Get A FREE Consultation!
We run out of free consultations every month. Sign up to make sure you get your free consultation. (Free $350 value.)
Menu
How many people win the lottery a year?
In this article, you’ll learn about:
Let’s dig in.
Take control of your newfound wealth and secure your financial future by setting up an estate plan with our experienced lawyers. Fill out the form below to schedule a consultation and protect your hard-earned money for years to come.
We run out of free consultations every month. Sign up to make sure you get your free consultation. (Free $350 value.)
Lotteries are a type of gambling where players draw random numbers for a prize.
Governments often run lotteries to raise money for specific causes, like:
To play, players buy tickets from authorized retailers.
Each ticket displays a set of numbers.
When the drawing happens, the numbers on the ticket get compared to the winning numbers.
If they match, the ticket owner wins the prize.
Lotteries come in many forms such as:
Each has different rules and prizes, with bigger bets leading to bigger prizes.
Lotteries face strict regulations and close monitoring to ensure:
The operator must make sure the drawing is random and the prizes get distributed fairly. All participants must:
While the lottery can be a way to earn extra money:
As with any gambling, it is important to remember to play responsibly.
Read More: How To Give Money To Family After Winning The Lottery
The Lottery generates money from two sources:
Ticket sales go towards:
Taxes on prize winnings also fund:
Lotteries make cash by selling tickets to players.
You pay a few dollars for a ticket, which gives you a chance to win a prize.
Prizes range from a few dollars to millions, depending on the game.
When you buy a ticket, the lottery operator gets your money.
They pay out prizes to winners and keep the rest as profit.
This profit funds different projects and initiatives.
On average, someone wins the:
On average, it takes someone:
This table shows how many people win the lottery per year.
The table displays data on various lottery types including:
| Lottery Types | # of Jackpot Winners | Year Started | Average Winners Per Year | Total Winnings (Billions) | Average Winnings Per Person (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powerball | 1,129 | 1992 | 36.4 | $73.0 | $64.66 |
| Mega Millions | 902 | 1996 | 33.4 | $58.0 | $64.30 |
| Lotto America | 654 | 1988 | 18.7 | $12.0 | $18.35 |
| Lucky for Life | 609 | 2009 | 43.5 | $3.5 | $5.75 |
| Cash4Life | 203 | 2014 | 22.6 | $1.5 | $7.39 |
| Cash 5 | 1,016 | 1981 | 24.2 | $1.1 | $1.08 |
| Pick 3 | 4,231 | 1988 | 120.9 | $4.0 | $0.95 |
| Pick 4 | 3,216 | 1988 | 91.9 | $3.0 | $0.93 |
| Fantasy 5 | 1,033 | 1988 | 29.5 | $2.0 | $1.94 |
| Hot Lotto | 106 | 2002 | 5.0 | $0.4 | $3.77 |
| Wild Card 2 | 362 | 1981 | 8.6 | $1.0 | $2.76 |
| 2by2 | 219 | 1988 | 6.3 | $0.4 | $1.83 |
| Tri-State Lottery | 256 | 1985 | 6.7 | $1.0 | $3.91 |
| Super Kansas Cash | 425 | 1994 | 14.7 | $0.4 | $0.94 |
| All or Nothing | 52 | 2012 | 4.7 | $0.1 | $0.96 |
| Lotto South | 157 | 1988 | 4.5 | $0.6 | $3.82 |
| Decades of Dollars | 104 | 1988 | 3.0 | $1.0 | $9.62 |
| Win for Life | 243 | 2002 | 11.6 | $1.0 | $4.12 |
| Kansas Super Cash | 431 | 1994 | 14.9 | $0.4 | $0.93 |
| Pick 5 | 1,022 | 1988 | 29.2 | $1.0 | $0.98 |
Powerball and Mega Millions are the top two lotteries, with:
Powerball has racked up a total of $73 billion in winnings.
Mega Millions has racked up a total of $58 billion.
Other impressive average winnings per person are:
Pick 3 and Pick 4 have the:
They come out to be:
The table displays what the chances of winning the lottery are.
Powerball and Mega Millions have the lowest chances of winning:
Pick 3 and Pick 4 have the best chances of winning the lottery:
| Powerball | 1 in 292 million |
|---|---|
| Mega Millions | 1 in 302 million |
| Lotto America | 1 in 25 million |
| Lucky for Life | 1 in 30 million |
| Cash4Life | 1 in 21.8 million |
| Cash 5 | 1 in 325,000 |
| Pick 3 | 1 in 1,000 |
| Pick 4 | 1 in 10,000 |
| Fantasy 5 | 1 in 575,757 |
| Hot Lotto | 1 in 10 million |
| Wild Card 2 | 1 in 1.2 million |
| 2by2 | 1 in 1.2 million |
| Tri-State Lottery | 1 in 4.5 million |
| Super Kansas Cash | 1 in 1 million |
| All or Nothing | 1 in 1.2 million |
| Lotto South | 1 in 7 million |
| Decades of Dollars | 1 in 4 million |
| Win for Life | 1 in 7 million |
| Kansas Super Cash | 1 in 1 million |
| Pick 5 | 1 in 100,000 |
Let’s look at the data provided in the table.
It shows that the lottery tickets that win the most are:
| What Lottery Tickets Win The Most | Chances Of Winning |
|---|---|
| Pick 3 | 1 in 1,000 |
| Pick 4 | 1 in 10,000 |
| Pick 5 | 1 in 100,000 |
| Cash 5 | 1 in 325,000 |
| Fantasy 5 | 1 in 575,757 |
So far, 16,370 people have won the lottery’s jackpots.
The total winnings for those 16,370 people have been $165.4 billion.
That’s an average of $10.1 million per person that has won the lottery.
There have been 1,129 Powerball jackpot winners.
The Powerball started in 1992.
So, there has been an average of 36.4 Powerball winners per year.
The total Powerball jackpot winnings are $73 billion.
Which is $64.66 million per person, on average.
New York has the most lottery winners, with a total of 35 jackpot winners.
New York has:
The states with the most Powerball winners are:
The states with the most Mega Millions winners are:
This table shows the:
| State | Number of Powerball Winners | Total Powerball Jackpot Winnings | Number of Mega Millions Winners | Total Mega Millions Jackpot Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 6 | $519.1 M | 6 | $943.2 M |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 7 | $265.2 M | 7 | $822.9 M |
| Arkansas | 6 | $393.3 M | 1 | $177.5 M |
| California | 14 | $2.23 B | 12 | $2.2 B |
| Colorado | 1 | $133.2 M | 2 | $336.5 M |
| Connecticut | 3 | $260 M | 3 | $621.7 M |
| Delaware | 4 | $196.4 M | 2 | $128.2 M |
| Florida | 19 | $2.72 B | 15 | $2.8 B |
| Georgia | 4 | $214.4 M | 4 | $811.7 M |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 2 | $133.1 M | 3 | $385 M |
| Illinois | 17 | $1.71 B | 12 | $1.37 B |
| Indiana | 8 | $586.7 M | 10 | $1.3 B |
| Iowa | 3 | $202.2 M | 4 | $342.4 M |
| Kansas | 4 | $313.2 M | 5 | $412.7 M |
| Kentucky | 3 | $193.3 M | 3 | $717.3 M |
| Louisiana | 15 | $1.24 B | 8 | $1.09 B |
| Maine | 2 | $61.2 M | 2 | $135.2 M |
| Maryland | 7 | $543.9 M | 9 | $1.06 B |
| Massachusetts | 7 | $490.7 M | 10 | $1.59 B |
| Michigan | 10 | $914.4 M | 11 | $1.45 B |
| Minnesota | 3 | $190.8 M | 4 | $335.2 M |
| Mississippi | 4 | $255.4 M | 4 | $338.2 M |
| Missouri | 7 | $409.2 M | 9 | $1.02 B |
| Montana | 1 | $100.7 M | 2 | $183.7 M |
| Nebraska | 2 | $152.2 M | 2 | $206.2 M |
| Nevada | 2 | $188.8 M | 2 | $188.3 M |
| New Hampshire | 3 | $254.7 M | 3 | $559.7 M |
| New Jersey | 12 | $1.1 B | 12 | $2.25 B |
| New Mexico | 2 | $206.2 M | 2 | $206.2 M |
| New York | 17 | $1.32 B | 18 | $2.45 B |
| North Carolina | 7 | $672.3 M | 10 | $1.52 B |
| North Dakota | 1 | $60.8 M | 1 | $202.1 M |
| Ohio | 11 | $873.2 M | 9 | $1.05 B |
| Oklahoma | 4 | $310.7 M | 4 | $337.8 M |
| Oregon | 2 | $192.9 M | 4 | $324.8 M |
| Pennsylvania | 15 | $1.17 B | 15 | $2.02 B |
| Rhode Island | 2 | $97.4 M | 4 | $426.7 M |
| South Carolina | 5 | $377.3 M | 5 | $719.6 M |
| South Dakota | 1 | $232.1 M | 1 | $232.1 M |
| Tennessee | 18 | $1.54 B | 5 | $1.08 B |
| Texas | 14 | $1.4 B | 16 | $2.35 B |
| Utah | 1 | $170.3 M | 3 | $573.3 M |
| Vermont | 1 | $254.7 M | 2 | $139.2 M |
| Virginia | 7 | $873.2 M | 7 | $1.17 B |
| Washington | 5 | $344 M | 6 | $1.07 B |
| West Virginia | 2 | $177.5 M | 3 | $677.3 M |
| Wisconsin | 3 | $182.5 M | 5 | $541.9 M |
| Wyoming | 1 | $90.3 M | 1 | $90.3 M |
Florida has the most Powerball winners, with a total of 19 jackpot winners.
Florida has a total of $2.72b in Powerball winnings.
Here are other questions we get asked about lottery winnings from our clients.
When you win the lottery, you need to:
When you win the lottery, you should invest all of your money.
Then, you can live off the cash flow from those investments.
Let’s say you win $10m, you invest that $10m, and you earn 6% ROI.
You would be making $600,000 per year or $50,000 per month.
And that would be for the rest of your life.
If you win the lottery, you can give your family as much money as you want.
But the federal gift tax exemption is $15,000 per person, per year.
You could give $15,000 to each family member without paying any gift tax.
Let’s say you want to give more than the federal gift tax exemption.
You’ll have to pay a tax on the amount you give.
The gift tax rate can be between 18% and 40%.
Let’s say you win the lottery and want to give money to your family.
You can avoid gift taxes by setting up a trust.
A trust is a legal plan that lets you control how money is managed and used.
You can give more than the federal gift tax limit and keep control over the funds.
However, creating a trust can be tricky.
To make sure it’s done right, talk to a lawyer or financial expert.
If you have won the lottery, fill out the form on this page.
Our estate planning attorneys have the experience you need to protect your money.
This way, you don’t:
We have experience helping lottery winners:
You deserve a plan that sets you up for life.
We can provide you with that.
Talk soon.
We run out of free consultations every month. Sign up to make sure you get your free consultation. (Free $350 value.)
Need to keep your money and property safe? We help make sure your hard-earned assets are protected. Our team knows how to create plans that guard against lawsuits and creditors. We work to keep your wealth safe for you and your family’s future.
This website is for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Consult an attorney if you are seeking legal advice. Check out our privacy policy.