How much do tattoo artists make a year?

No official yearly figure exists. Ad742n, the only artist we found who published monthly figures, said in about 2022 that he averaged about $10,000 a month, with a best month of $18,000 to $20,000. He did not say whether that is before or after the shop's cut. The calculator above runs your own numbers.

How much do tattoo artists make an hour?

No agency publishes an hourly figure for tattoo artists. What artists charge is public: Oregon tattooer Chris Clark told OPB in 2025 that a lot of artists set a minimum of $150 to $250, and Seth Rowan said artists charging $250 an hour are not booked out anymore. A price is not take-home pay.

How much do tattoo artists make a day?

Two artists published full-day rates. AG charged $600 in 2022 and $1,500 by about early 2024; Ad742n said in about 2022 that he charges $1,600. Those are prices for a booked day, not take-home. NoahLeoTats filmed a Saturday of four tattoos priced $100 to $350 each, $780 in all.

Do tattoo artists make good money?

Some say so: Oregon tattooer Chris Clark told OPB it is one of the few ways that artistry makes decent money. No official figure settles it. BLS has no tattoo category, and Census counts shop receipts, not artist pay. Published full-day rates run $600 to $1,600, before any shop cut or costs.

Do you tip a tattoo artist who owns the shop?

That is the customer's call. The tax rules apply either way: a tip is income to the artist who receives it, and a self-employed owner reports it with business income on Schedule C. The federal tips deduction covers the self-employed too, up to the net income of the business.

How much do tattoo shops take from artists?

On a split, the shop keeps a share of each tattoo. Miami shop owner Savage Dax said in 2019 that his artists give the shop 50%, which pays for marketing, advertising and supplies. Salt Lake City artist Tyler Rosso used a 40% shop cut as his example. Renting a chair swaps the cut for rent.

Are tattoo artists independent contractors?

Often. Tattoo artist and author Tamara Santibanez wrote in 2023 that most tattoo artists are self-employed. A self-employed artist reports business income, tips included, on Schedule C. An artist on a shop's payroll is an employee and reports cash tips of $20 or more a month to the shop.

How much is booth rent at a tattoo shop?

Amanda Malia, who owns a shop near Allentown, Pennsylvania, said on a 2026 podcast that she charges each artist $300 a week, covering everything except ink and needles, with $75 off in two vacation weeks a year. That is one shop's price. We found no official figure for booth rent.

How much do tattoo shop owners make?

No official figure covers owner pay. Census reports what shops take in: $238,616 a year in tattoo receipts per shop with employees, 2022, before the shop pays its artists, rent and supplies. Shop owner Amanda Malia said in 2026 that inflation took her from breaking even to losing money.

Can tattoo artists make 6 figures?

Some artists say so in their video titles, but none we found published a yearly figure. The closest is Ad742n, who said in about 2022 that he averaged about $10,000 a month, without saying if that was before the shop's cut. AG's and Rafael Tats' "6-figure" videos show day rates and single days.

How much do tattoo artists make in California, Texas or New York?

No state publishes tattoo artist pay. Census 2022 counted 263 tattoo shops with employees in California, 318 in Texas and 334 in New York. California artists register with their county, Texas licenses the studio rather than the artist, and New York City licenses its tattoo artists. The ZIP tool above shows local pay levels.

Tattoo artist pay

How Much Do Tattoo Artists Make?

Q: How much do tattoo artists make?

No government survey measures it. BLS files tattoo artists in a mixed category of employees, and most artists are self-employed. Census puts tattoo receipts at $238,616 a year per shop with employees, before the shop pays its artists, rent and supplies (2022). Two working artists published full-day rates of $600 to $1,600.

Q: Do you tip tattoo artists?

That is the customer's call, and this page gives no tip amount. The IRS lists "Tattoo artists and piercers" as an occupation that customarily receives tips (entry 609). A tip is income to the artist, and qualified tips can count toward the federal tips deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028.

No government survey measures how much tattoo artists make. The job has no category of its own in federal pay data, and most tattoo artists are self-employed, which federal pay surveys leave out.

So this page puts together what is measured (shop revenue, license counts and local pay levels) with what working artists published about their own rates. The calculator then works out a year from your own numbers.

$238,616 a year

Tattoo receipts per tattoo shop with employees, across 3,605 shops (Census, 2022)[1]

Before the shop pays its artists, rent and supplies. Solo artists and private studios are not counted.

$600–$1,600 a day

Full-day rates two working artists published: AG in Arizona and Ad742n[27]

A booked day's price, not take-home pay. Only artists who chose to publish.

6,930 people

Employees BLS counts in the job category it files tattoo artists under (May 2025)[2]

Employees only, mixed with other artists. Three states alone license 5,653 tattoo artists.

What you make depends mostly on your rate, how booked you are, and the shop split.

Tattoo artist pay near you

Local pay for personal care work runs from 40% below the national median to 35% above it

Type a ZIP code to see local pay levels for personal care and service work, from official data for all 528 US metro and rural areas, matched to 40,767 US ZIP codes. Where we have them, your state's tattoo rules show too.

Your ZIP code

Personal care pay is 33% above the national median in Seattle and 28% below it in Jackson, Mississippi

BLS May 2025 medians for personal care and service workers: $48,570 a year in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and $26,300 in Jackson, against $36,410 nationally. Employees only, all personal care jobs together.

New York has the most tattoo shops with employees and the highest tattoo receipts

Census 2022 counted 334 tattoo shops with employees in New York, taking in $101.7 million in tattoo receipts before paying artists, rent and supplies. Texas had 318 shops and Florida 277.

Three states license 5,653 tattoo artists; BLS counts 6,930 for the whole country

Washington issued 2,872 tattoo artist licenses in 2024, Minnesota had 1,457 in December 2024 and Virginia 1,324 in October 2026. The BLS figure counts only employees, across a mixed category of artists.

Sources: BLS May 2025 area wages for personal care and service occupations; the Census 2020 ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes; state licensing agencies. No agency publishes tattoo artist pay by area, so the tool and the calculator use local pay levels for personal care work. The lookup runs in your browser and loads only a small file for the first three digits of your ZIP code from this site.

Tattoo shops by state

New York has the most tattoo shops with employees; Nevada's take in the most per shop among states with 50 or more

The three columns measure three different things. The first counts tattoo shops with employees. The second is their tattoo receipts per shop, before paying artists, rent and supplies. The third is the median pay of employed personal care workers in the state, not tattoo artists.

State	Tattoo shops with employees (Census 2022)	Tattoo receipts per shop (Census 2022)	Personal care workers, median a year (BLS 2025)
United States	3,605	$238,616	$36,410
States with reliable Census figures, most shops first
New York	334	$304,362	$38,260
Florida	277	$276,913	$33,540
California	263	$212,061	$39,500
Illinois	182	$195,725	$36,160
New Jersey	163	$231,239	$36,820
Massachusetts	138	$199,029	$42,670
Colorado	127	$187,394	$40,440
Washington	115	$147,348	$47,150
Utah	111	$116,757	$34,620
Nevada	87	$470,023	$32,720
Oregon	82	$62,427	$41,600
Pennsylvania	81	$403,691	$34,880
Nebraska	65	$102,000	$31,840
Tennessee	63	$361,444	$32,200
Arizona	55	$348,000	$36,790
Virginia	55	$444,782	$35,710
Minnesota	37	$264,459	$36,650
Wisconsin	34	$254,765	$36,010
New Mexico	26	$95,923	$35,340
Hawaii	25	$174,320	$41,000
Rhode Island	22	$556,818	$36,200

Census 2022 Economic Census, tattoo services at shops with employees; BLS May 2025 state medians for personal care work. Only the 21 states where Census published reliable tattoo figures are shown. The other 29 and Washington, DC are left out, Texas among them because Census flags its receipts. Shop receipts are before paying artists, rent and supplies.

Shop split or chair rent

The biggest pay decision: give the shop a cut, or pay it rent and keep the rest

Most of what an artist keeps comes down to this choice: give the shop a share of every tattoo, or pay it a flat rent and keep the rest. No agency measures how many artists work each way, so these facts come from named artists and shop owners.

Choose one

AOn a shop split (commission)

+The shop pays for marketing and advertising, says Savage Dax

+Supplies are often part of what the split pays for

+No rent is due in a slow week

−Savage Dax's artists give his Miami shop 50%

−Tyler Rosso used a 40% shop cut as his example

−You are often self-employed, not on the shop's payroll

BRenting a chair or your own private studio

+A flat rent you can depend on, says Savage Dax

+You keep the whole price of every tattoo

+Amanda Malia's $300 weekly rent covers everything but ink and needles

−Little marketing from the shop, says Savage Dax

−Machines, inks and needles are yours to buy, says Tamara Santibanez

−Eliany Espada puts private studio start-up at $1,000 to $10,000

The calculator below runs both.

Tattoo artist income calculator

Work out what you would take home before tax

Put in your own numbers to see a year two ways: on a 50/50 shop split, or renting a chair. If you entered a ZIP code above, the rate and the rent follow local pay levels.

Your hourly rate$150$150 is an example. Oregon artists described minimums of $150 to $250 in 2025.Hours tattooing a day5Hours actually billed, not hours in the shop.Days a week4Weeks worked a year48Take off conventions, holidays and slow weeks.Average tip15%An example. Use your own.

Tattoo work you bill in a year$144,000
Your share$72,000
Tips+ $21,600

Before tax, a year$93,600about $1,800 a week

Example figures from the sources named, checked in October 2026. Tax is not taken off, and neither are machines, ink or needles. The 3% card fee is close to a card processor's published US rate, 2.9% plus 30 cents a payment. With a ZIP code entered, the rate and the rent follow that area's local pay levels.

Do you tip tattoo artists

Tips are the most-asked tattoo pay question, and tattoo artists are on the IRS list of tipped jobs

Tips are the most-asked pay question about this trade: 245 phrasings on our chart, more than twice the 109 for pay per year. These are the federal rules as the IRS states them, not tax advice.

Tattoo artists are on the IRS list of tipped occupations[6]

Entry 609 on the IRS list of occupations that customarily and regularly received tips is "Tattoo artists and piercers." It names tattoo artists, ear piercers and nose piercers.

Up to $25,000 of qualified tips can be deducted, for tax years 2025 through 2028[7]

Employees and the self-employed can both claim it. It phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $300,000 for joint filers. For the self-employed it cannot exceed the net income of the business. Tips must be paid voluntarily.

Employees report cash tips of $20 or more a month to the shop[8]

An employee who receives cash tips of $20 or more in a calendar month reports them in writing to the employer by the 10th of the following month.

Self-employed artists report tips as business income on Schedule C[9]

An artist working as an independent contractor reports business income, tips included, on Schedule C, the form for profit or loss from a business.

Real tattoo artist income

What working tattoo artists say they charge and make, in their own words

These artists published their own numbers on video. Every figure is theirs, unverified, labeled with its period and with gross or net only where they said it. Few artists publish a yearly figure, so most of what exists is day rates and single days.

About $10,000

a month on average, in his words; his best month was $18,000 to $20,000

Ad742n

YouTube · about 2022

Shop artistPortraits and realism

Full-day rate $1,600, up from $1,200. Works Monday to Friday in a shop. He did not say whether that is before or after the shop's cut.

$600 to $1,500

a full day, his rate in 2022 and in about early 2024

YouTube · about January 2025 · Arizona

Private studio

Day rates, not income. He tattoos in a private studio, at first sharing a rented room with another artist. His video title says 6 figure; he gave no yearly figure.

$780

one Saturday, four tattoos, what he called his take home

NoahLeoTats

YouTube · about 2024

Traditional, fine line, realism

Four pieces priced $100 to $350, on a day that ran to about 9:30 pm. He said not every day is like this, and did not say whether a shop cut came out.

$4,000

one day of tattoo work, gross, as he said it

Rafael Tats

YouTube · 2026-02-26 · Miami

Custom work and paintings

A single filmed day, deposits counted. He called it a $4,000 day that a $6,000 painting sale turned into $10,000. The title says 6-figure; no yearly figure given.

$300 a week

the booth rent she charges each artist, with $75 off in two vacation weeks

Amanda Malia

Honest Tattooer Podcast · about August 2026 · Near Allentown, Pennsylvania

Shop ownerBlack and gray dark art

Six artists at her shop, her included. Rent covers everything except ink and needles. She said inflation took her from breaking even to losing money. No personal income figure.

$1,000 to $10,000

to start a private studio, her estimate

Eliany Espada

YouTube · about 2025

Private studio

Also a biomedical waste permit at about $35 to $40 a month and insurance from $600 to a couple of thousand dollars. She has opened three small studios and says costs vary by county.

Oregon tattoo artists told public radio in 2025 that many set minimums of $150 to $250

On OPB's Think Out Loud in January 2025, Chris Clark said a lot of artists set a minimum of $150 to $250. Seth Rowan said tattooers who were charging $250 an hour are not booked out anymore. Alia Bird said the school route costs several thousand dollars and an apprenticeship typically isn't paid.

How much do tattoo apprentices make

Apprenticeships are usually unpaid, and some states set the hours

Apprentices and the first years drew 39 phrasings on our chart, and 24 more that name a place. No agency publishes apprentice pay, so these are the rules states set and what Oregon artists said.

Virginia sets a 1,500-hour apprenticeship and counted 232 apprentice tattooers[13][12]

Virginia's standard is 1,500 hours: 350 of theory, 150 of infection control and 1,000 of practical training, with credit of up to 700 hours for experience. On October 1, 2026 the state counted 232 apprentice tattooers and 1,324 tattooers.

13 states require training or an apprenticeship, from 200 to 1,500 hours[10]

Washington's Department of Licensing found in 2025 that 13 states require an apprenticeship or training program for some body art licenses. Tattoo training ranges from 200 to 1,500 hours and 50 to 150 procedures.

Florida requires no apprenticeship for a tattoo artist license[15]

Florida's Department of Health says no apprenticeship is needed to apply. Applicants must be at least 18, pass a bloodborne pathogens and communicable diseases course with at least 70%, pay a $60 fee and name the licensed shop where they will work.

Oregon artists say apprenticeships are typically unpaid and school costs several thousand dollars[14]

Alia Bird told OPB in 2025 that an apprenticeship typically isn't paid, and that the accredited school route costs several thousand dollars. Seth Rowan said shops often start people with unpaid shop work first, assisting and learning how a shop runs.

What people ask about tattoo artist pay

Each bar counts the distinct ways people phrase the question in Google's suggestions, from fixed starting points per row at the same depth for every row, so the numbers compare. Phrasings that name a place are counted separately.

about payaround the edgesthe control

Tips

245

Per year

109

Is it worth it

Per hour and hourly rates

Per tattoo, day or week

Apprentices and the first years

Booth or chair rent

The top end

Taxes

Owning a shop or private studio

Self-employed or 1099

Shop split and commission

Styles and specialties

By state or city

Domain and email

People ask about tipping tattoo artists more than twice as often as about yearly pay

Tips drew 245 distinct phrasings, the top row on the chart. Pay per year drew 109, and whether the job is worth it drew 67.

Yearly pay and tips each drew 94 more phrasings that name a place

We counted phrasings that name a state, city or country separately. Per year had 94 and tips had 94. Many of the tip questions name another country, such as Canada or Japan; this page covers the US.

Booth or chair rent is asked about more than the shop split: 37 phrasings against 23

Booth or chair rent drew 37 phrasings, and the shop split and commission 23. Both are in the fork above, and booth rent is answered in the questions below.

Measured by us in October 2026, from Google's US suggestions.

Tattoo artist pay questions

Booking software for tattoo studiosFor an artist who takes their own bookings: the booking side of renting a chair or a private studio.

If you take your own bookings, take deposits up front so a no-show does not cost you the day.

The free plan takes your first 100 bookings without a credit card. It is a permanent plan, not a trial.

A booking page that works as the link in your Instagram bio
Each service with its own length and price: a consultation, a half day, a full day
A deposit at booking, or a card on file charged with the customer's permission, into your own Stripe account
Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card at your station with no reader

Free to start. No credit card needed.

A tattoo artist with a septum ring and a black tank top shading a floral piece on a client's thigh by a tall window

Bottles of colored tattoo ink, a rotary tattoo machine and a stencil on a steel tray in window light

Open pots of red, blue, green, yellow, black and white tattoo ink in a row beside a coiled machine cord

The kiwilaunch iPhone app showing today's bookings and payments

Services

Book now

Sources

Where every number on this page comes from, with the release or date we used.

2022 Economic Census, Products by Industry: NAPCS 7005150006 "Tattoo services", NAICS 812199, national and state, U.S. Census Bureau Shops with paid employees only: 3,605 shops, $860.2 million in tattoo receipts. Receipts are before the shop pays its artists, rent and supplies.
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Artists and Related Workers, All Other (27-1019), national; Personal Care and Service Occupations (39-0000), national, state, metro and nonmetro areas, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026-05-15 Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. The 27-1019 median of $71,240 a year describes this whole mixed category of employees, not tattoo artists.
2018 Standard Occupational Classification definitions, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Names Tattoo Artist, with Calligrapher, as an example under 27-1019, Artists and Related Workers, All Other.
2020 ZCTA to County Relationship File, U.S. Census Bureau, 2021-12-09 Used by the ZIP tool to match a ZIP code to a county.
2020 Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes, ZIP code file, USDA Economic Research Service Used by the ZIP tool to label an area urban core, suburban, small city or rural.
Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-06-28 Entry 609: Tattoo artists and piercers.
IRS Tax Tip 2026-06: How to take advantage of no tax on tips and overtime, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-01-26 The $25,000 cap, the phase-out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint) and the net-income limit for the self-employed. The 2025 through 2028 tax years are from IRS Topic 761.
Topic no. 761, Tips: withholding and reporting, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-10-12 The deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028, and employees' monthly tip reports to the employer.
Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center, Internal Revenue Service, 2026-09-27 Business income and Schedule C for the self-employed.
2025 Professional License Review: Tattoo, Body Art, Body Piercing and Permanent Cosmetics, Washington State Department of Licensing August 2025. Tattoo artist licenses issued each year, and the count of states that require training or an apprenticeship.
Body art program presentation, Minnesota Department of Health, 2025-01-14 1,457 full tattooist licenses as of December 17, 2024.
Regulant population, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, 2026-10-01 1,324 tattooers and 232 apprentice tattooers.
Tattooer standards of apprenticeship, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation November 17, 2014 version. 1,500 hours of theory and practical training.
Think Out Loud: Oregon's tattoo industry, Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2025-01-21 Chris Clark, Seth Rowan and Alia Bird on minimums, rates, school and apprenticeships; Oregon license figures for 2019 and 2024.
Tattoo artist licensure, Florida Department of Health License requirements and the $60 fee. The department's FAQ says no apprenticeship is required.
Tattoo and body piercing studios, Texas Department of State Health Services The state licenses the studio, not the individual artist.
Tattoo License, NYC MyCity Business $100 for two years, after a three-hour infection control course.
Ad742n, How much I make as a full time tattoo artist, YouTube Upload date approximate, about 2022. Works in a shop; split not stated.
AG, Becoming a 6 figure Tattoo Artist in under 3 years (my story part 2), YouTube Upload date approximate, about January 2025. Private studio, Arizona. Day rates only.
NoahLeoTats, How much money do I make as a tattoo artist? Day in the life Ep. 34, YouTube Upload date approximate, about 2024. One day.
Rafael Tats, A Day in the Life of a 6-Figure Tattoo Artist, YouTube, 2026-02-26 Miami. One day, gross.
Amanda Malia, The Real Cost of Running a Tattoo Shop, Honest Tattooer Podcast, YouTube Upload date approximate, about August 2026. Shop owner near Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Eliany Espada, before opening your first private tattoo studio, YouTube Upload date approximate, about 2025. Private studio costs only.
Savage Dax, on booth rent and percentage, YouTube, Miami Tattoo Artist Savage Dax, 2019-01-06 Miami shop owner. His artists give the shop 50% for marketing, advertising and supplies.
Tyler Rosso, Should You Open Your Own Private Studio?, YouTube, Tyler Rosso Art Upload date approximate, about 2025. Salt Lake City. A 40% shop cut used as an example, not his own figures.
Tamara Santibanez, on tattoo artists' costs, Substack, 2023-01-17 Tattoo artist and author. Most artists are self-employed and pay for their own machines, inks and needles.
Named artists' own figures, Various the named artists above
Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator

Not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates, rent and what you keep vary by state and city, licensing rules change by state and city, and the tax rules on tips have conditions. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.