North Carolina Education Lottery Raises A Record-Breaking $1 Billion For Education

For the first time in history the North Carolina Education Lottery has raised more than $1 billion in a single year for public education in the state. The earnings were announced this morning at a meeting of the NC Education Lottery Commission and then sent out in a press release. The earnings are a result of lottery ticket sales in the fiscal year 2023. They report that this makes the NC Lottery one of only 10 other states that have reached that mark.

“This milestone was achieved through the tremendous effort of the most talented and dedicated lottery team in the nation,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “Their incredible commitment to the lottery’s mission of raising maximum revenue for education stays at the forefront of everything they do each and every day. Every dollar raised goes to education and the investment pays dividends for students for years to come.”

Of the money raised 40% went to school construction and repair programs. Additional money went to help counties build new public schools through the Needs-Based Public School Building Capital Fund. Another portion of the money raised supports education programs in all 100 counties of the state. This is determined by legislators in the state budget. The NC Lottery reports that money has gone to scholarships and grants to make college more affordable. It also supports school systems with the cost of staff and transportation. And provides free academic preschool to "at-risk four-year-olds in the NC Pre-K program.

Since its inception in 2006 the lottery has raised more than $10 billion for state education. There have been some large jackpots this year which certainly helps the cause. And an abundance of scratch-off tickets that often generate local winners as well. May I need to play the North Carolina lottery?

There are some states that are luckier than others. There is no doubt about it. North Carolina made the list of 15 lucky states in the United States, according to OLBG. Everyone has fantasized about winning the lottery, whether it's the Mega Millions or the Powerball. Whether you're planning a lavish vacation, buying a house, treating a loved one, giving to charity, or all of the above, when we buy a ticket we always have a little bit of hope and our imaginations go wild when we hear about the unclaimed winning ticket...

When it comes to winning big on the lottery, which states are the luckiest? To determine where in America has the greatest likelihood of winning the big bucks, OLBG analyzed all lottery winners in the U.S. with a jackpot of $300 million or more. You can see the top 15 states below.

California was ranked 12th luckiest state despite having the highest number of big lottery winners, primarily because the state has such a large population that there are very few lottery winners, and the average winning ticket for a California winner is only $190.5 million.

North Carolina has won a whopping $1.1 billion between both lottery winners, making its average winning ticket $550 million, the highest in the country. As a result of its higher population, North Carolina didn't quite capture the title by itself, with a lower percentage of its population winning than New Hampshire.

In terms of lottery jackpot winners, New Hampshire and North Carolina share the gold for the luckiest states. Residents in New Hampshire have won a total of $693.7 million, which is an average of $346.85 million per winning ticket. As one of the states with the highest percentage of people who have won over $300 million, New Hampshire has the third smallest population.