Tattooing, piercing, cosmetic and medical tattooing, and tattoo removal: art you wear, done by licensed artists.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Renowned Tattoo Artist: A famous tattoo artist with a months-long waitlist who travels to conventions and tattoos well-known clients. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Tattoo Shop Owner: Owns a tattoo studio, recruits artists, handles licensing and health inspections, and builds the shop's reputation. Typical pay $90k.
Tattoo Convention Promoter: Organizes tattoo conventions, booking hundreds of artists, vendors and sponsors into multi-day events. Typical pay $90k.
Tattoo Artist: Designs custom tattoos and applies them to skin with a tattoo machine. Typical pay $56k.
Medical & Areola Tattoo Artist: Tattoos realistic 3D nipples and areolas for breast cancer survivors after reconstruction. Typical pay $70k.
Scar Camouflage Artist: Uses skin-toned tattoo pigments to blend scars, stretch marks and skin conditions like vitiligo. Typical pay $60k.
Tattoo Machine Builder: Builds and sells tattoo machines, needles or power supplies, often by hand. Typical pay $60k.
Body Jewelry Designer: Designs and makes implant-grade titanium and gold jewelry for piercings. Typical pay $55k.
Scalp Micropigmentation Artist: Tattoos tiny dots on the scalp that look like short hair follicles, for people with hair loss. Typical pay $70k.
Starter: fastest way in
Body Piercer: Pierces ears, noses and other body parts using sterile technique and fits high-quality jewelry. Typical pay $42k.
Tattoo Apprentice: Learns tattooing by working under a mentor: cleaning, drawing and eventually tattooing. Typical pay $20k.
Tattoo Removal Technician: Uses lasers to break up tattoo ink over a series of sessions. Typical pay $48k.
Tattoo Flash Designer: Draws ready-made tattoo designs (flash) and sells them to artists or online. Typical pay $35k.
Tattoo Shop Manager: Runs the front desk and business of a tattoo studio: consultations, booking, deposits and paperwork. Typical pay $38k.
Face & Body Painter: Paints designs on faces and bodies for festivals, parties, sports events, photo shoots, and competitions. Typical pay $35k.
Tooth Gem Technician: Glues tiny crystals or gold pieces onto the surface of teeth with dental adhesive as temporary decoration, without drilling. Typical pay $42k.
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.