The latest numbers are in, and it appears that residents of Western North Carolina don’t much play the numbers — the N.C. Education Lottery numbers, that is.
Madison County trails the state, with residents anteing up only $21 apiece since tickets went on sale last March. Buncombe, Graham, Polk, Yancey and Clay counties were also near the bottom of the betting barrel. By comparison, Nash Countians have gambled $166 each in the same time period. State Rep. Ray Rapp told the Asheville Citizen-Times that “Folks in rural areas tend to be a little more conservative with their money.”
That could be. An Xpress analysis of income, poverty, education and employment numbers suggests no meaningful disparities between Nash and the other counties that might account for the difference. (Some critics of lotteries argue that they appeal disproportionately to the poor and less educated.)
However, one statistical measure emerged from our research which could explain the difference. Nash County is 340 miles from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, while lottery tickets are available just around the corner.
Harrah’s has no shortage of customers and has just announced plans to double in size by 2010.
— Cecil Bothwell, staff writer
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