Aug. 17 (UPI) — The percentage of U.S. adults who say they’ve taken part in any form of gambling over the past year has dropped from 64% in 2016 to 45% in 2026, a new Gallup poll released Monday said.
In almost every category in the poll, the percentage of people saying they’d taken part in a gambling activity dropped, with the three greatest drops coming among those who said they’ve purchased a state lottery ticket (49% to 31%), gambled in person at a casino (26% to 14%) or participated in an office pool on a sports event (15% to 7%).
“These lower reported gambling rates coincide with a decline in the percentage of Americans who say that gambling is ‘morally acceptable,’ from 67% in 2016 to a new low of 57% earlier this year,” Gallup said.
The poll found that reports of gambling were down among all major subgroups of Americans. About 54% of upper-income Americans (those with an annual household income of $100,000 or more) said they gambled, compared to 45% of middle-income Americans (annual household income of $50,000 to $99,999) and 40% of lower-income adults (annual household income of less than $50,000).
About 49% of men said they gambled, compared to 40% of women. About 50% of older people (50 and older) said they gambled, compared to 41% of younger adults. Women ages 18 to 49 were the least likely group to say they gambled, about 35%.
In the history of the poll, first conducted on this subject in 1989, people have always been most likely to say they’ve participated in state lotteries, Gallup said. For the first 10 years, majorities said they’d played a state lottery. Percentages then fell to the high-40% range before the current lowpoint.
The peak in those reporting they’d gambled at a casino was in 2003, with 30% of people saying they’d done so. Gallup said the decline in in-person gambling might be due to the rise of online gambling. While only 4% said they’ve done so, it was the only category without a percentage decline.
Gallup also said that reported gambling rates are higher in online surveys than in this recent poll, which was conducted by telephone interviews with live interviewers. A parallel web survey by Gallup in June showed greater amounts of those saying they’d gambled in the past year across all 13 categories and a 53% overall percentage.
Gallup surveyed 2,201 adults between June 1-July 19 with a 3% margin of error.