Individuals with particular abilities and artistry work in the body piercing profession.
Professional body piercers do not need formal education or certification, but they must finish enough training to operate with needles and customers’ bodies comfortably and securely.
With that, you might ask yourself how much do piercers make and where do they get paid most if you are considering a career.
According to ZipRecruiter, San Mateo, CA pays 16.0% more salary to Piercers above the national average.
So if you appreciate artistic expression, meeting new people, and working in a flexible setting, you might be interested in pursuing this.
We’ll go over who is a body piercer, the skills required, and wage and career prospects in this article.
Summary
| Guide | How Much Do Piercers Make? |
|---|---|
| Average Income | $50,050 per year |
| Highest Income | $135,000 per year |
| Qualification | Must be 18+ |
| Training | Needed |
Who Are Piercers?
A body piercer is a skilled artist who uses needles to pierce people’s flesh so they can wear body jewelry.
Body piercers work with people who seek piercings for a variety of reasons, including aesthetic, cultural, and sensational purposes.
Ears, eyebrows, cheeks, navels, tongues, lips, collarbone regions, and practically any other body part the customer desires pierced are among the body parts they learn how to pierce.
A body piercer punctures a client’s skin or a body part with specific needles and tools to create a hole in which they may implant an instrument or jewelry.
Body piercers work for a studio that employs numerous professional piercers or are self-employed and operate their own studio.
Read: How Much Do CTOs Make?
How Much Do Piercers Make?
According to Indeed wages, body piercers earn an average base pay of $50,050 per year.
This value varies based on the piercer’s experience, level of training, reputation, and geographic region.
Body piercers that work in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, make the most money.
Flexible work schedules, employee discounts, and health and life insurance are all possible perks.
Because of aesthetic and cultural piercing traditions and the requirement for competent experts to conduct them, the body piercing business continues to maintain a consistent level of employment and demand.
1. How Much Do Piercers Make an Hour?
Piercers make a minimum of $9.62 an hour and a maximum of $57.21 an hour.
2. How Much Do Piercers Make a Month?
Piercers make a minimum of $1,667 a month and a maximum of $9,917 a month.
3. How Much Do Piercers Make a Year?
Piercers make a minimum of $20,000 a year and a maximum of $119,000 a year.
Highest Salary Of Piercers In 2023
The top ten percent of piercers in the United States make around $135,000 annually. That is, of course, based on a salary and not the revenue of a piercing studio.
However, when we look at the average base salary, the top ten percent of pierces earns more than double an average salary which is a really high amount.
Is Being A Piercer Good Or Bad?
The decision to work as a professional piercer is a big one. There’s a lot of effort and training that goes into this job.
And it’s crucial to understand how it will affect your personal life and money. Only then you can decide whether being a piercer is good or bad for you.
Being a piercer is not an easy task as it requires many skills in one person.
One of which is to have steady hands and a lot of patience to handle customers that are not that much fun to deal with.
It has its upsides and downsides, but you must choose according to your likings whether you want to pursue the piercer career or not.
Pros and Cons of Being A Piercer
Pros
- You get to be your own boss
- No strict education qualification required
- Good pay
- You get to meet a lot of people
Cons
- Risk of getting sued
- Risk of getting infections
Things to Know Before You Become a Piercer
How To Become A Piercer?
To become a Piercer, you need to pass these qualifications first.
- To work as a body piercer, you must be at least 18 years old and have exceptional eyesight and hand-eye coordination.
- You should be able to work with a variety of bodies and body parts and have excellent interpersonal skills. Individuals must complete various standards in different states before becoming piercers.
- Due to the nature of the piercer’s job, most states and studios require body piercers to undergo and maintain various health certifications. Body piercers are responsible for both their client’s and their own safety during piercings and must adhere to stringent cleanliness regulations.
Here’s how you can become a Piercer:
- Once you have researched about this industry and met the qualification requirement, the next step would be to find a mentor and get trained under him/her as per the Association of Professional Piercers (APP).
- Next, you will have to complete and pass health and safety training given by National Safety Council or Red Cross, etc.
- After this, you will have to complete an apprenticeship of up to 12 months under an expert.
- Once you have done all this, you can apply for a license and start your own piercing studio as soon as you get it.
How Many Hours Does Piercer Work?
Piercers ideally choose to work for 8 hours just like they would in a 9-5 office setup.
However, most Piercers are self-employed, and they can choose to work for more or fewer hours depending on their choice.
What is the Starting Pay of Piercer?
The starting pay of a Piercer is $9.62 an hour or $1,667 a month. With more experience in this field, they can earn up to $57.21 an hour or even more.
Piercer Training Programs
Firstly, you have to find a mentor willing to train you to finish a body piercing apprenticeship, which the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) advises for all body piercers.
The mentor should be a talented and experienced body piercer with at least five years of experience in the field.
Investigate local piercers, pay visits to renowned studios, and find practitioners you admire and wish to work with.
To work in several states and counties, body piercers must be licensed. If you want to be a professional body piercer, check your state’s board of health website. Or ask your mentor if you need a special license.
To obtain a license, you may need to prepare for and pass a local health and safety rules test.
Even if the state you are living in does not mandate licensing, you should take the exam to increase your work prospects since many studios prefer to use certified body piercers.
Conclusion
A piercing apprenticeship may lead to a lifelong profession, but it requires dedication to the art of body piercing.
Owning a business is similar to having a kid in that it may be the most beautiful and fantastic experience of your life. Piercing is similar to piercing in many respects.
To get to the good, you must learn and do what is required to get through the difficult times. That is not for everyone.
And if you want stability, compensated health care, and a retirement plan, you will have to make such things happen on your own.
In fact, you may have to make compromises in order to keep piercing. The pay is definitely not low, but it is not the best.
However, if you are good at your job, there is no limit on your pay as you can set your rate as high as you want.
FAQ
How much do piercers make when they have their own studio?
There is actually no limit on how much you can make, but it is definitely higher than the average base salary for piercers working in a company or a studio of someone else’s.
If a piercer is working on a salary, how much do piercers make when compared to those who have their own studio?
Having your own studio has a lot of risks, but if those risks pay off, on average, someone with a studio could earn at least double the average base salary for a piercer.
How much do piercers make when they are pursuing it as a side hustle?
If you are not doing full-time, only in your free time, the income is much lower than an average base salary for sure.
Shefali Jain is a Content Writer & Editor at USWorkforce.org
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes. In her time at the organization, she has written and edited content on a range of topics, including employment law, human resources, and business management.
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