The data are based on the state of residency of the gambler. These data include net losses from all forms of legal gambling (lotteries, casinos, online casinos, sports betting, etc). Not all forms of gambling are legal in all states.
Would love to see this side by side with some sort of income based map. Does West Virginia lose less money or do they just have less money to gamble with to begin with? Still it’s a pretty neat map.
In 2023, many of these states still had sports betting as illegal. I’d be curious to see 2025 numbers now that it is quite widely legalized.
Would be interesting to see if there’s substantial changes pre and post DraftKings
The South looks pretty good when it comes to not losing money!
Georgia: Hold my beer
Are the highest ones low population states with a few people dragging the average up or something?
Surprised Nevada isn’t number one by a mile.
how come Nevada is so low? I would think casinos would make it higher.
Long ago I heard this called an idiot tax – but it truly is a heavy burden for people that really can’t afford it…
What is funny – wife and I took an anniversary trip to a casino (overnight was a prize she won) – WE dropped $800 – to use a crazy amount to just blow, but for the two of us THAT put us below the per capita average.
What’s really sad is that most people don’t gamble much. These averages consist of a whole lot of zeros/tiny numbers and a small number of life destroying numbers.
Kind of a strange map. Seems like there’s an interplay with both opportunity and income, although Alaska and Georgia are kind of surprising to me.
It might be neat to check if there is a correlation with per capita GDP or average salaries by states
That’s like $1.3B Utahns are gambling away in other states.
I like how Nevada isn’t even in the top 5
I don’t get how Washington is so high. You have to actually travel to gamble. All the apps are illegal.
Alaska is confusing because, especially in 2023, gambling has been pretty restricted and there isn’t easy access to casinos.
$566 national average per capita? Am I interpreting this correctly, that’s like $566 lost to gambling x 340.1 million people? Or about $192.5 billion a year lost to gambling?
Mississippi actually winning for once.
Fucking gambling. Fuck the NFL and the other leagues for leaning into it. Sucking poor and addicted people dry
Interesting that the net gambling losses per capita in Alaska roughly match the average PFD dividend.
Is this lifetime? Per year?
I’ll bet ya this map is exaggerated.
Hang in there. Your luck is going to turn around
For every gambling loss, there is a corresponding gambling win, no?
All i see is that washington stopped mining just before they hit diamonds
These are rookie numbers. Signed Australia 🇦🇺
Note that no one was able to get net positive.
Australia is about $650 (A$1000). Given that most people do little of no gambling, it is frightening how much some people lose.
I knew someone whose husband poured hundreds of thousands into poker machines.
It’s good to see that the Alaskans are putting their oil dividend to good use.
10 years from now we will consider the flood of online gambling equivalent to the opioid epidemic.
![[OC] Net Gambling Losses Per Capita](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/qqmr90mv30of1-1920x1024.jpeg)
34 comments
is this like, per year, a lifetime? a day?
That $666 in California is outright beastly.
Never gambling is a life hack!
Data: [https://apps.bea.gov/regional/downloadzip.htm](https://apps.bea.gov/regional/downloadzip.htm)
Tools: R (packages: dplyr, ggplot2, sf, usmap, tools, ggfx, grid, scales)
The data are based on the state of residency of the gambler. These data include net losses from all forms of legal gambling (lotteries, casinos, online casinos, sports betting, etc). Not all forms of gambling are legal in all states.
Edit: You can see gambling laws by state here: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_the_United_States#Legality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_the_United_States#Legality)
What’s up with WA, why is it so high?
Would love to see this side by side with some sort of income based map. Does West Virginia lose less money or do they just have less money to gamble with to begin with? Still it’s a pretty neat map.
In 2023, many of these states still had sports betting as illegal. I’d be curious to see 2025 numbers now that it is quite widely legalized.
Would be interesting to see if there’s substantial changes pre and post DraftKings
The South looks pretty good when it comes to not losing money!
Georgia: Hold my beer
Are the highest ones low population states with a few people dragging the average up or something?
Surprised Nevada isn’t number one by a mile.
how come Nevada is so low? I would think casinos would make it higher.
Long ago I heard this called an idiot tax – but it truly is a heavy burden for people that really can’t afford it…
What is funny – wife and I took an anniversary trip to a casino (overnight was a prize she won) – WE dropped $800 – to use a crazy amount to just blow, but for the two of us THAT put us below the per capita average.
What’s really sad is that most people don’t gamble much. These averages consist of a whole lot of zeros/tiny numbers and a small number of life destroying numbers.
Kind of a strange map. Seems like there’s an interplay with both opportunity and income, although Alaska and Georgia are kind of surprising to me.
It might be neat to check if there is a correlation with per capita GDP or average salaries by states
That’s like $1.3B Utahns are gambling away in other states.
I like how Nevada isn’t even in the top 5
I don’t get how Washington is so high. You have to actually travel to gamble. All the apps are illegal.
Alaska is confusing because, especially in 2023, gambling has been pretty restricted and there isn’t easy access to casinos.
$566 national average per capita? Am I interpreting this correctly, that’s like $566 lost to gambling x 340.1 million people? Or about $192.5 billion a year lost to gambling?
Mississippi actually winning for once.
Fucking gambling. Fuck the NFL and the other leagues for leaning into it. Sucking poor and addicted people dry
Interesting that the net gambling losses per capita in Alaska roughly match the average PFD dividend.
Is this lifetime? Per year?
I’ll bet ya this map is exaggerated.
Hang in there. Your luck is going to turn around
For every gambling loss, there is a corresponding gambling win, no?
All i see is that washington stopped mining just before they hit diamonds
These are rookie numbers. Signed Australia 🇦🇺
Note that no one was able to get net positive.
Australia is about $650 (A$1000). Given that most people do little of no gambling, it is frightening how much some people lose.
I knew someone whose husband poured hundreds of thousands into poker machines.
It’s good to see that the Alaskans are putting their oil dividend to good use.
10 years from now we will consider the flood of online gambling equivalent to the opioid epidemic.
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