Fewer U.S. Adults Gambling in 2026 vs. 2016
A new Gallup poll reports that U.S. adults are “significantly less likely” to gamble in 2026 compared to a decade ago. The steepest drops are in the “three most common activities:” buying state lottery tickets, gambling at a casino and taking part in an office pool. Bingo and video poker have also declined. The results are based on June and July surveys of more than 2,200 U.S. adults.
Forty-five percent of participants report gambling in the past year, down from 64 percent in 2016. Moreover, just 57 percent of Americans feel gambling is “morally acceptable,” down from 67 percent in 2016.
The drop in in-person casino gambling “could be a result of the rise of internet gambling,” the report continues. Only 4 percent of U.S. adults report gambling for money on the internet, “the only form measured in the survey that has not shown a decline over time.”
In contrast to most other gambling trends, betting on college and professional sports has been “relatively flat” since 2003. Yet fewer today say they bet on college and pro sports than in earlier Gallup polls from the late 1980s and 1990s.
