By the numbers
Pull tab statistics
Pull tabs are a multi-billion-dollar bar-top economy that almost nobody tracks. Here are the numbers that exist â state financials, venue counts, and the paper-vs-electronic split â with the source for every figure.
Venue counts refresh monthly from the Pull Tab Finder database (last: August 2026). Minnesota financials: Gambling Control Board FY2025 annual report.
The headline numbers
- $4.69 billion â FY2025 pull-tab gross receipts in Minnesota alone, about 95% of the state's $4.91 billion licensed charitable gambling market.
- $2.55 billion vs $2.14 billion â electronic pull tabs out-grossed paper in Minnesota in FY2025, though paper remains far more widespread by venue.
- 3,193 premises held Minnesota pull-tab permits in FY2025, run by 1,153 licensed nonprofit organizations, with about $147 million left for their charitable missions after prizes, expenses, and taxes.
- 10,348 venues across 9 states have evidence of pull tabs (state licensing records or player confirmation) in the Pull Tab Finder database â mapped in 890 city guides.
Venues by state
No national pull-tab registry exists, so these are Pull Tab Finder's evidence-tiered counts: venues on a state regulator's licensing records, plus venues players have added or confirmed in the app. States without a loaded licensing feed aren't counted, which makes this a floor, not a ceiling.
| State | Venues | Cities & towns | City guides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 3,147 | 1,067 | 337 |
| Ohio | 3,054 | 637 | 250 |
| Texas | 1,082 | 391 | 115 |
| North Dakota | 882 | 293 | 73 |
| Washington | 833 | 206 | 85 |
| Wisconsin | 695 | 433 | 30 |
| Indiana | 620 | 263 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 34 | 30 | 0 |
| New York | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Snapshot: August 2026. Wisconsin's count is editorial (the state licenses no pull tabs; its post and tavern tab culture is documented separately) â every other state's count is regulator-backed.
Paper vs electronic
Minnesota's FY2025 split â $2.55 billion electronic against $2.14 billion paper â tells the revenue story: e-tabs, played on tablets at the bar, now out-gross the classic tickets where both are legal. Geography tells the opposite story: most states with pull tabs never authorized the electronic kind, so paper remains the default nearly everywhere. (State licensing feeds record game types too inconsistently to publish a per-state e-tab venue count honestly â when that changes, this page will carry it.) The full comparison is in electronic vs paper pull tabs.
About this data, and citing it
Minnesota financial figures come from the Minnesota Gambling Control Board's published FY2025 annual report. Venue counts come from the Pull Tab Finder database, which is built from state charitable-gaming licensing records and player confirmations, and deliberately excludes venues with no positive evidence of tabs (a club directory listing is not evidence). Counts regenerate monthly.
You're welcome to cite this page â link pulltabfinder.co/pull-tab-statistics so readers get the current numbers rather than a snapshot.
Quick answers
How much money do people spend on pull tabs?
Minnesota alone reported $4.91 billion in licensed charitable gambling gross receipts in FY2025, and pull tabs were about $4.69 billion of it (roughly 95%) â $2.55 billion electronic and $2.14 billion paper, per the state Gambling Control Board. Other states don't publish comparable totals, but Minnesota is by far the biggest pull-tab scene.
Are electronic pull tabs bigger than paper?
Where both are legal, yes by revenue: in Minnesota's FY2025 numbers, electronic pull tabs did $2.55 billion in gross receipts against $2.14 billion for paper. Paper is still far more widespread, though â most states with pull tabs never authorized the electronic kind.
How many places sell pull tabs in the United States?
There is no national registry. Pull Tab Finder's evidence-tiered count is 10,348 venues across 9 states as of August 2026, built from state licensing records and player confirmations. Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling: it only counts venues with positive evidence of pull tabs.