The Oregon Lottery at 20:1

A short piece by Tom Grace in Willamette Week last month caught my eye, a geographic correlation between where the Oregon Lottery takes money in and the income levels in the same area.

According to Grace’s article:

The 97217 ZIP code in North Portland, which has 49 video-poker outlets, topped Oregon’s list for net video-poker sales in 2004 with $19.4 million-or $650 per man, woman and child. That’s over a month’s rent for a one-bedroom apartment in an area where the last U.S. Census classified nearly one in seven residents as living in poverty.

Compare that with the 97221 ZIP code in Portland’s West Hills, where the median income is nearly double that in 97217. Net sales last year from its five video-poker outlets were $1.1 million, or $95 per person.