How Much Do Lottery Retailers Make in Commission?

The lottery can make big winners out of ordinary people simply through chance. However, players are not the only people who benefit from playing the lotto. The vast majority of lottery games are organised by the state, which means that a percentage of the profit made through sales often goes back into the community to help fund projects that benefit residents. There is also one more group that benefits from ticket sales—lotto retailers. In this article, we’ll answer the question of how much lottery retailers make in commission.

How Much Do Lottery Retailers Make in Commission in the U.S.?

Two Lotto Retailers at Store Lottery retailers in the U.S. make commission off tickets in a few different ways. First, retailers receive a commission off every ticket sale they make. This commission, on average, is about 5%, though it does vary by state. Second, some retailers also make an even smaller commission off every lottery win they pay out. Not all states offer this commission, and when they do it is usually somewhere around 1-2%. Finally, if a retailer is lucky enough to have sold the winning ticket, the lotto organisation will typically give the store a bonus of $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the state.

At the end of the day, lottery retailers in the U.S. really don’t make too much off of lottery commissions, unless they sell a winning ticket. In most states, the commission stays below 10% between the ticket sales and winning ticket commission. While the jackpot bonuses are appealing, they are also pretty rare. For the most part, lottery retailers make money off the lottery through the other purchases that customers make at their store while purchasing a ticket. For example, a gas station might sell one lottery ticket, but the customer might also decide to pick up a bottle of water and a bag of chips. Regardless of commission, many retailers see offering lottery tickets as a great incentive for customers to shop at their stores.

Lottery Retailer Commission by State

The amount of commission a lottery retailer makes varies by state. Within each state, the amount of commission from sales may vary by type of lottery ticket sold. For instance, some states supply a different commission for instant tickets, pull-tab tickets, and scratch tickets. The commission received for cashing or selling winning tickets also varies, with some states offering a percentage commission, and others offering a flat rate bonus.

The amounts of commission lottery retailers make by state are as follows:

State	Commission on Lottery Sales	Commission on Winning Tickets	Jackpot Bonus
Arizona	6.5%	Flat rate bonus for prizes over $25,000	$50,000
Arkansas	5%	1%	$50,000
California	4.5 – 6%	0.5%	Up to $1 million
Colorado	6-7%	1%	$50,000
Connecticut	5%	1%	$10,000
Delaware	5%	1%	$10,000
Florida	5%	1%	$20,000
Georgia	6%	N/A	$50,000
Idaho	5%	N/A	$20,000
Illinois	5%	1%	Up to $500,000
Indiana	6%	1%	Unspecified
Iowa	5-5.5%	Flat rate bonus for top prizes	$10,000
Kansas	5%	1%	$10,000
Kentucky	5%	1%	Unspecified
Louisiana	5%	0.5-2%	1% of LA’s contribution to pool prize (Min. $25,000)
Maine	5-7%	1% on prizes of over $1,000 sold by them	Up to $50,000
Maryland	5.5%	3%	0.1% of jackpot prize
Massachusetts	5%	1%	Unspecified
Michigan	6%	Flat rate bonuses for prizes over $100,000	$50,000
Minnesota	5.5%	1%	Unspecified
Mississippi	6%	N/A	N/A
Missouri	5%	2%	$50,000
Montana	5%	N/A	N/A
Nebraska	5-5.5%	1%	Up to $50,000
New Hampshire	5%	1%	Unspecified
New Jersey	5%	1.25%	Up to $30,000
New Mexico	6%	1%	$50,000
New York	6%	N/A	N/A
North Carolina	7%	Flat rate bonuses for prizes over $1 million	$50,000
North Dakota	5%	None	None
Ohio	5.5%	1.5%	Unspecified
Oklahoma	6%	N/A	N/A
Oregon	8%	1%	Up to $100,000
Pennsylvania	5%	Flat rate bonuses for prizes over $100,000	$100,000 for jackpots over $10 million
Rhode Island	5-8%	1%	None
South Carolina	7%	None	1% on prizes over $10,000, up to $50,000
South Dakota	5%	N/A	Unspecified
Tennessee	6.5%	N/A	$50,000
Texas	5%	N/A	Up to $1 million
Vermont	5.75-6%	N/A	1% of prizes over $500, up to $30,000
Virginia	5%	1%	Flat rate bonus for prizes over $20,000, up to $50,000
Washington	5%	None	None
West Virginia	7%	1%	Up to $100,000
Wisconsin	5.5-6.25%	N/A	Up to $100,000

How Much Do Lottery Retailers Make in Commission in Canada?

Much like their neighbours to the south, lottery retailers in Canada can make commission on selling tickets, as well as for cashing prizes and selling the winning ticket. However, the bonus for selling the winning ticket is generally much lower. This is likely because the national lottery games, which include Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49, and Daily Grand, do not see jackpot prizes nearly as high as those provided by the interstate lotteries like US Powerball or Mega Millions.

Lottery Retailer Commission by Province

As in the U.S., the amount of commission that lottery retailers make depends on the region in which they operate. Whereas lottery games in the U.S. are each regulated by state, Canada has a few different lottery regulators which operate by region.

These organisations are: the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), which regulates gaming-related activities on behalf of the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut as associate members; the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), which regulates lottery for the governments of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador; the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), which regulates activities in British Columbia; the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), which regulates activities in Ontario; and Loto-Quebec, which regulates activities in Quebec. The WCLC allows each province to determine commissions separately, while ALC regulates commission on behalf of all its members.

The amounts of commission lottery retailers make by region are as follows:

Lottery Organisation	Commission on Lottery Sales	Commission on Winning Tickets	Jackpot Bonus
Alberta	5%	2%	None
Saskatchewan	5%	2%	None
Manitoba	5%	2% for prizes up to $1,000	None
Yukon	7%	N/A	N/A
Northwest Territories and Nunavut	5%	2% for prizes up to $1,000	None
ALC	5-12.7%	$0.10 per winning ticket	1% on prizes over $10,000
BCLC	5%	1%	Flat rate bonus for prizes under $2 million 0.1% on prizes over $2 million
OLG	5-8%	2% for prizes under $300 3% for prizes under $200	0.01% for prizes of $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 0.15% for prize of $1,000 0.25% for prize of $500,000 0.40% for prize of $250,000
Loto-Quebec	6%	N/A	1% of jackpot

Conclusion

Selling lottery tickets can be a great addition to many stores in the U.S. and Canada. On top of the added foot traffic that lotto tickets bring, lottery retailers make a small commission on all sales, with some states and provinces also offering commission on all tickets redeemed in store. Considering that more than 3.4 billion Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are sold each year—not counting all of the state-specific lotteries that exist—that’s a serious amount of business that retailers can tap into. And if stores are lucky enough to sell a jackpot winning ticket, they may also be entitled to a large bonus—and that’s nearly as good as playing the lottery themselves!