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Atlantic City’s casino industry is generating record tax revenue, but its workforce could face steep job losses in the years ahead, according to a new economic study from the Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA).
Released Aug. 25, the report estimates that up to 8,005 jobs and $1.8 billion in regional economic output could be at risk by 2035 if New Jersey approves new casinos in North Jersey. It names online gambling, new casinos in New York City, and proposed developments at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park as the biggest threats to Atlantic City’s casino economy.
Titled “The Greater Atlantic City Casino-Hotel Employment Exposure Assessment,” the study argues that expanding in-state casino competition without safeguards could weaken both the regional economy and the state’s Casino Revenue Fund, which depends heavily on Atlantic City casinos.
A widening gap between tax revenue and jobs
The warning comes as New Jersey’s gaming industry sets financial records. Total gaming revenue reached $6.98 billion in 2025, and gaming taxes and fees topped $1.1 billion.
The Casino Revenue Fund collected a record $801.5 million in 2025 — up 25% from the previous year and 124% over six years. The fund supports:
- Property-tax relief
- Prescription assistance
- Transportation
- Long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities
NJ online gambling drove much of that growth. Internet gaming revenue hit $2.91 billion in 2025, surpassing Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar casino revenue of $2.89 billion for the first time. Online gaming tax revenue reached $509 million, up 456% since 2019.
Employment has moved the opposite direction. Direct casino-hotel employment in Atlantic City fell to 21,172 jobs in April, the lowest level in the report’s nine-year analysis and below the pandemic-era low of 21,484 in April 2021. Inflation-adjusted casino revenue has fallen 63.7% since its 2006 peak of $7.97 billion.
Report author Dr. Max Slusher, ACEA’s director of business development, said the findings are a planning tool, not a prediction. ACEA President Lauren Moore said the group commissioned the study because “decisions of this magnitude affecting thousands of hardworking New Jerseyans … must be grounded in real data and facts, not speculation,” according to ROI-NJ.
Why online gambling fills state coffers but not local payrolls
A casino-hotel needs dealers, hotel staff, cooks, servers and maintenance workers every day. Online casinos employ far fewer people in Atlantic City, spreading much of their workforce across technology and marketing roles elsewhere.
The report found every dollar shifted from a physical casino to an online platform supports 30.6% fewer direct and supplier jobs in Atlantic County — 3.66 full-time-equivalent jobs versus 5.28 for in-person gaming.
Four scenarios, one baseline
Researchers modeled four scenarios combining online gambling growth, three new full-scale New York City casinos, potential Meadowlands and Monmouth Park casinos, and a possible US recession.
A fifth, more severe scenario — combining a Meadowlands convention-and-casino complex with a Monmouth Park casino and hotel — was named but left unmodeled because it relied on too many assumptions.
- The “Blue Sky” scenario projects 1,490 jobs and $336.1 million in output at risk.
- “Moderate” raises that to 4,647 jobs and about $1.05 billion.
- The “Central” scenario — the report’s baseline, assuming no North Jersey expansion — projects 5,105 jobs, $814.6 million in casino-floor revenue and $1.15 billion in output at risk.
- The “Stress” scenario, assuming casinos open at both Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, is the most severe: 8,005 jobs, $1.8 billion in output and 44.2% of the region’s 2025 casino-floor revenue exposed. That’s roughly 2,900 additional jobs and $650 million more than the Central baseline.
The report points to Atlantic City’s convention business as the strongest local alternative for displaced workers, though it says the industry can absorb only part of the workforce.
The city has more than 1.8 million square feet of meeting space, and Visit Atlantic City booked 205 events in 2025 that drew 533,242 attendees and generated $362.3 million in direct economic impact, up 17.2% over three years. A proposed Meadowlands convention complex could compete for that same business.
Voters could face the North Jersey casino question again in November, a decade after rejecting a similar measure 77.5% to 22.5% in 2016.
A wealth gap fuels the North Jersey casino debate
Atlantic County’s median household income of $76,819 ranks 19th among New Jersey’s 21 counties, compared with $122,232 in Bergen County and $122,727 in Monmouth County — both proposed casino sites.
On the state’s Municipal Revitalization Index, Atlantic County ranks the third-most distressed county, versus 18th and 17th for Bergen and Monmouth. Atlantic City ranks fifth-most-distressed among the state’s municipalities; neighboring Pleasantville ranks 12th. Atlantic County’s poverty rate is nearly double that of the two North Jersey counties, and its unemployment rate is about 50% higher.
Industry leaders say report confirms their concerns
George Goldhoff, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, said the industry isn’t opposed to competition but wants the state to plan for its effects. Danielle Norcross, president and CEO of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, said potential job losses “would not stop at the casino doors,” pointing to restaurants, retailers and contractors tied to the industry.
The ACEA report stops short of calling for an outright ban on North Jersey casinos. Instead, it recommends strengthening Atlantic City’s convention industry, continuing investment incentives for casino-hotels, excluding new in-state casino expansion until Casino Revenue Fund protections and worker-diversification programs are in place, and accelerating broader economic diversification in the region.
