US Gambling Revenue by State: Complete 2020–2025 Data
2025 was another landmark year for the US commercial gambling industry, pulling in nearly $79 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR). However, this large national total conceals a market moving in very different directions. For example, established casino states continue to generate the largest revenues. Meanwhile, jurisdictions that have expanded their online sports betting have recorded some of the fastest growth. Others stagnated under more restrictive frameworks.
In this guide, we’ll analyze the numbers and trends of US gambling revenue by state. We compare GGR, tax collections, and long-term growth to identify which markets lead, which are emerging, and the policy decisions driving the divide.
Key Findings
- Online gambling legalization transformed markets. Michigan (+557%), New York (+336%), Tennessee (+2,013%), and Connecticut (+869%) saw explosive GGR growth after launching iGaming and/or mobile sports betting.
- Revenue leadership differs from tax leadership. Nevada led 2024 GGR ($15.6B), but Pennsylvania ($2.53B) and New York ($2.29B) generated far more gaming tax revenue.
- The winning formula is a dual-market strategy. States that launched iGaming alongside sports betting saw the biggest GGR gains. The higher-margin casino games generate most gambling revenue.
National Overview
US commercial gambling revenue grew 162% between 2020 and 2025, increasing from $30.0 billion to a record $78.6 billion. The surge began with a post-pandemic rebound as casinos reopened for business. Since then, there’s been an expansion driven by new state legislation and the rapid rollout of online sports betting.
| Year | Total US Commercial GGR ($M) | YoY Change | Direct Gaming Tax Revenue ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 29,980 | — | 6,690 |
| 2021 | 53,030 | +77.0% | 10,970 |
| 2022 | 60,453 | +14.0% | 13,448 |
| 2023 | 66,655 | +10.3% | 14,660 |
| 2024 | 72,039 | +8.1% | 15,908 |
| 2025 | 78,620 | +9.1% | 17,860 |
Top 5 States by Gambling Revenue
Nevada remains the nation’s top market for US sports betting revenue by state in 2024, a position it has held for decades. Several other jurisdictions have grown more than sixfold since 2020 following the rollout of online casinos and sports betting.
Here are the five states that reported the highest gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2024.
| Rank | State | 2024 GGR ($M) | 2020–2024 Growth | 2024 Tax Revenue ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | $15,606 | +1.0% (mature market) | $1,201 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $6,299 | +119% | $799 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | $6,871 | +155% | $2,529 |
| 4 | New York | $5,170 | +336% | $2,291 |
| 5 | Michigan | $4,194 | +557% | $963 |
Nevada
Little changed in Nevada between 2020 and 2024. GGR rose just 1%, in contrast to the triple-digit gains recorded across the other leading jurisdictions. Gambling has been legal in the state since 1931, and Las Vegas now draws nearly 40 million visitors a year. The industry’s revenue base is supported by conventions, hotels, entertainment, and tourism. New gambling products account for a much smaller share of the growth. Early 2025 followed a similar pattern, with statewide gaming revenue up 3.5% in June even as Las Vegas visitor volume fell 11.3% year over year.
New Jersey
Ranked second is New Jersey. An early pioneer of regulated online gambling, New Jersey first launched legal online casinos in 2013. It has since spent over a decade refining one of the country’s most established iGaming markets. Current trends also put the state on pace to surpass $7 billion in annual GGR during 2025.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania does not rely on a single form of gambling. Instead, its market has it all: retail casinos, online casinos, online poker, sports betting, and video gaming terminals. The state generated a higher 2024 GGR than New Jersey, with slot taxes reaching 54%. It also pulled in nearly $2.5 billion in gaming tax revenue, the highest effective tax yield among the top five US gaming jurisdictions.
New York
New York’s gaming market generated $5.17 billion in GGR during 2024, with gaming tax revenue reaching nearly $2.3 billion. After online sports betting launched in January 2022, the annual GGR climbed from roughly $1.2 billion to over $5.1 billion in just two years. The state’s 51% tax on mobile sports betting is the highest in the nation. Compared with every other top-five gaming state, New York generates the most gaming tax revenue despite ranking fourth in GGR.
Michigan
Michigan posted the strongest growth among the nation’s top gaming markets. Gross gaming revenue climbed from $638 million in 2020 to $4.19 billion in 2024, a 557% increase. The expansion followed the legalization of online casinos alongside sports betting. Despite ranking fifth in GGR, the state generated nearly $1 billion in gaming tax revenue during 2024.
Bottom 5 States by Gambling Revenue
The lower end of the US gambling revenue by state rankings is largely made up of newer and emerging gambling markets. Interestingly, every jurisdiction with a 2020 baseline posted growth between 2020 and 2024.
| Rank | State | 2024 GGR ($M) | 2020–2024 Growth | 2024 Tax Revenue ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Montana | $7.1 | +196% | $2.7 |
| 35 | Wyoming | $22.8 | +470% | $13 |
| 36 | Vermont | $21.9 | N/A | $6.3 |
| 37 | District of Columbia | $53.7 | +295% | $16.1 |
| 38 | New Hampshire | $79.1 | +235% | $34.9 |
Bear in mind, low rankings do not necessarily reflect weak gambling markets. Several of these jurisdictions serve relatively small populations. For example, Wyoming and Vermont are home to roughly 587,000 and 647,000 people, respectively. Moreover, Vermont only launched regulated online sports betting in January 2024 yet generated $21.9 million in GGR in its first year.
Montana is the notable exception. Despite offering video lottery terminals for decades, the state made few major changes to its gambling market. As a result, growth has been limited compared to jurisdictions that expanded into online gambling and sports betting.
Outliers and Notable Trends
Tennessee — The No-Casino Sports Betting Anomaly
Tennessee broke the conventional playbook, operating without a single commercial casino or sportsbook. Instead, its online-only sports betting market produced $573 million in GGR in 2024, up from just $27 million in 2020. This massive 2,013% surge shows a state doesn’t need a traditional casino footprint to generate major gambling revenue.
Connecticut — Delayed Launch, Rapid Catch-Up
Connecticut may not have gotten an early seat at the table, but it wasted no time catching up. After generating just $78.5 million in GGR during 2020, the state rolled out online casinos and sports betting over the next two years. By 2024, GGR had surged 869% to $761 million. Very few markets better illustrate the compounding effect of launching both verticals at the same time.
Virginia — Fastest Major-State Ramp
Virginia shows why a smooth rollout can be worth billions. Mobile sports betting went live in January 2021 after the state generated $285.9 million in GGR during 2020. By 2024, that figure had reached almost six times that, with 2025 projected to top $1.8 billion.
Michigan — iGaming as the Multiplier
Michigan first legalized online casino games and sports betting in January 2021, making it one of only six states to do so. Since then, its GGR expanded by 557%, from $638 million in 2020 to $4.19 billion in 2024. From this, it’s clear how sportsbooks attract significant betting volume. However, it’s online casinos that bring in the most gambling revenue through higher-margin products such as slots, table games, and poker.
Mississippi — The Stagnation Story
Mississippi’s GGR peaked in 2021 at $2.67 billion, then fell to $2.60 billion in 2022 and $2.51 billion in 2023. It finished 2024 at $2.43 billion, marking three straight terms of decline. This suggests traditional casino markets are losing some of their edge, especially as neighboring states let players gamble from home.
Florida — Flat Despite Population
Florida generated $687.5 million in GGR in 2024, far less than you’d expect from a state with 22 million residents. Years of legal battles over online sports betting have held back market growth, leaving one of the country’s largest gaming opportunities largely untapped.
How Do States Tax Gambling Revenue?
States tax gambling revenue by applying statutory rates to the money operators retain after paying winning bets. Individual legislatures set those rules, often assigning separate schedules for slot machines, table games, online casinos, and sports betting. As a result, implied effective burdens range from about 8% to 50% across the United States. Such disparities reflect fundamentally different policy objectives. Some jurisdictions view legalized gambling primarily as a source of public revenue. Others emphasize investment, profitability, and long-term market competitiveness.
The commercial gaming industry delivered $15.9 billion to public coffers in 2024. Four years earlier, that total stood at only $6.7 billion. Below is a table comparing different policy choices and how much of platforms’ GGR ultimately flows to the public sector.
| State | 2024 GGR ($M) | 2024 Tax Revenue ($M) | Implied Effective Rate | Tax Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $554.5 | $250.4 | ~45% | State lottery operates VLTs under a high-revenue-sharing model |
| Rhode Island | $711.1 | $357.2 | ~50% | Lottery-operated casino model with one of the highest government revenue shares |
| Pennsylvania | $6,871 | $2,529 | ~37% | High-tax structure, including a 54% slot tax |
| New York | $5,170 | $2,291 | ~44% | 51% mobile sports betting tax, the highest in the US |
| Maryland | $2,612 | $925.6 | ~35% | Tiered tax structure; gaming revenue supports the Education Trust Fund |
| Nevada | $15,606 | $1,201 | ~7.7% | Low-tax model designed to support a competitive casino industry |
| South Dakota | $151.9 | $13.0 | ~8.6% | Low-tax commercial casino model centered on Deadwood |
Where Does Gambling Tax Revenue Go?
Most state gambling tax revenue flows back into state funds. Here are some of the public services and other government priorities fueled at least in part by the state’s GGR.
Education
Maryland has directed over $7 billion in casino gaming revenue to its Education Trust Fund since 2010. The money pays for public school construction and teacher salaries. In Georgia and New York, lottery tickets do most of the work. They both have all proceeds earmarked for education, with Georgia funding the HOPE Scholarship and statewide pre-kindergarten. New York also sends 51% of mobile sports betting tax revenue towards the same cause.
Local Government and Host Communities
Many states reserve a portion of state gambling tax revenue for the cities and counties that host casinos. Pennsylvania, for example, imposes a 4% local share assessment on slot revenue. Illinois sends local governments 5% of a casino’s adjusted gross receipts. Meanwhile, Indiana has long used casino payments to help fund infrastructure and public services in host communities.
Problem Gambling Programs
Every commercial gaming jurisdiction has a dedicated mechanism to fund problem gambling programs. These programs primarily support treatment, education, prevention, and research through public and nonprofit service providers. These often include affiliates of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Delaware guarantees at least $1 million or 1% of video lottery proceeds, whichever is higher. Maryland uses annual assessments on every slot machine and table game. These contributions have topped $56 million since 2011.
General Fund/State Budget
Nevada stands out here because most gaming tax revenue isn’t assigned to a specific program. In fiscal 2024, about $1.19 billion flowed into the State General Fund, while the rest went to dedicated accounts. Lawmakers then decide how to spend the General Fund money through the annual budget.
Infrastructure and Economic Development
Some states treat gambling taxes as long-term investments. Colorado uses 28% of limited gaming tax collections to preserve historic landmarks. Meanwhile, Louisiana channels a portion into the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which helps attract major sporting events and conventions.
Methodology and Data Sources
To compare commercial state gambling tax revenue across US jurisdictions between 2020 and 2025, we compiled a dataset using publicly available figures from the American Gaming Association’s annual State of the States reports. The analysis draws on the 2021 through 2025 editions to cover the previous calendar year. For 2025, we used national totals published in 2026, then collected state-level figures from the American Gaming Association’s individual state overview pages.
Our dataset includes every US jurisdiction with commercial casino gaming, sports betting, or iGaming in operation by December 31, 2024, a total of 38. All figures are presented in US dollars (millions).
Each state contributed two key metrics:
- Total Commercial Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR): Combined gross gaming revenue from commercial land-based casinos, sports betting, and iGaming, as reported by each state’s gaming regulator.
- Direct Gaming Tax Revenue: State and local taxes paid by commercial gaming platforms. This metric excludes federal excise tax, corporate income tax, sales tax, and payroll tax.
The following methodological considerations affect the interpretation and comparability of the revenue data:
- Revenue reporting differs across states (e.g., gross vs net revenue after promotional deductions and accrual vs cash accounting for sports betting).
- iGaming revenue is reported only for states where online casino gaming was legal (NJ, PA, MI, CT, DE, WV, NV, and RI as of 2024).
- Sports betting launched in different years across states. First-year figures may represent only partial-year operations.
- Revenue figures for 2020 were affected by COVID-19 casino closures. Commercial casinos remained closed for approximately 27% of scheduled operating days on average.
- “—” indicates that a state did not have commercial gaming in that year or that 2025 state-level revenue data were not yet available.
We also examined Google Trends data for the following 10 gambling addiction-related search terms between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025:
Google Trends reports relative search interest rather than search volume. A score of 100 marks the point when a query reached its peak during the selected period. As a result, data tracks how search activity changed over time rather than how they compare with one another.
