ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The nation’s commercial casinos continued their slow-but-steady comeback from the recession last year, with revenues up 3 percent nationwide and jobs holding nearly steady, according to a report released Wednesday.
The American Gaming Association’s annual report noted the nation’s 492 non-Indian casinos or other legal gambling halls paid nearly $8 billion in taxes to state and local governments, a 4.5 percent increase over 2010.
The casinos took in $35.6 billion last year.
They also provided more than 339,000 jobs, a decline of less than half of 1 percent from a year earlier. And casino workers saw their pay decline by 3 percent last year, to $12.9 billion in wages, benefits and tips.
“While it may be slow, the recovery of the national commercial casino industry is well underway,” AGA president Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said. “The state of the industry is good; the prospects for its future are solid.”
The report also found that more than a quarter of casino patrons surveyed said they rarely or never gamble, indicating that casinos are doing a better job of offering nongambling attractions such as fine restaurants, spas, nightclubs and big-name entertainment.
Las Vegas remains the nation’s largest casino market, with more than $6 billion in revenue last year.
Atlantic City had the biggest revenue drop, at 7 percent. Its casinos took in $3.3 billion, down from $5.2 billion in 2006, when the first of Pennsylvania’s casinos opened and began siphoning off business from New Jersey.
The AGA’s figures do not include Indian casinos, which took in $24.9 billion in 2010, the last year for which figures are available, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
21%
Pennsylvania’s increase in casino revenue in 2011, moving it past Atlantic City, N.J., as the second-largest casino market in the country
7%
Atlantic City’s revenue decline, to $3.3 billion — down from $5.2 billion in 2006, when the first Pennsylvania casino opened
$6 billion
Revenue by Las Vegas, the largest U.S. casino market
