You’ll Never Guess Which Generation Is Getting Into Betting Now (Hint: They’re Older)

Trends in the gambling and betting industry can fluctuate, with certain bettor demographics or forms of gambling being more common at certain times than others.

For example, people may use lottery and scratch-off tickets more often during an economic recession, while slowing down their use of electronic gambling machines. Perhaps because those struggling financially are drawn to the low initial buy-in and hope for a high reward that comes with scratch-off gambling.

A recent TransUnion survey on betting polled 3,000 adults in the U.S. — including those who bet online and those who bet on land, such as in casinos — and the data shows a new shift.

In the final quarter of 2024, the prevalence of betting was up overall and particularly among Generation X and baby boomers. Millennials have typically been the generation most likely to bet, but their rate fell. Here are the betting participation rates for each generation:

Baby boomers (defined as people age 59 and above)

• Fourth quarter of 2023: 10%
• Fourth quarter of 2024: 17%

Gen X (43-58 years old)

• Fourth quarter of 2023: 19%
• Fourth quarter of 2024: 23%

Millennials (27-42 years old)

• Fourth quarter of 2023: 40%
• Fourth quarter of 2024: 35%

Gen Z (18-26 years old)

• Fourth quarter of 2023: 32%
• Fourth quarter of 2024: 31%

Betting participation across all generations increased from 24% to 26%. Baby boomers are still the generation least likely to bet, but they had a bigger participation jump than any other generation — 7 percentage points — between the fourth quarter of 2023 and that of 2024.

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Perhaps aligning with the rise in participation of older age groups, who have had more time to accumulate wealth, bettors tend to be in better financial shape than non-bettors in some regards, TransUnion found.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, surveyed bettors were more likely than non-bettors to say their income had increased “a little” or “a lot” over the previous three months. Bettors — particularly those who bet more than $500 per month — also had higher credit scores.

However, bettors were more likely than non-bettors to use their retirement savings or cut back on saving for retirement, and some were less likely to put money in their emergency savings.