Which US states spend most dollars on lotteries? – Shocking facts revealed

In a recent study it was shown that Americans spend tens of billions of dollars on government-run lotteries each year and low-earning households spend a disproportionate amount of money on lottery tickets.

Here are the few shocking facts that were revealed during a survey by Bankrate.com.

• The lowest-income households in the U.S. spend an average of $412 each year on lottery tickets – nearly quadruple the $105 a year spent by the highest-earning households.
• Almost 3 in 10 Americans in the lowest income bracket play the lottery once a week, compared with nearly 2 in 10 who earn more than that.
• According to Jonathan Cohen, a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia, there’s an understandable belief that the economy is rigged and your best chance of making it out and getting rich is through the lottery, not through your job or savings.
• Americans making less than $30,000 a year are most likely to buy multiple lottery tickets each week. These low earners spend 2.5 percent of their take-home pay on lottery tickets, or about $8 a week.
• The highest-earning group spend three times less on lottery tickets.
• Americans spent $80.3 billion on lotteries in fiscal year 2017, up from $57.4 billion in 2006, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
• Of the 43 U.S. states that have government-operated lotteries, New York sold the most in lottery tickets, producing $9.7 billion in revenue.
• The rise in spending is due to the expansion of multijurisdictional lottery games such as Powerball and Mega Millions, along with the creation of instant games, according to David Gale, the executive director of the NASPL.

Which US states spend most dollars on lotteries?

Here find which US states spend most dollars in lotteries according to Business insider survey.

Americans living in the eastern half of the US tend to spend more than those living in the western half. Those living in the northeast specifically tend to spend more than those living in other parts of the country on a per capita basis.

US residents of 9 states spend over $300 a year on lottery tickets. People living on the East Coast tend to spend more on lottery tickets, on average. Those living in Massachusetts spend the most on lottery tickets, on average.

Residents living in Massachusetts spend the most on lottery tickets by far at $737.83. Rhode Island came in second place at $514.15, and Delaware was in third at $424.38.

North Dakota residents spent the least at $34.14, followed by Oklahoma at $43.93 and Montana at $53.73.

Seven states do not have their own lotteries: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming thus are gray on the map.

You won’t be surprise that the most populated and largest states make the most revenue from the lottery. The top three states with the most profit are New York, California and Florida. Although these states make the most, their residents aren’t necessarily buying the most tickets. In fact, California didn’t even make it in the top 15 states that spend the most on lotto tickets per capita. But the 15 states that did are Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, West Virginia, New York, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts

So where does this lottery revenue go?

As each US state does things differently but many claim funds go to state run programs like for education, parks, emergency responders, veteran’s health and so on.

Only 15 states use all or substantially all of the lottery proceeds for education, according to the latest statistics gathered by the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.

In the reports of  2013, the states sold more than $60 billion in lottery tickets. However, $20 billion – one third of their revenue  was returned back to the states’ budgets. Most states do this for undeclared purposes. Some states do send the money where they tell you. But often times it’s not clear where your money goes  according to CNN.com. report.

It was stated in a calculation that roughly only $0.11 of every $1.00  ticket sold will go to its intended purposes. The rest goes to the winner, the lottery and the company who runs the lottery.

This varies from state to state, though. Another report suggests that some states, like Rhode Island, only collect about $0.11 of every $1 in profit that’s before it’s divvied up and distributed to other state run programs.

Besides the state the US Government wants to also share the prize money of the winner. Lottery taxes are taxed the same as income.

But many people buy lottery tickets in part to help good causes and they wish to know where their money’s going. Though you might not get the full picture, many of the state lottery websites tell you where their lottery proceeds go. As New Hampshire lottery say that 26% goes to New Hampshire schools. They also have reports of their yearly revenue and annual reports for you to look at.

Idaho  lotteries also have annual reports you can look at. Oregon state claim that 57% is allocated to public education  (for 2013-2015). Some also goes to problem gambling treatment, state parks and job creation.

Finally you can conclude that buying lottery ticket or spending on lottery has its both good and bad attributes. Good somewhat being helping the state governments to care for public needs and bad to put people under debt specially the low income group who spend more on lotteries and also to the lottery losers. Before you play any lottery always stick to your bankroll and don’t spend much on the games as lotto games are games of chance and don’t require any skill to win. It’s entirely your luck that you win or you lose.