Poor and Lottery

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Poorer Counties Spend Most on N.C. Lottery

Special Report - April 11, 2006
With the North Carolina lottery less than two weeks old, an analysis by the Fayetteville Observer has already found a troubling link between the state’s poorest counties and disproportionately higher lottery ticket sales. In an April 11 article, the Observer concluded that residents in 12 of the poorest counties in the state were among the highest per capita spenders on the lottery. Wilson County ranked at the top of the list, with an estimated $12.09 spent per adult on lottery tickets. If lottery spending remained at this level for an entire year, it would be equal to every adult in Wilson County spending an average of $625.00 on the lottery. Those in the state’s three poorest counties—Halifax, Bertie, and Tyrrell—were also among the highest ticket spenders. Residents in Halifax County spent an average of $7.16 on lottery tickets, while those in Bertie and Tyrrell Counties spent $6.84 and $6.47, respectively. The analysis also showed that wealthier counties generated more overall lottery revenues during the first week of operation than poorer counties. But those in less affluent counties still purchased an inordinate portion of the tickets per capita, especially given the fact that poorer counties are primarily rural with fewer stores to sell lottery tickets.

In mid-March, an article in the Charlotte Observer revealed a similar disparity between low-income and high-income participants in the South Carolina lottery. The article concluded that players earning less than $30,000 per year spent nearly three times as much on the lottery as those earning more than $50,000. The Observer specifically cited two neighborhoods in Charlotte, one of which contained low-income households that dedicated an average of $6.77 for every $1,000 of income. Conversely, the average spending in a higher-income Charlotte-area neighborhood was just 57 cents for every $1,000 of income.

John Rustin, director of government relations for the North Carolina Family Policy Council, remarked that these latest findings underline the regressive nature of state-sponsored gambling. “The facts show that lotteries harmfully affect those who can least afford it, and we are already seeing the results in North Carolina,” Rustin said. “A dollar spent on the lottery is a dollar that could have been devoted to essential goods, goods that many families will now go without.”

For more information on the negative economic and social consequences of state-sponsored gambling, download our policy paper entitled “Losing the Lottery: Why the State Should Not Enter the Gambling Business.”