Lottery fever regularly grips millions of Americans, with players chasing jackpots that can climb into the billions. But when you break it down per eligible adult, the spending picture differs vastly from state to state.

In some parts of the country, qualifying residents typically splurge hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, while others spend a relative pittance. So who spends the most? Read on for the 20 states with the highest per capita lottery expenditure. 

Last year, Americans splashed out $113.17 billion on lottery tickets, according to Statista, equivalent to the GDP of Guatemala and almost half the US federal education budget. Our ranking looks at per capita lottery spending in 2024 based on the total number of eligible adults in each state, unlike many studies, which erroneously include the entire population.

For most states, that means residents aged 18 and over. Nebraska is counted from age 19, while players must be 21 or older in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Mississippi. And five states don’t run lotteries at all: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.

North Dakota had the lowest spend in 2024 at just $65.65 per eligible adult. This is mainly because the state’s lottery, created in 2004 after a constitutional amendment, can only offer multistate draw games like Powerball and Mega Millions, making North Dakota unique in this respect.

Scratch-off cards are also banned, a restriction North Dakota shares only with Wyoming, aside from the five states that prohibit lotteries altogether. Residents are also restricted from using a credit card to buy lottery tickets, though this rule also applies in 23 other states with lotteries, as well as DC.

In 20th place is Kentucky, where adults spent an average of $433.42 on lottery tickets in 2024. While in-state lottery prizes are relatively modest, the Bluegrass State has produced 19 Powerball jackpot winners, the second-highest tally in this top 20. The biggest win came in April, when Georgetown resident James Shannon Farthing claimed a $167.3 million jackpot, a payout that sparked controversy due to his shocking criminal record. Farthing has spent 30 years behind bars for a variety of offenses.

That said, Kentucky’s luck doesn’t carry over to Mega Millions, where the state has yet to notch a single jackpot winner.

Farthing no doubt wishes he'd snapped up his ticket in a state where winners can remain anonymous, given the negative publicity his win has attracted. Likewise, lottery winners in Pennsylvania are obligated to go public.

On the upside, Pennsylvania boasts the highest number of Powerball jackpot winners in this top 20, with 20 jackpots claimed, and the state has also amassed three Mega Millions jackpot wins. Plus, its state lottery tax rate is one of the lowest in the country at just 3.07%.

South Dakotans have it sweet, as the Mount Rushmore State doesn’t levy any tax on lottery winnings.

On average, adults here spend more than seven times as much on lottery tickets as their neighbors in North Dakota. And when it comes to jackpots, the contrast is just as stark: South Dakota’s record is a $232.1 million Powerball prize, while North Dakota tops out at a comparatively paltry $3 million.

New Jersey is a mixed bag for lottery players. The state hits winnings over $5 million with a hefty 10.75% tax, the second-highest in the nation.

On the other hand, winners can stay anonymous and have a full year to claim their prize, compared with just 180 days in many states. The undisclosed winner of New Jersey’s record $1.13 billion Powerball jackpot, drawn in March 2024, made use of that leeway, waiting until December to step forward.

The Garden State is also a Mega Millions hot spot, with an impressive 24 jackpot wins.

Connecticut does things a little differently. Winners aren’t automatically anonymous. Their names and hometowns are public record, though some shield their identities by claiming through trusts or LLCs.

However, a new law passed this year goes further, prohibiting the lottery from publishing a winner’s name, address, or photo without their written consent. This means big winners now have more options to stay out of the spotlight.

Florida is home to the largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time and the third-biggest US lottery win ever, a staggering $1.602 billion, with the winning ticket sold at a Neptune Beach supermarket in August 2023.

The Sunshine State allows winners to claim through an LLC, and the mega-lucky ticketholder did just that in order to conceal their identity. Adding to Florida’s appeal, lottery winnings aren’t subject to state tax.

In contrast, Oregon has the third-highest local lottery tax in the nation, with the state levying a hefty 9.9% on each prize. In terms of the big jackpots, Oregon has seen seven Powerball jackpot wins, with the biggest coming in at $1.33 billion in April 2024.

Yet when it comes to Mega Millions, Oregon has yet to land a single jackpot. Its biggest in-state win remains the $30 million Oregon’s Game Megabucks payout from November 2004.

North Carolina has chalked up five Powerball jackpot winners. The biggest was a $344.6 million prize claimed by Charles W Jackson Jr in June 2019. In a stunning twist that grabbed headlines, his winning numbers came from a fortune cookie.

The Tar Heel State has also produced two Mega Millions jackpot winners, with the largest prize being $114 million in September 2011.

South Carolina’s population is around half that of its northern neighbor, yet the Palmetto State has scored more Powerball triumphs, with seven jackpot winners to date.

And while there’s only been a single Mega Millions jackpot win, it was a historic one. The $1.537 billion prize from October 2018 ranks as the second-biggest in the game’s history.

New Hampshire is a major Powerball success story with 11 jackpots won in the state, though it's scored only a single Mega Millions jackpot. The state doesn't tax winnings, maximizing the amount winners take home.

The record came with a $559.7 million Powerball prize in January 2019. The winner had signed the back of her ticket, which would normally make her name public, but she fought a legal battle and won, after arguing her privacy was at stake. It was a first-of-its-kind case that allowed her to remain anonymous, with only her gender and hometown of Merrimack disclosed.

Michigan is all about Mega Millions. While the top Powerball prize has been won there on six occasions, the Great Lakes State (also known as the Wolverine State) wows with 18 Mega Millions jackpot wins, placing it fourth in the country. The biggest came in March 2021 when a four-person pool from Oakland County, aptly named the Wolverine FLL Club, bagged $1.05 billion.

Interestingly, Michigan was one of the first states to bring lottery ticket sales online, launching its platform in 2014 just two years after Illinois pioneered the move in 2012.

Virginia's Mega Millions jackpot wins are nothing to be sneezed at either. The state has amassed 11 in total against a mere two Powerball jackpot wins.

The record Mega Millions jackpot of $348 million was won by a resident in August 2024. The ticketholder opted to remain anonymous but did reveal their first (and surprisingly humble) purchase, which happened to be a riding lawn mower.

Ohio also punches well above its weight in the Mega Millions stakes, with 20 jackpot wins. Only three other states have scooped more. The largest, a $375 million prize, was won just before Christmas in 2019 with a ticket purchased in a Cleveland suburb. The payout was claimed through a trust to keep the winner’s identity under wraps.

On the flip side, Ohio’s track record with Powerball is decidedly less notable, with only five jackpot wins to date.

The Peach State is a stronghold for lottery players, even with its 5.19% tax on winnings. Winners here can remain anonymous, and Georgia has chalked up 17 Mega Millions jackpots along with seven Powerball wins.

One of those Powerball prizes became infamous for never being claimed. A ticket sold in Tallapoosa in June 2011 was worth $77 million, but the deadline passed and the money was forfeited, making it one of only three unclaimed Powerball jackpots in history.

New York tops the nation in overall lottery sales, with residents parting with a combined total of $10.55 billion in 2024. The Empire State also leads the country in Mega Millions successes with 43 jackpot wins, and it has racked up a decent 13 Powerball jackpot victories.

But there’s a major catch: New York has the steepest state lottery tax in the nation, with the biggest wins hammered with a 10.9% levy.

Delaware is one of the most player-friendly states for lottery winners, with no state tax on prizes and guaranteed anonymity.

The First State has racked up 10 Powerball jackpots, but has no Mega Millions wins to date. Delaware's record Powerball payout came in October 2004, when 33 co-workers from The Guide advertising paper in Sussex County split $214.7 million.

West Virginia may be one of the least affluent states, but its denizens certainly don't scrimp when it comes to lottery spending. This is a striking reminder of why the lottery is so often criticized as a tax on the poor.

The Mountain State has yet to score a Mega Millions jackpot, but it has produced nine Powerball winners. The biggest came on Christmas Day 2002, when self-made millionaire Jack Whittaker scooped $315 million. He later admitted he wished he’d torn up the ticket, as his life unraveled in a storm of tragedy and misfortune.

If West Virginia shows that poverty is no barrier to heavy lottery spending, wealthy Massachusetts proves that affluence is no deterrent either.

The Bay State has produced five Mega Millions jackpot winners and six Powerball victors. The standout came in August 2017 when Chicopee hospital worker Mavis Wanczyk claimed a then-record-breaking $758.7 million after using family birthdays to pick some of her numbers. Wanczyk made headlines again this year when her name was misused in online scams, with fraudsters posing as her to trick victims into thinking she was doling out cash.

Maryland ranks second in the nation for per capita lottery spending. While the state taxes winnings over $5,000 at up to 8.95%, players gain a distinct advantage given they're allowed to remain anonymous.

The Old Line State has produced three Powerball jackpots and 11 Mega Millions wins. Its crowning moment came in January 2021, when a group calling themselves The Power Pack scooped a $731.1 million Powerball prize. The picture shows Richard Ravenscroft, the owner of the Lonaconing store where the winning ticket was sold.

Little Rhody may be the nation’s smallest state, but it tops the charts as the biggest lottery spender from a per capita point of view. Despite its diminutiveness, the Ocean State has managed one Mega Millions jackpot and eight Powerball wins, though the odds aren’t generally all that kind to its players. The biggest prize ever went to 81-year-old Louise White of Newport, who won a $336.4 million Powerball jackpot in March 2012.

One caveat: unlike most states, Rhode Island rolls iKeno and eInstant games into its lottery totals, which slightly skews the numbers.

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