Trust me, that's just where you work.
Place near my house charged me $50 for doing dick all, I can't imagine their prices for *actually* doing something..
I got my shoulder length light brown hair bleached and trimmed (one inch) at Jose Yber's near the Galeria in Houston, TX & it cost me $600! I am serious. I told them hell no & they threatened to call the "authorities". I had to pay it.
It depends on who you get to do it. My british friends always complains about american salons. She says they actually train you really well in europe and it's a respected profession. They always fuck up her hair here.
On the bright side, I get a lot of value out of my $30 or so dollars. But I also go to someone who knows wtf they are doing so I don't mind paying it. It's far superior than say Supercuts where it's the person of the week but super cheap.