A new report by the Nevada Resort Association says the economic impact of the state’s gaming industry totaled more than $67 billion in 2018.
The Nevada Gaming Fact Book, commissioned biennially by the state’s principal gaming and tourism lobby, found the total impact down by $900 million from 2016, a year of record-high visitation, more hotel rooms and higher hotel occupancy rates. But gaming and tourism still generated $1.8 billion in total taxes and fees, good for 37.5 percent of Nevada’s general fund revenues.
The sector accounted for 450,100 total jobs statewide, 25.8 percent of the state’s total employment, amounting to $18.8 billion in total wages and salaries.
Gaming companies held seven of the top 10 spots for the highest appraised taxpayers in Southern Nevada’s Clark County in 2018 and four of the top 10 spots in Washoe County in the north of the state, supporting public education and school construction, transportation projects, local government projects and promoting tourism.
“From hundreds of thousands of jobs with competitive wages and benefits to tens of billions of dollars in capital investments to being the largest contributor of state and local taxes, our industry continues to be the driving force behind Nevada’s economy,” “said Jan Jones Blackhurst, a senior vice president of Caesars Entertainment and the Resort Association’s chairwoman.
The report was produced by Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based financial and economic research firm.
