In 2007, Joseph Coletti looked at county lottery sales per adult and found that sales were higher in the most economically distressed counties. Among his findings: “Property tax rates, unemployment, and poverty rates are the best guides to a county’s lottery sales per adult.”

My study of 2010 found the same dynamic still in play. For the John Locke Foundation’s forthcoming Agenda 2014 policy booklet, I decided to look again at county lottery sales per adult against their poverty and unemployment rates, median household incomes, and property tax rates. The situation sadly remains the same:

lottery table