Tattoo law in United States
What the law requires of a tattoo studio here, and how to check one yourself. We list 2,224 studios in United States.
Checked against primary sources on 21 July 2026. Laws change — the sources are linked at the bottom so you can verify anything here.
Is this studio licensed?
Licensed at state level
There is no national tattoo licence in the United States. Regulation is done state by state, and in a number of states it is devolved further to county or city health departments. This means two studios an hour apart can be under genuinely different legal obligations. Always check the rule for the specific state — and, where the state leaves it to local government, the specific county.
What we have not confirmed
Federal ink rules under MoCRA are not yet recorded here. State rows carry the detail; states without a row have not been checked yet.
The rules are different next door
People assume these rules are national. They are usually not.
- Pennsylvaniaunder 18 with parental consent
- Texassee page
Sources
- FDA — Tattoos and Permanent Makeup: Fact Sheet — retrieved 2026-07-21
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it can go out of date. Every source above is linked so you can check the current position yourself.