Gallup researchers found that 45% of U.S. adults reported gambling during the past year, down from 64% in 2016 as participation fell across nearly every activity the organization measured.
The estimate comes from more than 2,200 telephone interviews conducted during Gallup polls in June and July. A separate online survey produced higher participation estimates, highlighting uncertainty about how willing people are to disclose gambling behavior to an interviewer.
State lottery play remained the most common form of gambling but fell from 49% of adults in 2016 to 31% this year. In-person casino gambling dropped from 26% to 14%, while participation in office sports pools declined from 15% to 7%.
Internet gambling was the only previously measured activity that did not decline, moving from 3% to 4%. Four percent reported playing paid fantasy sports, and 2% said they placed a wager on a future nonathletic event through an online prediction market.
The declines coincided with a drop in the share of Americans who consider gambling morally acceptable, from 67% in 2016 to 57% this year. Gallup said it is unclear how much of the reported decline reflects reduced gambling and how much could reflect greater reluctance to discuss it.
Participation varied by income, age and gender in the phone survey. Fifty-four percent of adults in households earning at least $100,000 reported gambling, compared with 45% of middle-income adults and 40% of those earning less than $50,000.
Men reported a higher participation rate than women, 49% to 40%. Half of adults age 50 and older said they gambled, compared with 41% of adults under 50.
Gallup's parallel online survey estimated that 53% of adults gambled, including 21% who participated in some form of sports wagering. The comparable phone-survey figure for sports betting was 15%.
Three percent of all adults in the phone poll, or 7% of gamblers, said they sometimes gamble more than they think they should. Nine percent said gambling had caused problems in their family, including 13% of lower-income adults.
Gallup said gambling revenue can rise even if fewer people participate because a smaller group may be gambling more often or spending more. It also noted that more wagering now occurs through formal, government-sanctioned channels that are easier to measure.
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