AGA Survey Links Higher Financial Literacy Scores to Gambling Participation Among U.S. Adults

The American Gaming Association commissioned a study that surveyed 3,149 U.S. adults and produced clear numerical differences in financial literacy between those who gamble and those who do not, with gamblers posting an average score of 3.93 out of 5 compared to 3.72 for non-gamblers.

Researchers collected responses across multiple demographics and found that 41 percent of gamblers qualified as highly literate while only 27 percent of non-gamblers reached the same threshold, and the gap remained consistent when the data were sorted by age and income brackets.

Breakdown of Participant Scores and Subgroup Performance

Sports bettors recorded the strongest results within the gambling cohort, posting both elevated average scores and a larger share of participants in the top literacy category, whereas users of prediction markets expressed high confidence in their math abilities yet delivered objective performance levels that aligned more closely with non-gamblers than with other gambling subgroups.

The study measured literacy through a standardized set of questions covering basic numeracy, interest calculations, and risk assessment, then cross-referenced those scores against self-reported gambling frequency and preferred activity types to isolate patterns that repeated across the full sample.

Methodology and Sample Composition

The survey drew from a nationally representative pool of adults who answered both the financial literacy quiz and a separate questionnaire about gambling participation during the preceding twelve months, and the final dataset included sufficient responses from sports bettors, casino players, and prediction market users to allow subgroup analysis.

Data collection occurred through an online platform that applied demographic quotas to match U.S. Census distributions, after which researchers applied weighting adjustments to correct for any remaining imbalances before releasing the tabulated results.

Key Numerical Comparisons Across Categories

When researchers isolated sports bettors, their average literacy score exceeded the overall gambler mean, while prediction market participants showed confidence ratings above the sample average yet posted quiz performance nearer to the non-gambler baseline of 3.72, and these contrasts emerged clearly in the side-by-side tables included in the full report.

Additional cross-tabs revealed that the literacy advantage for gamblers held across income tiers, although the absolute scores rose with household earnings for both gamblers and non-gamblers, indicating that the observed gap operates independently of income effects captured in the dataset.

Release Context in September 2026

The findings reached public distribution in September 2026 alongside other industry data releases, allowing analysts to place the literacy numbers next to contemporaneous participation figures that showed continued growth in sports betting and steady engagement with prediction platforms.

Those who reviewed the report noted that the survey instrument and scoring rubric followed established financial literacy frameworks used in prior national studies, which facilitated direct numerical comparisons with earlier benchmarks even though the current project focused exclusively on the gambling versus non-gambling split.

Conclusion

The American Gaming Association study supplies a quantified snapshot of financial literacy differences tied to gambling status, and the released figures—3.93 versus 3.72 average scores, 41 percent versus 27 percent highly literate—along with the subgroup distinctions for sports bettors and prediction market users, remain available for further examination through the full report.

Additional tables detail the responsible play correlations and demographic breakdowns, giving researchers and industry observers concrete data points to incorporate into ongoing analyses of adult financial behaviors.