Texas sells the priciest scratch-offs in America and Louisiana the cheapest

There are close to 3,000 scratch-off games on sale across the US lotteries we track. The average price of a scratch-off in the United States is $9.78 and the median is $5. About one in five games costs $20 or more, one in four costs $2 or less, and 2.9% cost $50 or more. Figures are from our database as of the first week of September 2026, and cover US lotteries only.

Those averages hide a wide spread. Texas averages $18.13 per game, nearly four times Louisiana at $4.59. The table ranks each state with at least 15 games on sale.

The expensive end

Texas is the outlier out of all the states. According to the Texas Lottery's game list, 30 of its 79 games cost $20 or more, and it sells the priciest scratch-off in America, a $100 ticket alongside Oklahoma, the only other US lottery in our data with one. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Indiana all average above $13, and each puts roughly a third of its shelf at $20 or up. California has the second-highest share of $20-plus games at 34.6% but tops out at $40, so its average lands lower.

The $100 tier is small everywhere it exists. Five $100 games are on sale in the US, all in Texas and Oklahoma.

The cheap end

Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire all average under $6.50. In Louisiana, 19 of 37 games cost $2 or less and the most expensive ticket is $20. New Mexico has three games at $20 and nothing above it. South Carolina and Arkansas also cap at $20.

Mississippi is the extreme case for cheap tickets. Forty-four percent of its 75 games cost $2 or less, more than any state except Louisiana, and only 9.3% cost $20 or more.

Price and payout are separate decisions

If pricier shelves meant more money back, Texas would lead the payout table. It pays 70.2%, ninth among the states above. Massachusetts averages $8.05 a ticket, has the highest share of cheap games among large lotteries at 34.2%, and pays back 77.8%, the best figure in the country. Georgia is also a generous state, averages $8.42 and pays 74.3%.

The pattern holds at the bottom too. Louisiana and New Mexico sell the cheapest tickets and post two of the lowest payouts, 62.0% and 60.5%. What a state pays is set by how much of each price tier it returns, and the tiers themselves pay differently within each state. A $5 ticket in Massachusetts pays 77.8%, while a $20 ticket in New Mexico pays 69.0%.

For the full payout ranking, see the states that pay out the most on scratch-offs.

How we did this. Average price is the simple mean of the ticket prices of all active games in a state, not weighted by sales. Shares are the fraction of active games at each price. Average payout counts only games with a published or derived payout figure, so Kansas has no figure. States with fewer than 15 active games are excluded from the table. Figures are from Scratchcheck's database as of September 2, 2026, and cover US lotteries only.