With the gambling industry bringing in a record $71.9 billion in revenue last year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Most Gambling-Addicted States, as well as expert commentary, in order to highlight where this dangerous addiction is most prevalent.
WalletHub compared the 50 states across 20 key metrics. The data set ranges from the presence of illegal gambling operations to lottery sales per capita to the share of adults with gambling disorders.
Gambling Addiction in New York (1=Most Addicted, 25=Avg.):
- Overall Rank: 13th
- 28th – Casinos per Capita
- 31st – Gaming Machines per Capita
- 6th – Lottery Sales per Capita
- 43rd – % of Adults with Gambling Disorders
- 1st – Gambling-Related Arrests per Capita
- 1st – Legality of Daily Fantasy Sports
- 1st – Legality of Sports Gambling
For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-addicted-to-gambling/20846.
Expert Commentary
On balance, are state lotteries a good idea? Is there a way to make them less regressive?
“For most people, the lottery is simple entertainment. I mean, $2 is a low price to pay to be able to dream about being a millionaire. That being said, lottery games, especially scratch-off tickets, prey upon the poor with people in the lowest fifth of incomes spending roughly 20x as much on lottery tickets as a percentage of their income as people in the top fifth of incomes. One way to make them less regressive is to less aggressively advertise the lottery in poor neighborhoods. Another is to emphasize games with large jackpots such as the Mega-Millions or PowerBall. Studies have shown these two big multi-state lotteries become much less regressive as their jackpots rise since at a $1 billion jackpot, even rich people who would never buy an instant win scratch-off ticket are willing to buy in for a chance at a $1 billion.”
Victor Matheson – Professor, College of the Holy Cross
“In my opinion, the following are the main strengths and concerns with state lotteries:
Strengths: Generate revenue to states. Between 50 to 60 percent of the revenue from state lotteries goes to lottery winners. Remaining revenue is kept by the state to fund various state sponsored programs such as education, health and social services, etc. Entertainment value. Lotteries can be a source of inexpensive, short-term entertainment. A dream come true. A winning lottery ticket may be the only avenue for someone to become a millionaire.
Concerns: Lottery regressivity. Instant games are more regressive than higher jackpot games. Studies have shown that lower-income households tend to purchase more instant games than higher-income households. False hope. The odds of winning Mega Millions and Powerball are 1 in 302 million and 1 in 292.2 million, respectively. Lottery revenue generated from low-income household areas is used to fund projects throughout the state. Is this a fair distribution of revenue? Households might use money set aside for necessities (i.e., utilities, food, tuition) to purchase lottery tickets.”
Suk Hun Lee – Professor, Loyola University Chicago
Should daily fantasy sports be regulated as gambling?
“Absolutely. In fact, numerous states had declared daily fantasy sports to be indistinguishable from regular sports betting and had banned the activity. However, before the courts could fully settle the matter, the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide ban on sports betting, and this issue became moot as most states moved to legalize sports betting (and as part of that effectively legalized daily fantasy sports.)”
Victor Matheson – Professor, College of the Holy Cross
Have the economic struggles of recent years impacted the gambling industry in any way?
“Thanks to the Supreme Court overturning the nationwide prohibition on legalized sports gambling, that industry has grown from less than $10B in legal sports bets made in 2017 to over $140B in legal sports bets made in 2024. Lottery ticket sales have also generally remained strong. The pandemic was extremely harmful to the casino business, but that industry has largely bounced back.”
Victor Matheson – Professor, College of the Holy Cross