Tattoo Statistics You Might Not Know

We’ve tattooed a lot of people at our downtown Toronto Tattoo Shop - like, a lot. But even after all this time, we were still shocked by some of these tattoo statistics. Tattoos use to be the mark of military and criminals. Today, tattoos are for everyone and the statistics are certainly proving that.

Prevalence

It used to be that tattoos were something for military personnel, criminals, or rebels. Today they are becoming more common every year. About 3 out of ten Americans have at least one tattoo, which is up from a few years ago when it was one out of five. People aren’t stopping at one tattoo either. They say getting tattoos is addicting, which explains why 69% of people with tattoos have two or more.

Gender

In the past, men dominated the tattoo market. From artists to clients, men were the main ones there. That’s changing now, though. Almost an equal number of men and women are getting tattoos. In fact, 22% of women have tattoos, while 26% of men have them. This disparity is way less than it uses to be.

Age

It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that tattoos are more popular among the younger generations. 36% of people aged 20-31 have at least one tattoo, 24% of people aged 32-42 have one, and 15% for people aged 43-53. It also shouldn’t be surprising that Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to have multiple tattoos too.

Regret

As the number of people getting tattoos goes up it’s not surprising that the number of people getting them removed gets higher too. About one-fourth of people says they regret one of their tattoos. There are so many reasons people end up regretting their ink, from having it being related to an ex to it being done by a bad tattoo artist. Make sure you don’t end up regretting your tattoo by researching your artist and studio ahead of time. Make sure you like the design as well by going on Instagram and online portfolios for inspiration.

Location

Some locations are more popular than others when it comes to tattoos. Factors like design, size, coverage, pain and personal preference go into selecting where people get tattooed. Shoulders are popular for both men and women, while men get their hands tattooed significantly more than women and women have a proportionally larger number of ankle tattoos.

Occupation

In the past, even as tattoos became more socially acceptable, many jobs required them to stay covered. This made it difficult for some people who selected locations that weren’t easily covered. Today, most job environments don’t require tattoos to be covered as long as they aren’t obscene or offensive.

Conclusion

Social ridicule or job limitations are no longer reasons to not get a tattoo. More people are expressing themselves with tattoos every year.