The results signal a potential 19% drop in interest in gambling activity over the past decade
Fewer US adults say they gambled during the past year than a decade ago, according to new Gallup polling reported this week.
A total of 45% of respondents reported at least one form of gambling, down from 64% in 2016. The decline cut across every major demographic group Gallup measured.
The largest falls came in traditional activities. Just 31% of respondents said they bought a state lottery ticket, down from 49% in 2016.
Traditional lottery sales fell 5.1% in FY2025, largely because Powerball and Mega Millions produced fewer blockbuster jackpot runs.
Mega Millions also raised its ticket price from $2 to $5 in April 2025, while some state lotteries cited inflation as putting pressure on scratch-ticket sales.
Meanwhile, 14% of respondents said they gambled in person at a casino, compared with 26% a decade earlier. Office pools also lost ground, with 7% saying they took part in one, down from 15% in 2016.
Sports betting remained comparatively steady against more recent historical readings. Out of all respondents, 7% said they bet on professional sports, versus 10% in 2016. In addition, 4% said they bet on college sports, compared with 5%.
Just 4% said they gambled online for money, though that was slightly above the 3% recorded in 2016. A total of 2% reported betting on a future non-athletic event through an online prediction market.
The results came as legal gambling options expanded across much of the country. Gallup’s parallel online survey, however, produced higher participation rates than its telephone poll.
Men were more likely than women to say they gambled, by 49% to 40%. Adults aged 50 or older also reported higher participation than younger adults, 50% to 41%.
Gallup’s methodology
The figures came from combined telephone interviews conducted in June and July with 2,201 adults. The reported margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Gallup, which has been conducting the poll for 37 years, used random-digit dialling for mobile and landline numbers. Interviews were also offered in Spanish for primarily Spanish-speaking respondents.
The poll weighted responses for demographic factors, political identification and phone usage. Those procedures may give the findings a stronger basis than an opt-in consumer poll.
Gallup also tested the same questions through its probability-based online panel in June. That survey put past-year gambling at 53%, eight points above the telephone result.
Shaping the larger picture
The difference is material. Gallup said respondents may be less willing to disclose gambling to a live interviewer. Its telephone findings should therefore be read as a measure of reported behaviour, rather than a complete count of gambling activity.
Still, the online result remained below the 64% telephone reading from 2016. Gallup said that supported the conclusion that participation has declined.
Other recent surveys have examined different questions. Gallup found in May that 57% considered gambling morally acceptable, down from 67% in 2016.
A National Council on Problem Gambling survey conducted by Harris Poll in February focused on early exposure. It found 65% of adults aged 21 or older had gambled before turning 21.
However, the figure includes lottery tickets, scratch cards and informal money games with friends or family. Additionally, it doesn’t distinguish states where some gambling activities are legal at 18 from states using 21 as the minimum age.
A separate study, reported by the American Gaming Association last November, suggested that interest in gambling in 2025 had increased from the previous year.