U.S. Powerball
Powerball says that, on average, 35% of every $2 U.S. ticket stays in the selling jurisdiction to support public programs and services.
Lottery Money Comparison • Public Benefit
Some lotteries fund charities, some fund statutory Good Causes and some support public programs such as schools, veterans or parks. The percentages can be compared — but only if we are clear about what each percentage actually means.
There is a numerical answer — and an important qualification
Powerball says that, on average, 35% of every $2 U.S. ticket stays in the selling jurisdiction to support public programs and services.
A state can use its lottery proceeds for education, scholarships, veterans, parks, recreation or other statutory programs. That is broader than a UK society lottery donating to charities, and different again from the UK's National Lottery Good Causes system.
For a British charity-lottery comparison, People's Postcode Lottery currently publishes 31% of each ticket cost going to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw. UK Powerball says over 30% will be returned to UK National Lottery Good Causes, but that is currently an expected commitment rather than a completed-year audited game result.
Normalized share of ticket sales
The bars make the percentages easy to compare. The labels beside them are just as important: some are actual annual results, some are current allocations, some are averages and one is an expected game commitment.
| Lottery | Headline share | What it supports | Measurement basis | Important note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Powerball | 35% average | Public programs & services | Powerball-published average | Average share of each $2 U.S. ticket that stays in the selling jurisdiction to support public programs and services. |
| People’s Postcode Lottery | 31% current | Charity / Postcode Trust | Current operator allocation | Current share of each ticket cost going to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw. Minimum stated charity share is 30%. |
| UK Powerball | Over 30% | UK National Lottery Good Causes | Expected / operator commitment | Allwyn says over 30% of the £4 ticket price will be returned to UK Good Causes and expects about £1bn over the first five years. |
| UK National Lottery — whole portfolio | 23% actual | National Lottery Good Causes | Actual FY2024/25 portfolio result | £1.8083bn of £7.8863bn sales was payable to Good Causes in the year ended 31 March 2025. |
| The Health Lottery | 20% current | Health-related Good Causes | Current operator allocation | 20% of every lottery draw ticket and online scratchcard purchased goes towards Good Causes. |
The National Lottery model
The Gambling Commission's latest full pence-per-pound accounts show £1.8083 billion payable to Good Causes from £7.8863 billion of sales in the year ended 31 March 2025 — 23p of every £1. The government still uses approximately 23p per £1 as the current average.
Charitable activities, health, education and the environment, distributed through The National Lottery Community Fund.
Distributed through the relevant national arts bodies and BFI.
Distributed through UK Sport and the home-nation sports bodies.
Distributed through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The government said in July 2026 that National Lottery players had generated more than £53bn since launch.
Independent distributor bodies allocate funding across communities, arts, sport and heritage.
The government launched a 12-week review in July 2026, so the current 40/20/20/20 split should be monitored.
Society lotteries work differently
In Great Britain, society and local-authority lotteries must return at least 20% of proceeds to their good cause or permitted purpose. Commercial external lottery managers can be involved, but the lottery exists to raise money for a non-commercial society or local authority.
The Gambling Commission says each society/local-authority lottery must apply at least 20% of proceeds to the society's or authority's purpose.
Currently 31% of each ticket cost goes to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw; 40% is prizes and 29% operating expenses.
20% of each draw ticket and online scratchcard purchase goes to health-related Good Causes.
The U.S. Powerball model
Powerball says 35% of each $2 U.S. ticket stays in the jurisdiction where it was sold on average to support public programs and services. The beneficiary changes with geography.
Many participating lotteries use proceeds to support schools, colleges, scholarships or education funds.
Programs can include veterans' services, parks and recreation, senior programs, conservation or general government.
Powerball says the game has generated an estimated $38bn for good causes over 34 years.
Make the percentage tangible
Choose a lottery and model what its published headline percentage means for 10, 50, 100 or 1,000 units of ticket sales. Currency follows the selected lottery.
Powerball's 35% is an average public-program share across U.S. ticket sales, not a charity-only percentage.
Transparency beats a longer league table
EuroMillions contributes within the National Lottery system, but current public sources do not publish an exact fixed Good Causes percentage for each complete £2.50 UK purchase. Applying the whole-lottery 23% portfolio figure directly to EuroMillions would overstate what the source actually tells us.
Mega Millions says half of ticket proceeds remains where the ticket is sold for designated good causes and retailer commissions. Without a nationally fixed split between those two uses, there is no honest single Good Causes percentage for the $5 ticket.
Percentage vs real-world scale
A percentage tells us how one unit of sales is divided. Total funding depends on the size of the lottery.
Despite a 23% share, the National Lottery's scale produces very large absolute funding.
Cumulative Good Causes funding reported by the government in July 2026.
Estimated public-benefit funding generated by the U.S. Powerball game over 34 years.
Frequently asked questions
Click a question to reveal the answer.
Among the selected headline figures on this page, U.S. Powerball publishes the highest percentage at 35% on average, but that money supports public programs and services rather than one UK-style charity fund. Among the selected British charity/society-lottery figures, People's Postcode Lottery currently says 31% of the cost of each ticket goes to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw. UK Powerball says over 30% of its ticket price will go to UK National Lottery Good Causes, but that is an expected/commitment figure rather than a completed-year audited result.
The Gambling Commission's latest pence-per-pound breakdown for the year ended 31 March 2025 shows 23p of every £1 of National Lottery sales payable to Good Causes. The government also describes approximately 23p per £1 as the current average.
The UK government said in July 2026 that National Lottery players had generated more than £53 billion for Good Causes since 1994.
The current statutory top-level allocation is 40% to community causes covering charitable activities, health, education and the environment; 20% to arts and culture; 20% to sport; and 20% to heritage. Twelve distributor bodies allocate the funding.
No. The government says the 12 National Lottery distributor bodies distribute the funds at arm's length. Allwyn operates The National Lottery but does not make individual grants.
Allwyn says over 30% of the UK Powerball ticket price will be returned to UK Good Causes and expects the game to deliver around £1 billion over its first five years. Because this is an expected operator commitment rather than a completed-year game account, this page labels it differently from the National Lottery's actual 23% portfolio result.
People's Postcode Lottery currently says 31% of the cost of each ticket goes to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw. It also says the charity share will not fall below 30%.
The Health Lottery currently says 20% of every lottery draw ticket and online scratchcard purchased goes towards Good Causes.
Yes. The Gambling Commission says each society or local-authority lottery in Great Britain must return at least 20% of its proceeds to the charity, good cause or permitted local-authority purpose.
Not exactly. Powerball says 35% of every $2 ticket stays in the selling jurisdiction on average to support public programs and services. Depending on the jurisdiction, those programs can include education, scholarships, veterans' services, parks, recreation and other public purposes. That is broader than a UK charity-only definition.
Mega Millions says half of ticket proceeds remains in the selling jurisdiction for designated good causes and retailer commissions, but it does not publish one national percentage that separates the public-benefit portion from retailer commissions. Assigning a single Good Causes percentage would create false precision.
EuroMillions supports the wider UK National Lottery Good Causes system, but the current public game-specific sources do not publish one fixed pence-per-£2.50 Good Causes allocation. The whole National Lottery portfolio figure should not be pasted onto EuroMillions as though every game has the same split.
Not necessarily. Lotteries can differ in ticket price, prize return, operating model, tax treatment, scale, beneficiary definition and legal structure. A higher percentage says something useful about the share of sales, but not everything about total social impact.
They answer different questions. Percentage shows how a unit of ticket sales is allocated; total funding measures scale. A very large lottery can raise more total money for public purposes even with a lower percentage than a smaller charity lottery.
Primary research
Current percentages are sourced from regulators, government or the lotteries themselves. Where the legal meaning differs, MLL labels the difference rather than silently treating every public-benefit payment as a charity donation.