What each scratch-off price point pays, from $1 to $50
Players argue about whether the cheap scratch-offs or the pricey ones are the better deal. Group the 2,829 active US games by price, average each tier, and the answer is fairly plain.
| Ticket price | Games | Avg. payout | Avg. ValueScore™ | Avg. overall odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 271 | 61.7% | 24.4 | 1 in 4.62 |
| $2 | 433 | 65.4% | 30.3 | 1 in 4.34 |
| $3 | 213 | 65.1% | 37.7 | 1 in 3.82 |
| $5 | 743 | 69.2% | 43.5 | 1 in 4.02 |
| $10 | 587 | 73.1% | 55.1 | 1 in 4.03 |
| $20 | 354 | 75.1% | 63.5 | 1 in 3.81 |
| $30 | 149 | 77.4% | 70.6 | 1 in 3.42 |
| $50 | 79 | 79.5% | 68.1 | 1 in 3.55 |
A $1 game pays back about 62 cents on the dollar. By $10 it's 73 cents, and by $50 it's close to 80. The only dip is between $2 and $3, and it's less than half a point. The average ValueScore™ moves faster, from 24.4 on $1 tickets to 70.6 at $30, close to triple.
Bigger tickets have more room in their prize tables, so lotteries use them to return a larger share of sales and to carry the headline top prizes. The cheap tickets near the register are impulse buys, and they're priced that way. There's more on this in do more expensive scratch-offs give better odds.
None of this says to buy only $50 tickets. A $50 game empties a wallet five times faster than a $10 one, and no ticket at any price is a way to make money. The narrower point is that the $1 games return the least of anything on the shelf, so a player's dollars go further a tier or two up.
There's also a wide spread inside each tier. A strong $5 game can beat a weak $30 one, which is why we score each game on its own. Check the specific ticket against its peers in the ValueScore™ rankings before paying for it.
How we did this. Averages cover the 2,829 active scratch-offs from US state lotteries in our database on October 13, 2026, priced at $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $30, or $50, using each game's published payout and overall odds. ValueScore™ is calculated within each state. Games at other prices, and Canadian and international lotteries, are excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do more expensive scratch-offs pay out more?
On average, yes. Across 2,829 active US games, payout rises from 61.7% on $1 tickets to 79.5% on $50 tickets. Pricier tickets return a larger share of what players spend.
What is the best scratch-off price to buy?
There is no single answer. The higher tiers average better payout and ValueScore, with $30 games scoring highest, but a strong $5 game can beat a weak $30 one. Pick the best game at a price you are comfortable with.
Why do $1 scratch-offs have the worst value?
A $1 ticket has little room in its prize table, so it returns the smallest share of sales and carries small top prizes. That puts it at the bottom on both payout and ValueScore.
Phil Nageotte is a writer covering scratch-off odds, expected value, prize data, and more. He joined ScratchCheck in 2026 after years of tracking lottery payouts in spreadsheets of his own.
