Coast spending and casino play peaks at the same time each year. Here’s when
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- South Mississippi sales tax diversions totaled $86.8 million in 2025, Gulfport $32M.
- Coast casinos' gross gaming revenue rose to $1.59 billion in 2025.
- Early spring peaks spending; March casino peak, April highest tax diversions.
Business was good across South Mississippi in 2025, and the numbers show there’s one season when residents and visitors spend the most.
People are spending. Dozens more restaurants and retail stores opened across South Mississippi last year, pushing sales tax revenue higher in most of the 12 Coast cities.
To start the year, “We had our 57th month where we exceeded $1 million dollars in sales tax revenues,” said Jerry Creel, community director for Biloxi. “And last year, I believe that we set a record for sales tax revenues. We exceeded $16 million,” he said.
The state collects 7% sales tax on most purchases, and diverts 18.5% of that back to the city where the money is spent.
Gulfport is much larger in square miles than Biloxi, and has more stores and restaurants. The city’s sales tax diversion averages about $2.5 million a month and for 2025 totaled $32 million.
D’Iberville’s best month for sales tax was $1.3 million in January after the stores were packed for Christmas shopping, and is nearing $1 million a month in sales tax revenue each month.
Those three cities make up the majority of the $86.8 million in sales tax diversions last year, up from $84.1 million in 2024.
Ocean Springs continues to have the fourth-highest collection, and sees sales tax revenue rise when the city hosts big events. Pascagoula’s tax revenue is on the rise as the downtown is revitalized, and big box stores continue to open on U.S. 90.
What about the Coast casinos?
The 12 Coast casinos reported an increase in annual gross gaming revenue on the casino floor for the first time in three years.
Gamblers poured into the casinos in 2021, following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Collectively, the casinos finished the year with $1.6 billion in gross gaming revenue. The revenue decreased each of the following years to $1.58 billion in 2024. The slide ended last year when revenue rose to $1.59 billion.
Casino revenue has topped $1 billion at Biloxi’s eight casinos every year since 2020 and COVID, Creel said.
When do people spend the most on the Coast?
People shop and go out to dinner and the casinos all year in South Mississippi, but trends show they spend the most during the same time every year.
It’s not during Christmas shopping or summer, when families come for the beaches and attractions. Or even during Cruisin’ The Coast in October, which provides revenue at a time of year that otherwise would be quite slow.
Early spring is when cities and casinos are seeing a burst of revenue from Mardi Gras, Easter, gardening, spring break and March Madness.
Sales tax revenue collected in March generally is reported in April. In the past two years, April had the highest total sales tax diversions to Coast cities. In 2025, that was $7.8 million, up $290,000 from the prior year.
Casino revenue also hits its peak in spring. March was the highest grossing month at the casinos for the last two years and totaled $144 million last year, up $1 million from 2024.
It will take a few months to see if those trends continue this year.
