The States Most Overdue for a Big Lottery Win

Winning the lottery is something many people dream of. From the ways you will spend the money to the people you will share your winnings with, it is common to imagine all of the plans you would have for your jackpot.

At Lucky.me, we see people win big every day, so we wanted to learn how often Americans are getting lucky when it comes to the lottery. With multiple drawings a week, both the Mega Millions and Powerball have changed the lives of many Americans, but which states have won big the most?

In this study, we collected data for both lotteries and analyzed the numbers most commonly drawn and which states have won the jackpot the most and least in the past decade. If your state hasn’t won recently, and luck is on your side, you might be overdue for a big win. Read on to see if your state is overdue for a lottery win and discover numbers that have commonly won big.

Key Takeaways

• Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are the states most overdue for a jackpot win.

• New Hampshire, Vermont, and New Jersey residents have won the most lottery jackpots per capita in the past decade.

• States in the midwestern part of the U.S. are the most overdue for a jackpot win.

• The Mega Millions lottery numbers most overdue for a big win include 49, 51, 65, 23, and 36.

• The Powerball lottery numbers most overdue for a big win include 60, 65, 66, 67, and 68.

• The Mega Millions lottery numbers Americans have won big on most often include 9, 39, 4, 18, and 46.

• The Powerball lottery numbers Americans have won big on most often include 10, 11, 17, 9, and 13.

Where Americans Are Most Overdue for a Jackpot Win

Many people regularly play the lottery, but others don’t try because they feel the chances of winning are simply too small. While winning the lottery is largely about luck, we wanted to understand where people commonly win or don’t win, so we analyzed years of Mega Millions and Powerball data to determine where people have won the most over the past decade. Using this data, we calculated the percentage of wins earned per capita for each state to find which parts of the country are most overdue for a jackpot win.

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In the past 10 years, residents in 11 states and Washington, D.C. have yet to win. This automatically earned a top spot on our ranking but we also wanted to take population into account, so although these states and the capital all have zero wins, we ranked them by population so more populated regions ranked higher.

This ranked Kentucky as the most overdue for a jackpot win. According to data collected, the last time a Kentucky resident won the lottery was on December 11, 2010. Still, someone in Illinois had those same lucky numbers so the Powerball jackpot ($37,500,000) had to be split. It seems like it’s time for Kentucky to get a win – and this time without splitting it.

Next up on the list of states overdue for a win is Oklahoma. The previous win in the state dates even further back than Kentucky as November 21, 2009. In third place is Arkansas, where the last time a winning ticket was bought in the state was in 2017, but the winner was actually a Texas resident. However, the last time an Arkansas resident brought home the prize was January 2, 2010, ringing in the new year with a $12,153,621.78 cash prize.

Overall, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New Jersey residents have won the most lottery jackpots per capita in the past decade. Rhode Island and Maine have had the most luck per capita with the Mega Millions lottery, and Vermont and New Hampshire residents have won the most Powerball jackpots per capita in the past 10 years.

The Lottery Numbers Most Overdue to Be Drawn

After discovering where Americans are most overdue for a win, we turned our attention to the numbers. After all, having a “cheat sheet” when it comes to winning lottery numbers may just be your ticket to win.

To determine which numbers are most and least commonly drawn, we collected the lottery drawings for the Mega Millions dating back to 2010 and the Powerball dating back to 1997, according to data available. We then calculated the percentage of times each ball was drawn and ranked them from least to most often drawn. So next time you set out to buy a lottery ticket, consider giving some of these overdue numbers a chance.

When it comes to the Mega Millions lottery 49, 51, 65, 23, and 36 are the least commonly drawn. If this looks like your go-to lineup of numbers, don’t lose hope though because the odds are in your favor. For the Powerball lottery, 60, 65, 66, 67, and 68 are the most overdue to win big. Both lotteries offer an equal chance of any one of the balls being drawn on any given day, so we will likely see some of these numbers appearing soon.

On the other hand, the Mega Millions lottery sees the 3, 10, 17, 31, and 8 balls drawn the most often, while 32, 39, 20, 16, and 41 are the most commonly drawn Powerball numbers. If you are trying to plan when to buy a ticket, remember Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 p.m. (EST). During this live event, five white balls are drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 through 70, and one gold Mega Ball is drawn from a set numbered 1 through 25.

For the Powerball lottery, drawings are held every Monday and Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. (EST), with five numbers drawn from white balls numbered 1 through 69 and one red Powerball drawn from a set numbered 1 through 26. So whether you choose to stick to your go-to numbers, try the most commonly drawn numbers, or try your hand at the overdue numbers, we wish you luck.

The Lottery Numbers That Americans Win on Most Often

In addition to the most and least commonly drawn numbers overall, we calculated the most common numbers Americans had on their winning tickets. To do this, we gathered winners' data and calculated how often each number was drawn across all winning tickets.

Leading the way for the Mega Millions lottery, we found that 9, 39, 4, 18, and 46 have awarded Americans with the most jackpots over the years. Following those numbers, there was a six-way tie for 6th place as 12, 19, 29, 41, 57, and 66 were all drawn 12.2% of the time someone had won since 2018.

For the Powerball, we discovered 10, 11, 17, 9, and 13 were the numbers Americans saw on their winning tickets most often since 2003. Similar to the Mega Millions there was a tie for 6th place, this time between three numbers, 14, 22, and 23.

While you may have big plans for the money if you were to hit the lottery, a life-changing amount of money is something you should take very seriously, as reports show nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually go bankrupt. So if you hear your numbers get drawn, consider choosing who you tell wisely, hiring a financial advisor and lawyer, deciding if you will take the lump sum or annuity, and planning for income taxes.

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Methodology

In this study, we analyzed lottery data for the Mega Millions and Powerball over the years. Data for the Mega Millions dated back to 2010, while Powerball data collected dated back to 1997. Using the data collected, we found the percentage of times each numbered ball was drawn and ranked those numbers from the most commonly drawn overall to the most overdue for a win. We also analyzed the numbers drawn when someone hit the jackpot to determine which numbers have been on winning tickets most often.

In 2018, the ball numbers for the Mega Millions changed from 1–75 to 1–70. In order to focus on the numbers being drawn in 2024, we analyzed the drawings since 2018 with these new number drawings.

In addition to the numbers drawn, we also collected the winners’ data. While we analyzed all the data available, we decided to focus on winners over the past decade to ensure an even comparison over time. To take population into account, we calculated the number of wins by state and then found the percentage of wins per 100,000 residents. Using this percentage, we ranked states from the highest to lowest percentage of wins since 2014. Finally, we collected all states that did not make the list of winners to determine which states are most overdue for a big win.