Which States Are Home to America’s Biggest Gamblers?

Whether you like to dabble at the blackjack and poker tables or hit a spin or two at the slot machines, it’s safe to say that gambling is one of America’s more popular pastimes, at least in the states where casinos can set down roots.

Naturally, though, while gambling is certainly becoming more commonplace across the nation, it’s definitely more prevalent in some states as compared to others. But just which state in America is home to the biggest gamblers?

To find out, we examined several factors in order to rank the top 10 most gambling-enthused states in the US, such as the total gross revenue of each state’s casinos, the average percentage of their residents’ income spent on gambling, and the frequency of casino and gambling search terms for the local area in the last year.

From there, we indexed all of our factors to give each state a score out of 100 – the higher the score, the more popular gambling is. So, without further ado, here are America’s top gambling states.

America’s Top Gambling States

From the expected contenders to a few surprise entries, here are the most enthusiastic gambling states in the US, ranked from most to least popular:

1. Nevada

As expected, and to literally no one’s surprise, the top state in the US for gambling is, of course, Nevada. Home to the casino city king that is Las Vegas, Nevada earned a whopping total score of 94.9 out of 100 – a result that was three times as much as the second-place state!

With a revenue of $6,188.66 per person for its staggering 229 casinos, and an average income spend of an insane 1115.27% (all three factors being the highest in their respective areas), Nevada truly is the place to be if you want to place any kind of wager.

As an interesting aside, however, Nevada only ranked fifth for gambling search terms at 62,200 per year. Though given that the majority of people gambling here are likely heading to the Vegas area, a Google for such places probably isn’t necessary.

2. Pennsylvania

Next, we have Pennsylvania, which garnered a slightly lower overall score of 31.26 – a touch smaller than that of Nevada. However, given that the state only legalized gambling back in 2004, it’s actually rather impressive that it scored so highly.

In fact, it would seem that gambling has already cemented itself in Pennsylvanian culture, with the average percentage of income spent being 97.06% and search terms around gambling sitting at 77,060 (the highest on our list). And even though Pennsylvania is only home to 17 casinos, it still saw a revenue per capita of $567.54 – the fourth highest overall.

3. New York

Coming in third, we have the home of the Big Apple – New York State – with a total index score of 27.6. Having only legalized a limited number of casinos in 2013, almost a decade after Pennsylvania, it’s once again impressive to see such a sudden rise in gambling popularity over a short span of time.

Indeed, New York residents continue to see interest in gambling today, with an average of 67,716 gambling-related searches registered per month and 34 casinos opened across the state.

Despite this, however, New Yorkers actually have the second lowest percentage of average income spent overall and revenue per capita – 40.38%, and $302.34, respectively – showing that locals, while enjoying placing the occasional bet, also have the restraint to know when to cash in their chips.

4. Ohio

Another late adopter of gambling, only legalizing it in 2009, Ohio, continues the trend of states seeing rapid gambling growth in our top ten by claiming the fourth spot in the rankings.

Almost matching New York with a score of 26.8, Ohio residents have the second-highest number of casino and gambling searches on our list at 70,687. Not only that, the average revenue per capita for casinos is $360.50, which is quite high when you consider there are only 11 in the state.

5. Illinois

Moving away from more recently-emerging gambling states, we have Illinois, which opened its first riverboat casino way back in 1991. And in the time since then, the population of this state has managed to maintain its betting excitement while also reining in those gambling urges.

As it turns out, Illinois actually had the lowest revenue per capita and lowest average percentage of income spent of any state on our list, sitting at $256.38 and 40.10% each, respectively And despite gambling being legal for well over 30 years, the state is only home to 15 casinos. However, with searches sitting at around 65,057 per year, it’s clear gambling is still popular.

6. Washington

Heading now toward the bottom of our list, the sixth state with the most gamblers appears to be Washington, which scored a round total of 23 out of 100. Housing the same number of casinos as New York at 34, Washington residents only made 52,014 searches for gambling terms in the last 12 months, perhaps hinting at a decline in popularity.

However, despite these lower search volumes, those entering Washington’s casinos still generated a revenue per capita of $410.39 and had an average income percentage spend of 56.72%. It appears that when Washington’s casino goers gamble, they like to go big.

7. Mississippi

Returning to another familiar home of gambling, Mississippi landed in seventh place thanks to an overall score of 22.6. This is a surprisingly low total when you consider that the average revenue per capita made by its casinos was $1,098.64, the second highest behind Nevada!

And the high scores don’t stop there. Mississippi also saw the second-highest percentage of average income spent per person at 243.17% at its 29 casinos. In spite of all this, Mississippi only saw 31,960 searches for casinos and gambling, perhaps indicating that gambling is not as popular in the state as it used to be.

8. Louisiana

Coming in eighth, we have Louisiana. Another state to legalize gambling back in the early nineties, Louisiana’s gambling scene, while strong, was only able to earn a low total score of 22.3.

Much like Mississippi, this is partially due to its low gambling search volume of 42,650, but it still held a strong revenue per capita of $769.07 – which is actually the third highest for our list overall. Add to this an income spend of 150.98% on average at 24 casinos, and it’s a real surprise Louisiana sits so low.

9. Michigan

Nestled down in ninth on our list, we have Michigan. Scoring 21.9 out of 100, Michigan continues the trend of older gambling states placing lower than those that recently legalized such hobbies.

Indeed, while Michigan’s 26 casinos saw a revenue per capita of $451.85 and an average income spend of 77.91%, low search volume around the topic ,as in other cases, prevented this state from placing higher, with only 49,686 searches in the last year.

10. Indiana

Last, but not least, we have Indiana in tenth with a score of 21.5, closely matching that of Louisiana and Michigan before it. Interestingly, Indiana had a much higher yearly search volume around gambling than those states, yet it came last overall.

And the reason for this would seem to be its low number of casinos. Sitting at only 13 across the state, the relatively high average income spend of 100.02% and revenue per capita of $535.08 are not as impactful when you consider how few places there are to gamble.

And there you have it, those are America’s biggest gambling states. So, the next time you get the urge to put a bet down and test the odds, you know where to go. Of course, if you can’t wait that long, then you can always pop over to Legal US Poker Sites for more gambling insights and betting opportunities!