A salary.com survey found that workers in agriculture and ranching were the most heavily tattooed of US professions and that government employees were inked the least. 

This is despite the growing popularity of tattoos generally and the huge jump in people getting visible tattoos such as face, neck, finger, and hand tattoo art in a variety of styles and symbolism. 

Salary.com Survey 

The US wide survey of 2,700 people found that 12% of respondents have a visible tattoo that can be seen by managers and co-workers during the workday. 

Statistics, particularly with older generations, support the prevailing stereotype that “negative associations with tattoos may be partially reinforced by corporate appearance standards, either directly or indirectly, because individuals with visible tattoos are either not hired for jobs, not promoted to higher positions, or hide their tattoos in their corporate roles,” (Broussard and Harton, 2018). 

Interestingly, 76% of all respondents said that having a visible tattoo or piercing can negatively affect your chances of getting a job at the interview stage. 

39% of those surveyed said individual employees with tattoos and piercings reflect poorly on their employers, which stretches to 42% that feel visible tattoos are always inappropriate in the workplace. 

Tattoos by Occupation 

While universal attitudes toward tattoos are moving forward, there remain vast differences in how those with visible tattoos are treated. Knowing what to expect from customers, vendors, and other employees can be difficult to interpret, particularly in roles that emphasize public interaction (Flanagan and Lewis, 2019). 

The most heavily tattooed workers by occupation in the salary.com survey, were those working in agriculture and ranching at 22%.