom. A quieter suburban salon with lower rent often suits a groomer who already has regular clients. Our rent vs buy calculator compares renting with owning when a purchase is on the table.

The most common mistake is comparing headline rates without the CAM charges. A $20 per sq ft quote with $8 of CAM costs more than a $25 per sq ft gross quote with nothing on top, so always ask for the all in monthly number before you compare two spaces.

A second mistake is treating the annual rate as a monthly rate, which makes the rent look twelve times cheaper than it is. A third mistake is forgetting the deposit and the first month of rent, which are usually due before you open. A fourth mistake is budgeting utilities like a normal shop, when dryers and hot water push a grooming salon toward the top of the $250 to $600 a month range.

Get the lease checked before you sign, and confirm what the CAM covers, how often the rent rises and who pays for plumbing work on the tubs. Our pet grooming van insurance cost calculator prices the mobile route if a fixed salon proves too dear, and our rental property calculator helps when the space comes with a flat upstairs.