LinkedIn says it has more than 1.3 billion members around the world. We can see their job titles, career histories, qualifications and professional achievements.
What we usually can't see is the tattoo under the shirt sleeve. The memorial piece under the blazer. The collection built over twenty years, one artist and one experience at a time.
A professional profile shows one version of a person. Their tattoos can show another.
The people behind the profiles
In its 2023 survey of more than 8,000 U.S. adults, Pew Research Center found that 32% of Americans have at least one tattoo, and 22% have more than one. Among adults ages 30 to 49, the years when many people are building careers, it's 46%. Among adults under 30, it's 41%.
Tattoos aren't confined to one corner of the workforce, either. Pew found tattoos among 24% of adults with a bachelor's degree and 21% of those with a postgraduate degree. Its 2010 phone survey put the overall share at 23%. The two surveys used different methods, so they aren't a perfect trend line, but the direction is hard to miss.
Pew's own summary says tattoos "have become a more common sight in workplaces around the United States, even making appearances among members of the U.S. House and Senate."
None of these figures tells us how many LinkedIn members are tattooed. They do challenge the idea that tattoos belong to a different world from professional life.
The colleague leading your next meeting may have a sleeve. The physician treating your family may collect tattoos. The founder pitching a business may carry a tribute to someone who helped them get there.
Professional achievement and personal expression share the same skin.
Tattoos at work: what people believe, and what the data shows
Attitudes have moved. In the same Pew survey, 80% of U.S. adults said society has become more accepting of people with tattoos over the past 20 years or so. Among Americans who don't have a tattoo, 66% said seeing one on someone else leaves them with neither a positive nor a negative impression. 29% said it leaves a more negative one.
Perception at work hasn't fully caught up. A 2025 AARP study, based on an Ipsos survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults, found that:
- 60% of tattooed adults say their tattoos are visible to the public most of the time.
- Among people with visible tattoos, 24% have deliberately covered them for a job interview, 17% while at work and 11% at a work event.
- 64% of people with visible tattoos say they have never covered them.
- 58% of adults without tattoos believe a visible tattoo makes it harder to find a job.
Labor-market data doesn't line up neatly with that belief. A peer-reviewed study in Human Relations (French, Mortensen and Timming, 2019) analyzed U.S. survey data and found no evidence of employment, wage or earnings discrimination against people with tattoos. Tattooed respondents were just as likely, and in some cases more likely, to be employed. The authors point out that earlier research with hiring managers found visible tattoos were often seen as a disadvantage. One study doesn't settle every industry, role or placement.
So people still cover up, still worry, and still hear that tattoos and careers don't mix. Meanwhile, a large share of the workforce shows up tattooed every day.
We're not here to settle dress codes. The point is simpler: tattooed professionals are already in every kind of workplace, and the stories behind their tattoos deserve a place in the conversation.
Around the world, the trend points one way
Global numbers are harder to pin down. A 2025 literature review in Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità drew on 86 studies published since 2000. It found tattoo prevalence between 5.2% and 35.3% in developed countries, a significantly increasing trend worldwide, and higher prevalence among younger people.
The review gave ranges rather than one global percentage, because the underlying studies measured different populations in different ways. So the direction is clear, but nobody has an exact worldwide count yet.
There's a person behind every piece
Pew found that 69% of tattooed U.S. adults say honoring or remembering someone or something is a reason they got at least one of their tattoos. That makes it the most common reason they gave.
A résumé rarely captures that side of professional identity.
Ancient Ink's Collector Series invites tattooed professionals to share those stories: what their tattoos mean, how the tattoos have shaped their lives or become part of them, and what it's like to move through their profession wearing them.
Executives. Educators. First responders. Physicians. Attorneys. Engineers. Skilled tradespeople. Entrepreneurs.
What does your LinkedIn profile leave out?
If you're a tattooed professional, we'd like to hear your story through the Collector Series. Tell us about your work, your tattoos, and the experiences that connect them. Share your story in the Collector Series →
Your profile lists your experience. Your tattoos may carry the story behind it.
Where we stand
Ancient Ink makes tattoo ink and tattoo skin care. This piece isn't about either. It belongs to The Second Layer's Culture chapter, which is about the people who wear tattoos and the stories they carry.
Common questions
How many professionals have tattoos?
No source counts tattooed professionals directly. Pew Research Center (2023) found that 32% of U.S. adults have at least one tattoo, including 46% of adults ages 30 to 49 and 24% of adults with a bachelor's degree.
Do tattoos hurt your chances of getting hired?
Beliefs and outcomes differ. AARP (2025) found 58% of untattooed adults think a visible tattoo makes finding a job harder. A 2019 Human Relations study of U.S. data found no evidence of employment or wage discrimination against tattooed people. Results can still vary by industry, role and placement.
Do people cover their tattoos for work?
Some do. Among adults with visible tattoos, AARP found 24% have covered them for a job interview and 17% at work, while 64% say they have never covered them.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, "32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one," Aug. 15, 2023 (survey July 10–16, 2023, N=8,480). pewresearch.org
- AARP Research, "Adult Opinions on and Acceptance of Tattoos and Other Body Art," 2025 (Ipsos fieldwork Dec. 2024, n≈3,076). aarp.org/pri
- French, M.T., Mortensen, K., & Timming, A.R. (2019). "Are tattoos associated with employment and wage discrimination?" Human Relations, 72(5), 962–987. doi:10.1177/0018726718782597
- "Worldwide prevalence of tattoos with a focus on younger age groups: a literature review," Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 2025. annali.iss.it
- LinkedIn Pressroom, "About us" (more than 1.3 billion members), accessed Oct. 2026. news.linkedin.com
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