The breathless news stories that spring up like dandelions every time the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpots get big enough are evidence of an ongoing fact of American life: For many Americans, the lottery remains a tantalizing means of attaining financial security, if not outlandish wealth.
Outlandish wealth is always a possibility, too. This past January, an anonymous South Carolina resident won a $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot, by far the biggest jackpot ever awarded to a single winner in American history. The only jackpot to edge it at all, and that just barely, was the $1.585 billion Powerball prize from January 2016, which was split between players in three states.
Despite slim to infinitesimal odds, American consumers seem willing to continue to spend significant amounts on the chance that they might beat those odds and become unimaginably wealthy virtually overnight. In several states, those amounts are increasing.
The analyst firm LendEDU recently took an in-depth look at lottery trends in the U.S., using the most recent U.S. Census data to “determine which states were generating the most revenue from the lottery and… which states’ residents spend the most annually.”
The study found that Americans spend more on the lottery annually – nearly $72 billion in 2017 – than they do on video games, movies, and concerts combined. Six states – Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah – and Washington, D.C. don’t currently offer a lottery.
Massachusetts residents spent the most per capita on the lottery, $737.01, followed by Rhode Island at $502.01. The lightest-spending states are North Dakota, at $34.68 annual spending per capita, and Oklahoma, at $38.42. New York State received the most annual revenue from lottery spending, at $8.3 billion, with California second at $6.2 billion.
The researchers at LendEDU also did some hands-on testing, buying $1,000 worth of New Jersey Lottery scratch-off tickets in various denominations to “determine the odds of winning.”
The full report is available at https://lendedu.com/blog/how-much-do-americans-spend-on-the-lottery/
