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Lottery revenues are at an all-time high. Here’s where the money’s going.

The state lottery paid out more than $1 billion to Massachusetts cities and towns in fiscal 2023.

By Chloe Courtney Bohl

July 27, 2023

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This past fiscal year has been the Massachusetts State Lottery’s most profitable, ever. Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, the lottery pulled in over $6 billion in revenues and netted an estimated $1.2 billion in profit. So, where does all that money go?

An estimated $4.4 billion went to prize payouts — another all-time high for the state. 

Lottery retailers, who get a commission and bonus when they sell a winning ticket, earned $350 million.

After payouts, commissions, and administrative expenses, the lottery’s leftover profit — totaling $1.2 billion in fiscal 2023 — gets paid out to the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns in unrestricted aid. 

“Thanks to our customers, our employees and our statewide retail partners, we have returned record-setting funding to our local communities,” Mark William Bracken, the Mass Lottery’s executive director, said in a release.

That money helps keep communities running by funding local infrastructure improvements, snow removal, school services, or any number of other projects. 

The lottery tracks how much money it sends to each city and town in the Commonwealth each year. More than $219 million went to Boston in fiscal 2023; Worcester got over $48 million; and Springfield was awarded almost $44 million.

The unprecedented profits were driven by tantalizing jackpots and voracious instant ticket sales, the lottery reported. Mega Millions and Powerball ticket sales both rose dramatically last fiscal year — by 116% and 31%, respectively — as players angled for multiple billion-dollar jackpots. And Bay Staters purchased around $4 billion worth of instant tickets – another record – after the lottery introduced a new $50 instant ticket.