North Carolina scratch-off statistics
89 games on sale · average odds 1 in 4.41 · 275 top prizes of $10,000+ still out there
North Carolina at a glance
Updated November 7, 2026. These numbers cover every scratch-off North Carolina is selling right now.
What each ticket price gets you in North Carolina
More expensive tickets usually have better odds and pay back more of what you spend. Here is every North Carolina game grouped by ticket price.
| Price | Games | % of games | Average odds | Average payout | Average ValueScore™ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1 tickets | 6 | 7% | 1 in 4.86 | 60.6% | 26.3 |
| $2 tickets | 11 | 12% | 1 in 4.59 | 66.3% | 30.0 |
| $3 tickets | 2 | 2% | 1 in 4.04 | 66.3% | 36.6 |
| $5 tickets | 24 | 27% | 1 in 4.25 | 69.1% | 40.0 |
| $10 tickets | 18 | 20% | 1 in 4.80 | 74.4% | 51.4 |
| $20 tickets | 14 | 16% | 1 in 4.05 | 76.4% | 61.1 |
| $30 tickets | 10 | 11% | 1 in 4.03 | 79.9% | 70.6 |
| $50 tickets | 4 | 4% | 1 in 4.92 | 81.5% | 68.7 |
How much North Carolina spends on scratch-offs each year
These numbers come from the North Carolinalottery's own yearly reports. "FY" means fiscal year, the lottery's budget year. "Per person" is scratch-off sales divided by everyone who lives in the state (10,730,404 people), not just people who play. Population is from the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025).
| Year | Scratch-off sales | All lottery sales | Scratch-off % | Per person | Money to the state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.84B | $6.59B | 43.2% | $265 | $1.08B |
| FY2024 | $2.92B | $5.38B | 54.4% | $272 | $1.09B |
| FY2023 | $2.98B | $4.34B | 68.6% | $278 | $1.02B |
| FY2022 | $2.65B | $3.89B | 68.2% | $247 | $929.8M |
| FY2021 | $2.56B | $3.81B | 67.3% | $239 | $936.8M |
| FY2020 | $2.09B | $3.02B | 69.3% | $195 | $729.4M |
| FY2019 | $1.91B | $2.86B | 66.8% | $178 | $709.2M |
Scratch-off sales went up 48.9% over FY2019 to FY2025. That doesn't account for inflation, and some of the change comes from tickets getting more expensive, not from people buying more of them.
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2019 CAFR (year ended June 30, 2019)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2020 CAFR (year ended June 30, 2020)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2021 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2021)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2022 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2022)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2023 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2023)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2024 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2024)
- North Carolina Education Lottery FY2025 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2025)
Sales are the Note 3 game-revenue lines, which the lottery reports net of prize tickets validated and itself calls total ticket sales. The transfer column is Note 12 "Total Revenues to the State of North Carolina" on an accrual basis, which differs from cash moved during the year. Digital instant games launched in November 2023 and count toward total sales as gross wagers at about an 88% payout, so total sales and the instant-share column are not comparable across the FY2023 to FY2024 boundary. The physical scratch-off line is labeled "Instant" before FY2022.
What North Carolina players bought in FY2025
Sales for every game in the North Carolina lottery's FY2025report, biggest first. "Share" is each game's part of the total. Every lottery counts online sales its own way, so we note how each one is counted next to the number. Don’t compare it directly with store sales.
| Game | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Scratch-offsScratch | $2.84B | 43.2% |
| In-state draw gamesDraw | $1.15B | 17.4% |
| Online / digitalDigital Instant(gross wagers) | $2.60B | 39.4% |
| Total | $6.59B | 100% |
North Carolina publishes draw games as one line; no per-game split.
Digital instants are booked as gross wagers; the report shows $2,301,958 thousand of prizes against this line, about an 88% payout.
How many North Carolina top prizes get claimed each month
We check how many prizes are left in every game, every day. This chart shows how many top prizes were claimed each month, across 76 games with a top prize of $10,000 or more. That's 81 top prizes claimed in total.
Top prizes claimed each month. We only count a new game from the day we started tracking it, so its first month can look low.
How North Carolina games score
Our ValueScore™ rates each game from 0 to 100. It looks at how much the game pays back, how good the prizes are, how often it wins, and how many big prizes are left. Games are scored against other games in North Carolina, so a high score means it's one of the better tickets in the state.
See every game ranked on the North Carolina ValueScore™ ranking, or compare North Carolina with other states on the all-states page.
Common questions
How many scratch-off games does North Carolina have?
North Carolina has 89 scratch-off games on sale right now, priced from $1 to $50. 14 new games came out in the last 90 days.
What are the average odds on a North Carolina scratch-off?
The average odds of winning any prize on a North Carolina scratch-off are 1 in 4.41. The game with the best odds right now is 1 in 2.93. These odds count every prize, including wins that only give you your money back.
How much top-prize money is still out there in North Carolina?
At least $235.6M in top prizes hasn't been won yet in North Carolina, spread across 275 top prizes. The real number is higher. We only count top prizes worth $10,000 or more, and only in games where the lottery tells us how many are left.
How much does North Carolina sell in scratch-off tickets?
North Carolina sold $2.8B in scratch-off tickets in FY2025. That was 43.2% of all its lottery sales, or about $265 for every person in the state. These numbers come from North Carolina Education Lottery FY2025 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2025).