How Much Do Americans Spend on Scratch-Offs Per Year?
Americans spent $104.7 billion on lottery tickets in 2024, a record high, and scratch-offs made up the majority of it. With scratch games accounting for roughly 65 to 75% of total lottery revenue in most states, that puts annual scratch-off spending somewhere in the range of $68 to $78 billion nationally. Per person, the average American in a lottery state spends around $269 a year on scratch-offs alone. But that national average hides enormous variation, from under $50 per person in some states to over $700 in others.
The Big Numbers
According to the U.S. Census Bureau via The Motley Fool's lottery analysis, total US lottery spending hit $104.7 billion in 2024, up $1.4 billion from 2023. That works out to roughly $321 per capita across states that offer a lottery, counting all lottery products including Powerball, Mega Millions, and daily draw games.
Scratch-offs are the dominant share of that spending. According to ScratchSmarter's 2025 analysis, scratch games account for 65 to 75% of total lottery revenue in most states, a share that has grown steadily for two decades. The national per capita scratch-off spend specifically rose from $262 in 2024 to $269 in 2025, a 2.7% increase driven by the spread of higher-priced $20, $30, and $50 tickets.
To put $104.7 billion in perspective: it's more than Americans spend annually on movie tickets, music, and video games combined. Scratch-offs alone, at roughly $70 billion, exceed the total revenue of the entire US recorded music industry several times over.
The States That Spend the Most
Massachusetts is the runaway leader. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data reported by The Motley Fool, Massachusetts residents spent $856 per capita on lottery tickets in 2024, more than $250 more than any other state. On scratch-offs specifically, ScratchSmarter puts Massachusetts at $720 per capita in 2025, roughly 2.7 times the national average.
Massachusetts has earned this position through one of the densest lottery retail networks in the country and an aggressively structured catalog, with $30 games returning payout rates around 84%. Players get more back, so they play more, and the total spend climbs.
Virginia ranks second on total lottery per capita at $597 in 2024, with scratch-off spending around $395 per person. Other high-spending states include Florida at roughly $405 per capita on scratch-offs and South Carolina at around $430, where scratch games make up an extraordinary 82% of all lottery revenue.
The States That Spend the Least
At the other end, several states spend a small fraction of what Massachusetts does. According to The Motley Fool's Census data, North Dakota residents spent just $48 per capita on lottery tickets in 2024, the lowest of any state with a lottery. North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma all came in under $85 per capita.
The gap between the highest and lowest states is striking. A Massachusetts resident spends roughly 18 times what a North Dakota resident spends on the lottery. Some of this reflects state lottery age and marketing investment, some reflects the availability of competing gambling options like tribal casinos, and some reflects cultural differences in how lottery play is regarded.
Which States Generate the Most Total Revenue
Per capita spending and total revenue are different things, because population size matters. According to The Motley Fool, California and New York each brought in roughly $9 billion in total lottery sales in 2024, with Texas near $8.4 billion and Florida around $8.8 billion. Together those four states accounted for more than a third of all US lottery sales.
Florida alone generated $9.63 billion in total lottery sales in 2025, with scratch games accounting for over $7.09 billion of that, per ScratchSmarter's Florida data. Massachusetts, despite ranking 15th by population, generated $6.1 billion in lottery sales in 2024, the fifth-highest nationally, a direct result of its sky-high per capita spending.
Why Spending Keeps Climbing
Scratch-off spending has grown consistently faster than inflation and population growth, indicating genuine expansion in player engagement rather than just rising prices. The single biggest driver is the introduction of higher-priced tickets. A decade ago, $25, $30, and $40 scratch-offs barely existed. Now they're standard in most states, and they generate outsized revenue per ticket sold.
These premium tickets have also expanded the market by attracting players willing to spend more for larger potential prizes. A player who once bought five $1 tickets now might buy one $30 ticket, spending six times as much in a single transaction. Multiply that shift across millions of players and the national spend climbs steadily even without adding new players.
State lotteries that invest heavily in advertising, launch new games frequently, and run aggressive point-of-sale promotions generate meaningfully higher per capita revenue than those with smaller budgets. The spending isn't accidental. It's the result of deliberate, well-funded marketing strategies.
The Part Worth Remembering
Here's the context that matters most. In no state do lottery prizes paid out exceed what players spend. Every state lottery is, in aggregate, a net loss for players, by design, because a portion of every dollar funds state programs and operating costs. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston noted that lottery losses are concentrated among the most frequent players, with a small number of winners receiving large payouts while the majority experience losses.
That $269 average per capita scratch-off spend represents, for most players, money that doesn't come back. The average return across scratch-offs runs 65 to 80% depending on the games played, meaning the typical player loses 20 to 35 cents of every dollar over time. The players who do best are the ones who treat scratch-offs as entertainment with a fixed budget, and who choose games with the best payout rates and odds rather than buying at random.
If you're going to spend part of that national $70 billion, spending it on the better-structured games is the one lever you control. The ValueScore rankings and state pages on ScratchCheck show which active games in your state currently return the most per dollar, win most often, and still have their top prizes intact. It won't turn a losing proposition into a winning one, but it does mean your share of that $269 goes further than the average player's.
Sources
The Motley Fool: Lottery Statistics and Revenue by State (U.S. Census Bureau data)
ScratchSmarter: Scratch-Off Lottery Spending Per Capita by State (2025 Data)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Americans spend on lottery tickets each year?
Americans spent $104.7 billion on lottery tickets in 2024, which was a record high. Scratch-offs make up the majority of that total, so the national spend on scratch games alone is estimated at roughly $68 billion to $78 billion a year.
How much does the average American spend on scratch-offs?
The average American in a lottery state spends about $269 a year on scratch-offs alone. That average hides a huge range, with some states spending under $50 per person and others spending more than $700 per person.
Which state spends the most on lottery tickets?
Massachusetts spends the most by far. In 2024, residents spent about $856 per person on lottery tickets, and scratch-off spending in 2025 was estimated at around $720 per person, which is roughly 2.7 times the national average.
Jessie Jurado covers consumer lottery topics with a focus on odds, value, and the math most players never see. She believes nobody should buy a scratch ticket without knowing what they're actually getting for their money.
