Americans Spent $110.4 Billion on Lottery Tickets in 2024

Americans spent an estimated $110.4 billion on lottery tickets in 2024, highlighting how much money people are willing to spend chasing a life-changing jackpot. The figure comes from LendingTree, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data.

Which States Spend the Most on Lottery Tickets?

Massachusetts ranked No. 1 for lottery spending, with residents spending an average of $904 per person in 2024. That's significantly higher than the spending in other states.

Here's how the top and bottom states compared:

• Massachusetts: $904 per person
• Virginia: $630 per person
• Rhode Island: $567 per person
• North Dakota: $51 per person, the lowest among states with lotteries

Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma were the only other states where average spending stayed below $100 per person.

Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah do not operate state lotteries and were excluded from the analysis.

North Carolina Sees the Biggest Spending Jump

Lottery spending increased in 16 states during 2024, with four recording double-digit growth.

North Carolina led the nation with a 20.3% increase, rising from $421 to $506 per person. The state climbed from 12th to fourth place nationally. Its digital instant-win games, introduced in November 2023, may have contributed to the increase, generating more than $1.3 billion in fiscal 2024 sales.

Other notable increases included:

• Virginia: Up 18.3%, reaching $630 per person.
• Arizona: Up 13.2%.
• Kentucky: Up 13.1%.
• New Hampshire: Up 9.3%.

On the other hand, lottery spending declined in 28 states. Wyoming recorded the largest drop at 8%, followed by Oklahoma at 7.9%. Despite these declines, overall per-person spending across the country edged higher.

Lottery Sales Bring Billions to State Governments

Lottery tickets generate significant revenue for state governments. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Americans spent $104.7 billion on lottery tickets in fiscal 2024, nearly double the $52.8 billion recorded in 2008.

States paid out $70.2 billion in prizes in 2024, compared with $32.2 billion in 2008. After paying winners, states retained $34.5 billion, up from $20.6 billion in 2008.

However, states kept a smaller share of total sales than they did in the past. In 2024, they retained approximately 33 cents of every dollar spent, down from 39 cents in 2008. This revenue can help support public services, including education and infrastructure.

What Are the Odds of Winning a Lottery Jackpot?

Despite the enormous prizes, winning a major lottery jackpot remains extremely unlikely.

• Mega Millions: Approximately 1 in 302.6 million.
• Powerball: Approximately 1 in 292.2 million.

A 2025 Davidson College report highlighted just how slim the chances are, noting that someone is about 300 times more likely to be struck by lightning in a given year than to win the Powerball jackpot.

Smaller state lottery games generally offer better odds. Some Pick 5 games have top-prize odds ranging from 1 in 200,000 to 1 in 1.2 million. However, their prizes are usually much smaller, often ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than hundreds of millions.

The bottom line: Americans continue to spend billions chasing lottery jackpots, but the odds remain steep. While lottery revenue provides substantial funding for state governments, players should remember that winning is never guaranteed.