TAUNTON - The Vote Yes sign in the window of Roma’s Hair Fashions on Main Street does not mention a casino, but the reference is clear.

In this struggling mill city, talk in recent weeks has revolved around a single question: Is Taunton ready to embrace Las Vegas-style casino gambling?

The early evidence suggests that the city, about 40 miles south of Boston, represents the best chance yet for a gambling resort proposal to win a citywide referendum under the 2011 casino law, after a string of defeats in other communities. Voters go to the polls Saturday.

“There are no factories left … no stores left,’’ said Carol Welch, who has worked 42 years at Roma’s, which on Wednesday afternoon had chairs open and no patrons. “My heart lies with our customers who will be affected by traffic. But my God Almighty, if it will help some people I am praying for it.’’

The lure of new jobs and millions in tax money appears to have better resonated in this city than in less populous towns that have said no to casino gambling in recent weeks.

Like a lot of industrial cities in the Northeast, Taunton has struggled to remake its economy in the era after the mills. It lags state averages in the percentage of high school and college graduates among its residents, as well as in per capita income, family income, and poverty level.

“Taunton needs a shot in the arm,’’ said Mayor Thomas Hoye, a supporter of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s casino proposal.

This weekend’s nonbinding referendum will test the tribe’s plan to build a $500 million casino resort at the junction of Routes 24 and 140. The tribe has promised to create 2,500 permanent jobs and has committed to pay the city roughly $13 million a year in lieu of local taxes.