National Economic Impact of the U.S. Gaming Industry
The gaming industry remains a powerful economic engine and a dynamic job creator.
National Economic Impact of the U.S. Gaming Industry
Gaming contributes $261 billion to the U.S. economy
Generates $40.8 billion in tax revenues to federal, state and local governments
Supports nearly 1.8 million jobs across the country
The gaming industry has a striking impact on the U.S. economy – providing stable jobs to nearly two million Americans and generating billions of dollars in tax revenue. This research represents the first comprehensive report on the gaming industry’s national economic impact since 2014.
The gaming industry supports a total economic impact including:
- $261.4 billion of output (business sales)
- 1.8 million jobs with $74.0 billion of labor income (wages, salaries, tips, benefits and other labor income)
- $40.8 billion of federal, state and local taxes, including $10.7 billion of gaming taxes
The gaming industry directly employs 727,000 people in the U.S., with $33.3 billion of wages, salaries, tips, benefits and other labor income. This includes 559,000 jobs on-site at casinos and corporate offices, 17,000 at U.S.-based operations of gaming manufacturers, and 151,000 at businesses providing goods and services to casino patrons during casino trips.
Ancillary spending by casino patrons at other businesses totals $13.3 billion, including $2.4 billion of spending at restaurants and $1.7 billion at retail stores.
1.8
Gaming-supported jobs nationwide
$
261
Annual contribution to the U.S. economy
$
40.8
Generated in federal, state, and local tax revenue
Within the broader gaming industry, commercial casinos employ 361,000 employees who earn $17.4 billion in wages and benefits while tribal casinos employ 198,000 employees who earn $9.1 billion of wages and benefits annually.
The gaming industry remains a powerful economic engine and a dynamic job creator.
Gaming supports more direct jobs than in other industries such as plastics manufacturing, or the motion picture and sound recording industry. Additional highlights:
Casino employment (559,000 jobs) is equivalent to more than one in 30 leisure and hospitality jobs.
Direct employment (727,000 jobs) is equivalent to one in 175 jobs in the service sector, would be enough to fill every seat in the Dallas Cowboys’ football stadium for every home game, and is almost as many people as work in the District of Columbia. Total employment (1.8 million jobs) is equivalent to one in 83 non-farm jobs and would rank 28th among U.S. states measured by non-farm employment The total tax impact per household was $343 per U.S. household. This tax offset represents the federal state and local taxes that would otherwise need to be paid per U.S. household to compensate for the absence of gaming industry activity.