Pennsylvania Casinos Report Fewer Workers and Lower Local Spending Share

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s casino workforce fell 3.8% to 15,242 employees at the end of fiscal 2025-26. The share of casino purchasing directed to businesses near gaming properties also dropped sharply, from 46% to 31%.

The employment total was 598 lower than the 15,840 workers reported a year earlier, even as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board counted 18 operating casinos compared with 17 in the previous report. Ninety percent of casino employees remained Pennsylvania residents.

The figures come from the PGCB’s newly released Annual Diversity Report, which tracks casino employment, workforce representation and purchasing activity across the state’s land-based gaming industry.

Casino Employment Falls by Nearly 600

Casino employment declined from 15,840 at the end of fiscal 2024-25 to 15,242 in 2025-26. The previous year had itself been broadly flat, with Pennsylvania casinos employing 15,857 people at the end of fiscal 2023-24.

The latest report shows 42% of casino employees were racial minorities, unchanged from the previous year. Women accounted for 46% of the workforce, up from 42% in fiscal 2024-25, while the proportion of employees living in Pennsylvania remained steady at 90%.

The workforce decline came during a record year for the broader regulated gambling industry. Pennsylvania online casino revenue reached $2.93 billion during fiscal 2025-26, helping total regulated gaming revenue surpass $7 billion and generating approximately $3.1 billion in taxes and fees.

Local Share of Casino Purchasing Drops to 31%

Pennsylvania casinos spent $753 million with outside businesses for construction and non-construction purchases during the fiscal year. That was down about 9% from the $830 million reported in 2024-25.

The proportion directed to businesses considered local to a casino property fell more sharply. Local companies received 31% of purchasing expenditure in the latest fiscal year, compared with 46% a year earlier and 50.8% in 2023-24.

The PGCB requires casinos to maintain diversity plans covering areas including employment and procurement. Its annual report tracks how licensees implement those plans and measures participation by different workforce groups and businesses supplying the properties.

Diversity Figures Remain Broadly Stable

While employment and purchasing figures moved noticeably, the overall racial composition of the casino workforce remained stable. Racial minorities represented 42% of employees in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years.

Female representation increased by four percentage points to 46%. The report also shows that the large majority of casino jobs continue to be held by Pennsylvania residents, maintaining the 90% level recorded a year earlier.

The latest figures provide a different perspective on a fiscal year dominated by record gaming revenue. Pennsylvania’s digital gambling segments continued to expand, but the state’s land-based casino workforce ended the year smaller and casinos directed a lower proportion of their external purchasing to businesses located near their properties.

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