Track Every Dollar · State lotteries

How is your state spending the education lottery money?

What each state's lottery law promises, what was sold, what reached education, and what it paid for. Read straight from each lottery's own annual report and the law itself.

Every state

The numbers

State lotteries, latest year reported. Select a column to sort.
StateYearTickets soldTo educationCents of each dollar to educationEducation's share under the law
AlabamaNo lotteryNo state lottery
AlaskaNo lotteryNo state lottery
ArizonaFY2025$1.4B$42.3M3 centsPart of it
ArkansasFY2025$578M$112M19 centsAll of it
CaliforniaFY2025$8.9B$1.9B22 centsAll of it
ColoradoFY2026$888MNot yet verifiedPart of it
ConnecticutFY2025$1.8BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
DelawareFY2025$1.0BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
District of ColumbiaFY2025$211MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
FloridaFY2025$9.1B$2.2B24 centsAll of it
GeorgiaFY2025$6.0B$1.5B24 centsAll of it
HawaiiNo lotteryNo state lottery
IdahoFY2025$402M$46.9M12 centsPart of it
IllinoisFY2025$3.8B$784M21 centsPart of it
IndianaFY2025$1.6B$30.0M2 centsPart of it
IowaFY2025$435MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
KansasFY2025$298MNot yet verifiedPart of it
KentuckyFY2025$2.2B$382M18 centsAll of it
LouisianaFY2025$581MNot yet verifiedPart of it
MaineFY2025$406MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
MarylandFY2025$5.2B$698M13 centsPart of it
MassachusettsFY2025$6.0BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
MichiganFY2025$4.6B$1.2B25 centsAll of it
MinnesotaFY2025$708MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
MississippiFY2026$499M$46.6M9 centsPart of it
MissouriFY2025$1.6B$328M20 centsAll of it
MontanaFY2025$148MNot yet verifiedPart of it
NebraskaFY2025$185M$20.1M11 centsPart of it
NevadaNo lotteryNo state lottery
New HampshireFY2025$604M$209M35 centsAll of it
New JerseyFY2025$3.3B$842M25 centsPart of it
New MexicoFY2025$149M$44.7M30 centsAll of it
New YorkFY2025$10.3B$3.6B35 centsAll of it
North CarolinaFY2025$6.6B$1.1B16 centsAll of it
North DakotaFY2025$26.9MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
OhioFY2025$4.4B$1.4B33 centsAll of it
OklahomaFY2024$355M$87.7M25 centsAll of it
OregonFY2025$1.7BNot yet verifiedPart of it
PennsylvaniaFY2025$4.3BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
Rhode IslandFY2025$1.5BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
South CarolinaFY2026$2.5B$607M24 centsAll of it
South DakotaFY2026$1.4BLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
TennesseeFY2025$1.7B$412M24 centsAll of it
TexasFY2025$7.9B$1.8B22 centsPart of it
UtahNo lotteryNo state lottery
VermontFY2025$156M$30.0M19 centsAll of it
VirginiaFY2025$5.8B$902M16 centsAll of it
WashingtonFY2025$937M$180M19 centsPart of it
West VirginiaFY2025$1.3BNot yet verifiedPart of it
WisconsinFY2025$862MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it
WyomingFY2024$40.9MLottery money goes to other purposesNone of it

Cents of each dollar: money sent to education divided by tickets sold, both from the same lottery report. Every figure was re-read from its source before it was published. How we check lottery numbers.

Start with California

The Lottery Act sends net revenue, all unclaimed prizes and all interest to public education, from K-12 schools through the University of California, paid out by the State Controller from the Lottery Education Fund. The lottery began in 1985.

What the law says

The promise: From 1985 to 2010, the law required at least 34% of lottery revenue to go to education. Since 2010, the law sets no fixed share: the Lottery Commission sets it at the level that brings in the most money for education.

"The percentage of the total annual revenues to be allocated to the benefit of public education, as specified in Section 8880.5, shall be established by the commission at a level that maximizes the total net revenues allocated to the benefit of public education."

Cal. Gov. Code 8880.4, as amended by AB 142 (Stats. 2010, ch. 13) leginfo.ca.gov

  • Tickets sold$8.9 billion p. 39
  • Prizes 67%$6.0 billion p. 39
  • Retailers 7%$615 million p. 39
  • Running the lottery 4%$325 million p. 39
  • To education 22%$1.9 billion p. 32
  • Other costs and reserves 1%$67.0 million tickets sold minus the rows above

Of every dollar of California lottery tickets sold in FY2025, 22 cents reached education.

What it paid for, FY2025

Payments made during the year. They include money earned in earlier years, so they do not add up to the year's total sent to education.

  • K-12$1.5 billion p. 10
  • Community Colleges$283 million p. 10
  • California State University$75.6 million p. 10
  • University of California$56.2 million p. 10
  • College of the Law, San Francisco$222,749 p. 10
  • Department of Education, State Special Schools$130,083 p. 10
  • K-12: general purpose lottery expenses (Proposition 37 funds), FY 2024-25$1.1 billion p. 2
  • K-12: instructional materials from Proposition 20 funds, FY 2024-25$464 million p. 2

Lottery money to education by year

$0$1.3 billion$2.5 billion 2016: $1.6 billion2016$1.6 billion2017: $1.5 billion20172018: $1.7 billion20182019: $1.9 billion20192020: $1.5 billion20202021: $1.9 billion20212022: $2.1 billion20222023: $2.3 billion20232024: $2.3 billion20242025: $1.9 billion2025$1.9 billion
California lottery money to education, by fiscal year.

Since 1985: $48.1 billion p. 8 to education in total.

What auditors found

"The Lottery has not followed state law, which requires it to increase its funding for education in proportion to its increases in net revenue. As a result, in fiscal year 2017–18, the Lottery failed to provide $36 million in funding for education."

California State Auditor, California State Lottery: The Lottery Has Not Ensured That It Maximizes Funding for Education (Report 2019-112), 2020-02-25. information.auditor.ca.gov

"Our review found that the transfer amount of $595,197,250 is supported by the Lottery’s accounting records"

California State Controller, California State Lottery Review Report: Quarterly Transfer of Funds to Public Education, Quarter Ended December 31, 2024, 2026-07-14. sco.ca.gov

"In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Lottery as of June 30, 2025"

Weaver and Tidwell, L.L.P., Independent Auditor’s Report on the California State Lottery Fund financial statements, FY ended June 30, 2025 (Weaver and Tidwell, L.L.P., in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report), 2025-11-21. static.www.calottery.com

California: every school dollar