US Online Casino Revenue 2021

Legal online casino gaming continues to boom in the US. The three top online casino markets in the US have generated more than $1.5 billion in combined 2021 revenue through the first half of the year.

Last year saw online casino operators generate record-setting revenue numbers. Those 2020 landmarks pale in comparison, however, to the 2021 figures for operator revenue and state tax collection.

The newest state to join the legal online casino industry, Michigan online casinos debuted in January 2021. The Great Lakes State went over the $435 million mark in annual revenue at the end of June.

As of June 2021, five US states offer legal online casino gaming. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and Delaware stand at the forefront of the US mobile casino industry, and the success of those markets could prompt other states to launch online casinos in the future.

US Online Casino Revenue July 2021

New Jersey set a new US record for monthly iGaming revenue in July. Online casinos in the Garden State generated $118,638,577 in operator revenue for the month.

Pennsylvania ($88,681,607 in July revenue) stayed right around the $88 million revenue mark for the second straight month, keeping its place as the nation’s second-largest legal online casino market.

After a revenue dropoff in June, Michigan’s iGaming platforms rebounded to generate more than $83 million in revenue in July.Michigan’s top-earning mobile casinos apps include BetMGM, FanDuel Casino, and DraftKings Casino so far.

July 2021 Online Casino State Tax Revenue

Pennsylvania taxes online casino revenue at the highest rate of any state in the market. Online slots are taxed at 54%, while a 16% tax is applied to table games and poker. Pennsylvania’s tax toward online slots revenue puts the Keystone State in the top spot on this table virtually every month.

New Jersey applies a 15% tax on all forms of mobile casino revenue. Michigan uses a tiered tax system that levies a 20-28% tax on mobile casino revenue based on earnings. West Virginia applies a 15% tax to mobile casino revenue.

Note that the data above applies to online casino gaming only. All four of the states listed here also offer mobile sports betting, but each state applies separate and different tax rates on sports betting revenue.

2021 Aggregate Online Casino Revenue

Through the first seven months of 2021, both New Jersey and Pennsylvania are on pace to clear $1 billion in annual online casino revenue by the end of the year. New Jersey nearly hit that mark in 2020 ($970.3 million in revenue), but 2021 could see at least two states enter nine-figure territory in online casino revenue.

Michigan could come close to the $1 billion mark in its first year of operations as well. The Great Lakes State saw its online casinos produce $518.6 million in revenue through the end of July.

2021 Aggregate Online Casino State Tax Revenue

Pennsylvania sets the bar in the realm of state tax collection on mobile casino revenue. The high tax rates haven’t deterred the industry’s top casino brands from setting up shop in the Keystone State, however.

As a result, Pennsylvania stands as one of the biggest winners in the mobile gaming boom of the 2020s. State tax revenue from online casinos is on pace to clear $445 million in 2021 for Pennsylvania. Both New Jersey and Michigan project to collect just under $200 million in annual online casino revenue taxes this year.

2020 Online Casino Revenue And State Tax Collected

*Based on available tax revenue information

New Jersey represents the biggest online casino market in the US, but offered the most operator-friendly tax rate on iGaming revenue among the four states with online casino gaming in 2020.

The Garden State applies a 15% tax toward all online casino revenue, and iGaming contributed $145,746,125 in state tax collection in 2020. New Jersey iGaming revenue nearly topped the $1 billion mark in 2020, and projects to clear that annual revenue milestone in 2021.

Pennsylvania levies a 54% tax toward online slot revenue and a 16% tax on poker and table games. Despite that heavy tax on slots, many of the world’s biggest online casino brands offer iGaming products in Pennsylvania.

Online casinos in Pennsylvania generated more than $565 million in revenue last year, allowing the state to collect just under $234 million in iGaming taxes.

West Virginia and Delaware function as significantly smaller iGaming markets when compared to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. West Virginia debuted online casinos in July 2020, and by the end of the year surpassed Delaware in annual revenue.

2020 Aggregate Online Casino Revenue

Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania realized an online casino revenue surge after COVID-19 considerations shuttered land-based casinos across the country in March. Retail casinos in both states resumed business at limited capacity by summertime, but that didn’t slow the mobile sports betting boom in either state.

December marked periods of record-high monthly online casino revenues in both states. New Jersey nearly hit the $100 million monthly revenue mark in the final month of 2020, while Pennsylvania eclipsed the $70 million threshold for the first time.

West Virginia also ended the year with the best month yet in the short history of the state’s mobile casino industry. With Michigan and possibly other states launching online casinos next year, 2021 projects as an even bigger year than 2020 for the US legal online casino industry.