Photo by pburka

Here are a few of the most interesting US lottery statistics I was able to dig up. As always, be sure to check back in the future as I will be updating this post as new and updated stats become available.

Please note that some of these numbers are easier to find than others. Many are based on news reports and not official tallies or estimates. Basically, this is the best I can find and I don’t guarantee anything to be 100% accurate. This post is for entertainment purposes only and please do not make any gambling decisions based on any information contained on this site.

US Lottery Statistics

Number of possible US Powerball ticket combinations:

292,201,338

Last updated 1/10/16

Odds of winning Powerball:

1 in slightly over 292 million

Last updated 1/10/16

Amount you’d have to spend (at $2/ticket) to buy every possible Powerball ticket combination:

$584,402,676

Last updated 1/10/16

Percentage of lottery winners that go broke within 7 years:
70%

Last updated 1/12/16

Date of Powerball launch:

1988 as Lotto America and April 1992 as Powerball

Biggest world lottery prize ever offered:

$1.58 billion (Powerball 1/13/16)

Last updated 7/19/16

Odds of winning the Mega Ball Mega Millions Jackpot:

1 in 258,890,850

Last updated 7/19/16

Largest Mega Millions prize ever offered:

$656 million (March 2012)

Last updated 7/17/16

Date of Mega Millions launch:

August 1996 (as The Big Game)

Size of the North American lottery industry:

$70 billion/ year

Last updated 1/31/11

State that introduced the first modern state lottery:

New Hampshire (1964)

Number of US states that run lotteries:

44

Last updated 1/31/11

Percentage of the American population that purchases a majority of lottery tickets:

20%

Last updated 1/31/11

Year scratch tickets were introduced in the US:

1974