About 24% of tattooed Americans say they regret at least one tattoo,
according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey of 8,480 adults — a figure
corroborated by a peer-reviewed Cureus study that found an 18.2% regret rate
among 1,072 tattooed participants using census-matched sampling. On the
inaction side, 85% of non-tattooed adults say they are unlikely to ever
get a tattoo, leaving roughly 15% who express some intent — a proxy for
latent desire, though not a direct regret measure. The resulting pattern
makes tattoos one of the clearest action-dominates entries in the dataset: a
permanent, visible, body-altering decision where the thing you did haunts
more than the thing you did not.
The psychology is straightforward and cuts against the usual Gilovich
finding. Most regretted life decisions involve inaction — the degree not
pursued, the relationship not attempted — because inactions leave an open
counterfactual that the mind inflates over time. Tattoos close the
counterfactual: the ink is there, on the skin, every day. There is no
ambiguity about the outcome. The Cureus study found that getting a tattoo
while impaired, choosing a head or neck location, and experiencing an
adverse event (infection, allergic reaction) were all significant predictors
of regret. Age at first tattoo also matters: the mean age of first tattoo
was 19.3 years for those who regretted versus 22.7 for those who did not,
suggesting that three to four years of additional frontal-cortex development
measurably reduces lifetime regret.
The main caveat is measurement asymmetry. The action side benefits from a
clean, direct question; the inaction side relies on a future-intent proxy
because no major survey asks non-tattooed adults whether they actively
regret not having a tattoo. The 15% figure almost certainly overstates
inaction regret, since “I might get one someday” is weaker than “I wish I
had done it.” Cognitive dissonance also cuts both ways: tattooed people may
underreport regret to protect self-image, while non-tattooed people may
suppress desire to justify their choice. The directional finding — that
tattoo regret runs action-heavy — is robust across multiple studies and
consistent with the irreversibility mechanism; the precise 24-to-15 ratio
should be read as approximate.
Sources: action
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
[1]Pew Research Center — 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one
Primary study
About a quarter (24%) of tattooed Americans say they ever regret getting one or more of their tattoos
Excerpt
“"About a quarter (24%) of tattooed Americans say they ever regret getting one or more of their tattoos. Among those with tattoos, younger adults are more likely than older adults to say they have regretted getting a tattoo."
”
Source data from
2023-08-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Pew Research Center American Trends Panel survey of 8,480 US adults conducted July 10-16, 2023. The 24% figure is among the subset who report having at least one tattoo (32% of all respondents). Used directly as the action-regret rate.
[2]Cureus (peer-reviewed) — Think Before You Ink: Perception, Prevalence, and Correlates of Tattooing and Tattoo Regret in US Adults
Peer-reviewed
18.2% of tattooed US adults reported regretting one or more of their tattoos
Excerpt
“"Of those with tattoos, 18.2% reported regretting one or more of their tattoos. The number of comorbid conditions, time with a tattoo, being impaired when getting the tattoo, having a tattoo on the head or neck, and experiencing a tattoo-related adverse event were predictive of having tattoo regret."
”
Source data from
2023-11-02
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Cross-sectional study of 3,033 US adults recruited using a random stratified sampling framework similar to the US Census. 35.3% (1,072) reported having a tattoo. The 18.2% regret rate among tattooed respondents is lower than the Pew figure (24%), possibly due to stricter sampling. We use the Pew 24% as the primary action-side rate given its larger sample and the ATP's established representativeness methodology.
Sources: inaction
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
[1]Pew Research Center — 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one
Primary study
15% of non-tattooed Americans say they are somewhat, very, or extremely likely to get a tattoo in the future
Excerpt
“"The vast majority (85%) of Americans who don't have a tattoo say they are not too or not at all likely to get one in the future. Among those under 30 without a tattoo, 19% say they are extremely or very likely to get one."
”
Source data from
2023-08-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Same Pew ATP survey (n=8,480). Among the 68% of respondents without a tattoo, 6% said extremely/very likely and 9% said somewhat likely to get one in the future, totaling 15%. This is a desire-intent measure, not a direct regret measure — see caveats. Used as the inaction-side proxy because no large-sample survey directly asks non-tattooed adults whether they regret not having a tattoo.
[2]YouGov — Americans have become more favorable toward tattoos in the past decade
Reference source
24% of Americans currently have a tattoo; attitudes toward tattoos have become significantly more favorable over the past decade
Excerpt
“"Americans have become more favorable toward tattoos in the past decade. 24% of Americans say they currently have a tattoo, with women (30%) more likely than men (19%) to have one. Of those with tattoos, 22% in America have any regrets."
”
Source data from
2025-03-14
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
YouGov survey corroborating the Pew action-regret range (22% vs 24%). The growing social acceptance of tattoos suggests that inaction regret may be rising over time as tattoos become more normative, but no direct inaction-regret figure is available.
Caveats
The action and inaction measures are not symmetrical. The 24% action-regret rate is a direct regret question ("Do you ever regret getting a tattoo?"), while the 15% inaction figure is a future-intent proxy ("How likely are you to get a tattoo?"), not a retrospective regret question. No large-sample survey directly asks non-tattooed adults whether they regret not getting ink. The true inaction-regret rate is likely lower than 15%, since wanting something is not the same as regretting its absence. A peer-reviewed Cureus study found a lower action-regret rate of 18.2%, which would narrow the delta further. Tattoos are a rare counterexample to Gilovich and Medvec's typical inaction-dominance pattern: the irreversibility and visibility of the decision sustain action regret in a way that a forgone vacation or unattempted career move does not. Cognitive dissonance may also suppress reported regret among the tattooed — people are motivated to rationalize permanent choices — meaning the true action-regret rate could be higher than surveys capture. Survey data are drawn exclusively from United States samples; satisfaction and regret rates in countries with different social norms around body modification and tattoo acceptance may differ substantially.
