(NEXSTAR) – The people of Oregon are getting some of the worst returns on their lottery investments, according to a recent analysis from LendingTree.
The study, based on lottery data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Annual Survey of State Government Finance, sought to determine which states’ residents spend — and lose — the most cash on lottery games per capita. Massachusetts earned the former honor, with residents spending a whopping $805.30 cents per capita on lottery and scratch-off tickets in 2020.
Oregon, meanwhile, ranked somewhere in the middle of the pack, with residents spending just $231.37 per capita on lottery games that same year.
But whereas residents of Massachusetts earned back about 70 cents per dollar spent, folks in Oregon recouped only 23 cents per dollar — effectively making Oregon among the worst states for lottery payouts. The only states with worse prize returns were West Virginia (22 cents per dollar) and South Dakota (19 cents).
Oregon also ranked fifth among the biggest “lottery losers” in the country, with residents losing around $178.68 per capita in 2020. The Beaver State followed just behind New York (where residents lost $216.82 per capita in 2020), Massachusetts ($244.49), West Virginia ($249.81) and Rhode Island ($281.63), where the payouts are slightly larger per dollar spent, but where more money, in general, is spend on lottery games per capita.
The top ten states where residents lost the most on lottery tickets in 2020, according to LendingTree’s study, are listed below. (The full rankings can be found at LendingTree.com.)
| Rhode Island | $281.63 per capita |
| West Virginia | $249.81 |
| Massachusetts | $244.49 |
| New York | $216.82 |
| Oregon | $178.68 |
| South Dakota | $167.48 |
| Georgia | $145.14 |
| Michigan | $143.62 |
| New Jersey | $139.26 |
| Connecticut | $135.47 |
Some other notable finds from the study: Folks in Oregon only spent about $4.11 (per capita) for every $1,000 of personal income earned in 2020. For comparison, the residents of Massachusetts — in addition to buying spending the most on lottery tickets in general — also spent the largest percentage of their income on these games when compared with the rest of the country, at $10.26 for every $1,000 of personal income.
“If you only play the lottery occasionally and only spend a few dollars a time, no real harm is done,” said Matt Schultz, the chief credit analyst for LendingTree, in a statement included with the study results. “However, if you’re consistently playing $10 or $20 or more each week, that adds up over time. You’re dropping more than $1,000 a year on lottery tickets if you play just $20 per week. That’s real money that could be earning interest and growing your wealth or bulking up your emergency fund instead.”
Across all states, U.S. residents considered among the “baby boomer” generation were also found least likely to play the lottery at all, with only 51% saying they buy some sort of lottery ticket, according to a LendingTree survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults. Gen Zers were somewhat more likely at 55%, while millennials and Gen Xers were found to be the most likely to play, at 64% and 66%.
More information, including the states which appear to boast the highest payout per dollar spent, can be found at LendingTree’s official site.