This Unexpected Midwest State Sells A Ton Of Winning Lottery Tickets

Some states have all the luck, but Indiana might have most of it when it comes to selling winning lottery tickets in the Midwest. The Hoosier State is in the Who's Who of states that sell the most winning lottery tickets in the United States, at least when it comes to a little game called Powerball.

Indiana is one of just four U.S. states of the 45 states (and 48 total jurisdictions) that participate in the Powerball lottery to sell over 10 winning Powerball tickets. But the luck buck doesn't stop there. Indiana also has the most Powerball jackpot wins since the game's debut.

Per data compiled by mobile lottery gambling app, Jackpocket, Indiana has the most Powerball wins since the game's inception, with 39 Powerball jackpots won in Indiana since 1992. That's not too far off from how many times the Indiana Pacers have made the postseason, so what gives? Are Hoosiers really luckier than any other U.S. citizen, or do they just play to win? The answer might make you reconsider your next Powerball ticket purchase, or consider retiring in the land of Larry Bird and inexpensive housing.

Do you feel lucky? Well, if you're from Indiana, you might. Per Powerball data, Indiana has 5.7 wins per every million Indianans. Those odds aren't so slim when you consider Indiana's total population at 6.9 million people, or that Powerball itself claims the odds of picking at least some correct Powerball numbers are chancier than 1 in 26. Indiana is home to 39 (or 9.4%) of all Powerball winners, outranking fellow mates in the top trio, Missouri with 31 (or 7.5%), and Minnesota with 22 (or 5.3%.)

The Corn Belt state's last big Powerball win was in 2017, when a Hoosier won the then-seventh largest jackpot in Powerball history. The winner chose to remain anonymous (anonymity is an option for lottery winners in all but one of the United States) for good reason: the 2017 Powerball jackpot was $435.5 million. Little is known about the winner, but the Purdue grad (and manufacturing plant worker) accepted their winnings not as a 30-year annuity, but as a lump sum of $189.1 million, after taxes.

Indiana is also home to a historic first in lottery history. Powerball, a state lottery game run by the Multi-State Lottery Association, had its first-ever drawing in 1992, held between 23 participating states. An Indiana player bought the first Powerball jackpot winning ticket.

Since 1992, Indiana has claimed 1,271 lottery wins, amounting to about $6.5 million dollars. Maybe there is just something special about how a Hoosier picks winning numbers. Maybe Indianans just know how often to buy lottery tickets for the best odds at winning. But part of the reason why Indiana is one of the "luckiest" lottery-winning states might lie in the fact that Hoosiers play the lottery like they play basketball: with gusto.

Financial data analysis site, GoBankingRates.com, found that Americans spent $17 billion on lottery tickets per year in 2023, or about $50.19 per person. Indianans spent $300,621,608 on lottery tickets in 2023, or about $44 per person. This falls within the higher, but certainly not highest, average spend per person by state. Considering Powerball tickets at $2 a pop, and dividing that $44 average per year, means Hoosier players could be testing their luck up to 22 Powerball tickets' worth a year.

Meanwhile, per U.S. Census Bureau data, Indiana had a median household income of $70,051, in 2023, and a 12.3% poverty rate. Compare this to the national median household income of $80,610 and the national 11.1% poverty rate. Part of Indiana's lottery luck could come from players trying to change their own. Powerball odds put winning chances at 1 in 292.2 million. For better or worse, the money generated by lottery ticket sales ends up going back to the state's struggling in some ways. In May 2024, The Hoosier Lottery projected growth in ticket sales, as well as a $380 million dollar surplus revenue for the state of Indiana.