Where You’re Most Likely to Buy a Winning Lottery Ticket (States, Stores, and the Reality Behind “Lucky” Spots)

If you’ve ever heard someone say, “That store is lucky — it sells winning tickets all the time,” you’re not alone. Every big jackpot seems to come with a headline about where the ticket was bought … and suddenly that gas station or supermarket becomes a mini tourist attraction.

But here’s the truth most people skip:

A store (or state) doesn’t have “better odds” in a magical sense. The odds are the odds per ticket. What changes from place to place is how many tickets are sold — and when more tickets are sold, more winners (including big winners) will naturally come from that area.

So if your question is, “Where is it most likely that a winning ticket gets sold?” we can answer that with data-driven logic: follow the volume.

Let’s break it down by states and types of stores, and then finish with a practical checklist you can actually use.

__________________________________________________________________________________ The #1 factor: ticket volume (not luck) Every Powerball or Mega Millions ticket has the same jackpot odds no matter where you buy it. But states with more players and more sales tend to rack up more winners over time — simply because they’ve printed more tickets.

That’s why analyses of lottery spending and sales totals are so useful: they don’t tell you where you’ll win — they tell you where winners are more likely to originate because the sales footprint is larger.

For example, LendingTree’s analysis of government data shows Americans spent about $320 per person on lottery tickets in 2023, and that Massachusetts was the biggest per-capita spender by a wide margin. 

And NASPL-related reporting on fiscal-year sales totals highlights that the biggest total-sales states include Florida, California, Texas, and New York — again, large states with huge player bases and retail networks. 

Translation:

• If you’re talking about “where winning tickets come from most often,” big sales states will dominate.

• If you’re talking about “where people buy the most tickets per person,” a few high-per-capita states pop to the top.

__________________________________________________________________________________ States most associated with jackpot wins: what the maps show Independent lottery data aggregators track historical jackpot wins by state for games like Powerball and Mega Millions. While these aren’t “official” lottery commissions, they compile win histories into searchable maps and tables that clearly show patterns over decades.

For Powerball, winners-by-state tables and maps are commonly used to illustrate how certain states have accumulated more jackpot wins over time — typically reflecting membership duration (how long they’ve been in the game) and total sales volume. 

For Mega Millions, jackpot-winner maps show a similar story: states with large populations and high ticket sales tend to show up repeatedly. 

A practical way to think about “best states”

If you’re asking, “Which states are most likely to produce a jackpot winner?” the shortlist usually comes from two buckets:

1. High total sales states (more tickets overall)

2. High per-capita sales states (lottery is culturally popular, strong local participation)
   

Per-capita data consistently points to an “East Coast bias” in spending, with states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island near the top in recent years. 

But remember: you don’t gain an advantage by traveling to buy a ticket. Your odds are still tied to the ticket itself. The state-level data explains where winners tend to come from — not how to beat probability. __________________________________________________________________________________ The “best” types of stores: where winning tickets are sold most often Now for the question everyone actually cares about: What kind of store sells the most winners?

Convenience stores + gas stations lead the pack

An NBC Los Angeles investigation that analyzed winning-ticket data found that convenience stores (often attached to gas stations) sold the most winning Powerball and Mega Millions tickets in their dataset window, followed by convenience stores without gas, liquor stores, and supermarkets. 

That matches what the retail channel looks like overall: convenience stores are simply where most lottery transactions happen.

In fact, an Oxford University Press blog notes that as recently as 2020, nearly 70% of total lottery sales nationwidewere made at convenience stores (including those attached to gas stations). 

And NASPL Insights similarly emphasizes how dominant convenience is in the lottery ecosystem, citing convenience stores as accounting for roughly 70% of instant ticket sales. 

So… are gas stations “luckier”?

Not really — they’re just busier lottery points of sale. More tickets sold = more winners sold.

It’s like asking which airport produces more “vacation selfies.” It’s not that the airport causes vacations — it’s that lots of people pass through it. __________________________________________________________________________________ “Lucky stores” and repeat winners: what’s actually happening You’ll sometimes see lists of “luckiest stores” that sold multiple big winners. Some chains (like big convenience brands and supermarkets in lottery-heavy states) show up repeatedly in these lists. 

Here’s the non-mystical explanation:

• High-traffic stores sell tons of tickets daily.

• They’re often located in dense metro areas.

• They may have lottery terminals that handle both draw games and instant games.

• Over years, the number of winners compounds.
  

So yes, some stores will have multiple jackpot stories — but that’s what you’d expect from high-volume sellers.

__________________________________________________________________________________ If you want a realistic “most likely” strategy, do this instead If your goal is simply to maximize the chance that your purchase becomes a winner (without pretending probability bends), focus on what you can control:

1) Buy where tickets are sold correctly (and reliably)

Busy convenience stores are common lottery hubs, but the real advantage is operational:

• terminals work

• staff knows the process

• fewer misprints/mistakes This is boring — but boring is good.
  

2) For scratch-offs, prefer stores with high turnover

Instant games depend on inventory movement. A high-traffic retailer tends to cycle through packs faster, which some players prefer because it avoids “dusty” old packs sitting forever. (Still not better odds per ticket — just a preference in how packs rotate.)

3) Don’t chase “recent winners”

A common myth is: “That store just sold a jackpot, so it’s hot.” In reality, past wins don’t make future wins more likely. Probability doesn’t have memory.

4) The only true way to improve odds: more tickets (or pooling)

Buying more tickets increases your chance because you own more combinations — simple math. Pooling with friends/co-workers does the same thing with less cost per person (but you split winnings, obviously).

__________________________________________________________________________________ Bottom line: where winners most often come from If you’re trying to answer the question in the most honest, data-driven way:

• States with the most winners tend to be states with massive ticket sales and/or long participation histories in the game.

• States with the most lottery spending per person (often Northeast) show where lottery participation is culturally high.

• Stores that sell the most winners are usually convenience stores and gas stations, largely because that’s where the bulk of lottery sales happen.
  

So the most accurate answer to “Where is it most likely to buy a winning ticket?” is:

Where the most tickets are being sold — especially high-traffic convenience stores/gas stations in high-sales states.