Also called: Tattooer
Designs and permanently inks custom artwork onto clients' skin.
A tattoo artist might start with a consultation, sketching a custom sleeve design on an iPad, then spend four hours tattooing an existing client. Between appointments they sterilize equipment, draw flash designs, and post healed work online. Building a loyal client list takes years.
Estimate. Most tattoo artists are paid a commission (often 50-70% of what clients pay); in-demand artists book months ahead and earn well over $100k.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Apprenticeship, about 2 years after high school. Usually a 1-3 year apprenticeship under an experienced artist plus state bloodborne pathogen certification and a license.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Certification. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Fine Arts, Illustration.
Growing about average. Tattoos are increasingly mainstream; demand is steady.
Low risk for 10 years. AI may help draft designs and stencils; tattooing skin by hand and building a loyal client base stays human.
Classes: Drawing and illustration, AP Studio Art, Health science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1019.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.