The latest results from Gallup's ongoing tracking show that 45% of U.S. adults took part in at least one gambling activity during the past year, a figure that stands well below the 64% recorded in 2016 and comparable levels observed in earlier surveys from 2003 and 2007.

Those numbers come from telephone interviews with more than 2,200 adults conducted across June and July 2026, and they point to broad reductions across several longstanding categories of play.

State lotteries, long the most common entry point for many participants, drew 31% of adults in the most recent period, while in-person casino visits reached 14% and office pools accounted for 7%. Each of these activities registered lower engagement than in prior waves of the same survey series, and the pattern held across major demographic groups including age brackets, income levels, and regions.

Researchers tracking the data noted that the overall drop reflects reduced involvement rather than a shift toward any single substitute activity, because every major category measured in the poll moved in the same downward direction.

The Gallup Poll Social Series has asked the same core gambling question at intervals since the early 2000s, which allows direct year-over-year comparisons without changes in wording or methodology that might otherwise cloud the trend line. The 2026 fieldwork occurred after several years in which participation had remained relatively stable at the higher level first captured in 2016.

Because the interviews took place in summer months, the results capture behavior over a full 12-month window that includes both routine lottery purchases and seasonal events such as March Madness brackets or holiday casino trips.

Telephone sampling remains the method used across all previous Gallup gambling releases, so the 2026 figures sit on the same methodological foundation as the earlier benchmarks; response rates and weighting procedures followed the organization's standard practices for national adult samples.

Lower participation appeared consistently when the data were broken out by gender, education, and household income, although the absolute levels still varied across those groups in ways that mirror long-standing differences in gambling behavior. Observers have pointed out that the uniform direction of change across segments suggests the decline is not confined to any single population slice.

The poll also collected information on frequency and preferred formats, yet the headline statistic focuses on the simple measure of any participation in the past year, the same metric used in 2016 and earlier surveys.

Back in 2003 and 2007 the overall rate hovered near the 64% mark later seen in 2016, which means the 2026 reading marks the first time the series has shown a sizable retreat from that plateau. The stability between the earlier three measurements makes the current drop stand out more clearly against the longer record.

Data released by Gallup in August 2026 places the new finding into that multi-decade context without introducing new variables that would complicate direct comparison.

The 2026 Gallup figures establish a new baseline for tracking future changes in adult gambling involvement. Because the survey uses consistent questions and sampling methods, subsequent releases can measure whether the lower rate persists, rebounds, or continues to move. The single link to the full report appears here, and readers can review the complete demographic tables and question wording in that source document.