Current:Home > FinanceHere's where your money goes when you buy a ticket from a state-run lottery-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Here's where your money goes when you buy a ticket from a state-run lottery
View Date:2024-12-23 21:07:52
After several weeks of no winners, the Mega Millions jackpot has increased to an estimated $1.35 billion — the second-largest jackpot in the game's history, according to Mega Millions officials.
But it's not just you who could benefit from buying a ticket. Lotteries also benefit some states.
Though specific systems differ between each state, each of the 45 states (along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) that offer lotteries donates a certain percentage of the revenue generated from ticket sales to specific state causes.
(Five states — Alabama, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada — don't sell lottery tickets.)
Research shows that approximately 60% of the revenue from state lotteries goes directly to winners, as the states keep the remaining cash after paying out the prize money and paying certain costs such as advertisements.
For larger lotteries, like Mega Millions or Powerball, half of the ticket revenue goes toward the lottery's prize pool. The remaining half goes toward costs including lottery administration and retailer commissions, in addition to other beneficiaries, a Mega Millions spokesperson told ABC News.
Here's a breakdown of each U.S. state lottery and the beneficiaries each one supports, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries:
Arizona
- Heritage Fund
- Commerce Authority Arizona Competes Fund
- Mass Transit
- Healthy Arizona
- State of Arizona General Fund
- Court Appointed Special Advocate Fund (Unclaimed prizes)
- Homeless Shelters
- Department of Gaming
- University Bond Fund
- Internet Crimes Against Children Victims
- Tribal College Dual Enrollment Program
Arkansas
- Educational Trust Fund
California
- Education
Colorado
- Division of Parks and Wildlife
- Conservation Trust Fund
- Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund
- School Fund
Connecticut
- General Fund (which, as with other states, benefits the state's education, roads, health and hospitals and public safety)
Delaware
- General Fund
- Health & Social Services-Problem Gambler Programs
District of Columbia
- General Fund
Florida
- Education Enhancement Trust Fund
Georgia
- Lottery for Education Account
Idaho
- Public Schools (K-12)
- Public Buildings
Illinois
- Illinois Common School Fund (K-12)
- Illinois Veterans Assistance Fund
- Ticket For The Cure Fund
- Quality of Life Endowment Fund
- Multiple Sclerosis Research Fund
- Special Olympics Fund
Indiana
- Build Indiana Fund
- Teachers Pension Fund
- Police & Firefighters Pension Fund
Iowa
- General Fund
- Veterans Trust Fund
Kansas
- Transfers back to the State
Kentucky
- Post-Secondary & College Scholarships
- Literacy Programs & Early Childhood Reading
Louisiana
- Transfers to State
- Problem Gambling
Maine
- General Fund
- Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund
Maryland
- Maryland General Fund - Lottery Profit
- Baltimore City Schools - Lottery Profit
- Maryland Stadium Authority - Lottery Profit
- Education Trust Fund - Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) and Table Game Proceeds
- Local Impact Grants - VLT Proceeds
- Horse Racing Industry - VLT Proceeds
- Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Businesses - VLT Proceeds
- Responsible Gaming - VLT and Table Game Assessments
Massachusetts
- Cities and Towns
- Arts Council
- General Fund
- Compulsive Gamblers
Michigan
- Education (K-12)
- Health and Human Services
- General Fund
Minnesota
- General Fund
- Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund
- Game & Fish Fund
- Natural Resources Fund
- Compulsive Gambling
Mississippi
- State Highway Fund
- Education Enhancement Fund
Missouri
- Public Education in Missouri
Montana
- State of Montana General Fund
Nebraska
- Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund
- Education Innovation Fund
- Environmental Trust Fund
- State Fair Support & Improvement Fund
- Nebraska Opportunity Grant Fund
New Hampshire
- Education
New Jersey
- Education and Institutions
New Mexico
- Lottery Tuition Fund
New York
- Education
North Carolina
- Education
- Alcohol Law Enforcement
- NC Problem Gambling
North Dakota
- Compulsive Gambling Fund
- State General Fund
- Drug Task Force
Ohio
- Education
Oklahoma
- Education
- Mental Health
Oregon
- Economic Development
- Public Education
- Parks and Natural Resource Programs
- Gambling Addiction Prevention & Treatment Programs
Pennsylvania
- Programs for older Pennsylvanians
Rhode Island
- General Fund
South Carolina
- Education Lottery Fund
South Dakota
- General Fund
- Capital Construction Fund
- Grant to Human Services
Tennessee
- Lottery for Education Account
- After School Program
Texas
- Foundation School Fund
- Multicategorical Teaching Hospital
- Texas Veterans Commission (Veterans Assistance Fund)
Vermont
- Education Fund
Virginia
- Direct aid to Public Education K-12
Washington
- Washington Opportunity Pathways Account
- King County Stadium and Exhibition Center (Qwest Field)
- Economic Development Strategic Reserve
- Problem Gambling
- General Fund
West Virginia
- Education
- Senior Citizens
- Tourism
Wisconsin
- Public Benefit - Total Available for Property Tax Relief
Wyoming
- Wyoming cities, towns, and counties
veryGood! (78)
Related
- Does the NFL have a special teams bias when hiring head coaches? History indicates it does
- These LSD-based drugs seem to help mice with anxiety and depression — without the trip
- CNN chief executive Chris Licht has stepped down
- Every Must-See Moment From King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s Coronation
- Are Ciara Ready and Russell Wilson Ready For Another Baby? She Says…
- California Well Leaking Methane Ordered Sealed by Air Quality Agency
- MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 Winners: See the Complete List
- We Bet You Don't Know These Stars' Real Names
- Tennessee suspect in dozens of rapes is convicted of producing images of child sex abuse
- How to time your flu shot for best protection
Ranking
- Japan to resume V-22 flights after inquiry finds pilot error caused accident
- Today’s Climate: July 1, 2010
- California’s Methane Leak Passes 100 Days, and Other Sobering Numbers
- How Fatherhood Changed Everything for George Clooney
- California teen pleads guilty in Florida to making hundreds of ‘swatting’ calls across the US
- InsideClimate News Wins National Business Journalism Awards
- Colonoscopies save lives. Doctors push back against European study that casts doubt
- Woman says police didn't respond to 911 report that her husband was taken hostage until he had already been killed
Recommendation
-
Chris Wallace will leave CNN 3 years after defecting from 'Fox News Sunday'
-
For stomach pain and other IBS symptoms, new apps can bring relief
-
Villains Again? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Nix Innovative Home Energy Programs
-
Kamala Harris on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
-
Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter to perform at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
-
J Balvin's Best Fashion Moments Prove He's Not Afraid to Be Bold
-
SoCal Gas Knew Aliso Canyon Wells Were Deteriorating a Year Before Leak
-
Here's What Prince Harry Did After His Dad King Charles III's Coronation