The American Gaming Association released new reports that showed the economic impact of gaming.
In the past year, legal gambling made big strides in both US economic impact and acceptance across American consumers. In the state of New Jersey alone, the study says the commercial NJ gambling industry contributed:
- $11.9 billion to the NJ economy
- 51,834 jobs in NJ
- $1.9 billion in tax revenue for the state
Bill Miller, president and CEO of the AGA, said in a release:
“The US gaming industry delivers long-term growth and impact to communities, generating significant tax revenue, creating strong jobs, supporting local small businesses, and funding critical community priorities.”
In New Jersey, gaming taxes provide critical funding for the state’s public education system, disabled resident programs and senior citizen support. Taxes from gaming also support law enforcement and economic development programming.
Economic impact of gaming in America as a whole
Let’s crunch some economic numbers, shall we?
According to the AGA’s report, the gaming industry contributed a whopping $329 billion to the US economy in 2022, along with $104 billion in wages and salaries and $53 billion in tax revenue.
America’s gaming industry directly employs over 700,00 people in the US. That’s more jobs than air transportation, the US postal service or the motion picture and video sectors. Direct casino employment accounts for 1 in 33 leisure and hospitality jobs.
Of those 700,000 jobs, around 600,000 are on-site – for example, at Atlantic City casinos and corporate offices. In addition, over 23,000 jobs are at US-based operations of gaming manufacturers, and 89,000 at businesses providing goods and services to casino patrons.
Beyond direct employment, the AGA found that gaming supports a total of 1.8 million jobs for a total impact of $104 billion of labor income across wages, salaries, tips, benefits and other labor income.
American attitudes toward gaming are improving
The AGA also reported that more Americans than ever participated in gaming-related entertainment in the past 12 months.
Some 71% of Americans say they see that the gaming industry has a positive impact on the overall US economy. Americans saw gaming as contributing to local and regional economies in several ways, including
- Bringing in dining and entertainment to areas that otherwise might not have options
- Creating tourism opportunities
- Producing jobs and investments that can’t be outsourced to other countries
- Creating wage growth
Nearly half of all American adults (49%) engaged in some form of gambling in the past year. That includes more than a quarter (26%) who gambled at a physical casino and 20% who placed a sports bet.
A big part of the influx of gaming customers is due to younger adults embracing legal gaming options. The average age of casino patrons has fallen each year since 2019, from 49.6 to 42.
