A few questions about being a tattoo artist?

I want to become a tattoo artist, but I want to know a few things firsthand from people who are actually in the business, rather than just googling statistics. Firstly, what are the employment outlooks for hopefuls in this field? ie, what's the likelihood of me being hired as a tattooist? I've heard that the prospects for tattoo artists are less than great because of the rise in popularity in the career (thanks Miami Ink >_> ). I already know which skills are required, such as being a great artist and having good people skills, and I also know that the majority of the time you have to pay for your apprenticeship if you really want to be come a tattoo artist. However, I was wondering how much the average artist makes? I know that some of the annual salary has to go towards supplies like ink and tattoo guns and such, and I've also heard that sometimes you have to pay to rent space in the shop in which you work in as well as some of the profits going to your boss. But how much do they make on average?