Tat Stats

Finally rising above their often jaded reputation of the recent past, tattoos have gained increasing acceptance in the past decade or so.

In 1936 Life magazine estimated that 10 million Americans, or around 6% of the population had at least one tattoo. A Harris Poll, taken in 2003, shows close to three times those numbers and estimates that 16% of Americans now have one or more tattoos. Here’s a closer look at the Harris Poll numbers:

36% of those ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of those ages 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo, according to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center.

The National Geographic News stated in April 2000 that 15% of Americans were tattooed (or approximately 40 million people)

Esquire Magazine estimated in March 2002 that 1 in 8 Americans was tattooed.

According to the American Society of Dermatological Surgery in 2005, only 6% of patients treated with laser and light therapy were getting a tattoo removed .

Harris Poll, 2003, estimates that fully 36% of those aged 25-29 have one or more tattoos.

A 2006 a study done by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that 24% of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that’s almost one in four. And the survey showed that about 36% of Americans age 18 to 29 have at least one tattoo.

There are an estimated 20,000+ parlors operating in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report, which said on the average, a new parlor is being added in the country every day. The article ranked tattooing as the sixth fastest growing retail venture of the 1990s, right behind Internet, paging services, bagels , computer and cellular phone service

Search Engine Lycos, ranks the Top 50 search terms every week. “Tattoos” was the third most popular search term in 2002, the fourth most popular search term in 2001, seventh most popular search term for the year 2000, and the eleventh most popular search term in 1999. “Tattoo and tattoos” is one of only seven search terms to never fall out of the Top 50 Search terms in the 199 weeks since Lycos has been keeping records.

In July of 2002 “tattoos” reached its highest ranking ever, coming in as the number two most requested search term on the internet. “Tattoos” was requested more often than Britney Spears, marijuana or Kazaa.

Lycos dropped the term “tattoos” from it’s Poll because of its popularity. According to Lycos, tattoos rarely drops out of the top ten search terms requested on the Internet and Lycos dropped the term because they wanted to make room for other searches.

Search Engine Ask.com reveals that tattoos have been stealing the scene as the #1 searched beauty term since 2003.

Virtually every language is searched for in tattoo designs: from Aztec
sayings to Russian phrases, but Japanese and Chinese characters/symbols
are among the most frequently searched.

Backs rank the highest in searches (lower, upper and all over). But, not far behind: necks, arms, wrists
and ankles. “More sensitive areas” also rank high.

Among Americans with tattoos, 34% said having a tattoo has made them feel sexier. Interestingly, more tattooed females (42%) feel this way than males (25%).

The highest incidence of tattoos are found among the gay , lesbian and bisexual population (31%) and among Americans ages 25 to 29 years (36%) and 30 to 39 years (28%). Regionally, people living in the West (20%) are more likely to have tattoos.

Democrats are more likely to have tattoos (18%) than Republicans (14%) and Independents (12%) while nearly equal percentages of males (16%) and females (15%) have tattoos.

Additionally, those with tattoos said that having a tattoo has made them feel more rebellious (29%) while others said a tattoo makes them feel more attractive (26%). But tattoos apparently won’t do much for your intelligence or your physique, as few Americans reported that tattoos make them feel more intelligent (5%), more healthy (4%), or more athletic (3%).

Many Americans who do not have tattoos said they think that people with tattoos are less attractive (42%), less sexy (36%) and less intelligent (31%). They also think that those with tattoos are more rebellious (57%). In contrast, only 29% of those with tattoos think they are more rebellious.

The majority of Americans with tattoos (83%) do not regret getting them, while 17% do feel regret. The survey found that regret for getting a tattoo was highest among tattooed Republicans (24%) and among those living in the South (21%). And, the reason cited most often for feeling regret about getting tattoos was “because of the person’s name in the tattoo” (16%).

This survey was conducted online between July 14 and 20, 2003 by Harris Interactive(R) among a nationwide sample of 2,215 adults.