Lottery Fever
Here we go again…the jackpot for tomorrow’s Powerball is at $1 billion. No doubt there will be lines of folks figuring it’s worth $2 on a chance to win a billion.
But research by Pulsz.com shows that Iowans generally are rather frugal when it comes to spending money on lottery tickets.
Iowa residents spend $139 per 1,000 people annually on lottery tickets…less than half the national average of $284 per year. That puts Iowa 36th in the nation for lottery spending.
By comparison, Massachusetts ranks at the top for lottery spending; residents there spent $858 per 1,000 people annually on lottery tickets. That’s well ahead of second-place Rhode Island, at only $539 and Virginia at $500.
But if you’re looking for return on investment, check out Virginia; that state offers what research says is the “best value,” returning 77.55% of money spent on tickets for prizes. Iowa offers a still-healthy prize return rate of 67.80%, good for 21st highest in the nation.
As for the states with the lowest lottery spending as tied to population…North Dakota leads that category, with only $47 in ticket sales per 1,000 people…folks in Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico also are pretty good at holding on to their money, as opposed to spending on the lottery.
These numbers don’t show whether folks are regularly buying tickets with a better chance of winning, or waiting for a possible big payday.
I’m not much of a lottery player…but if you don’t hear me on Monday, after Saturday’s drawing…you’ll know why.
