Virginia is one of the unluckiest states for winning the lottery, research finds

VIRGINIA, USA — Virginia residents who play the lotto are some of the unluckiest people in the country, according to a recent study. Crunching the numbers shows the Commonwealth 

Despite Virginia's success in winning handing out winning tickets, the state has only crowned two jackpot winners. What are the odds? 

New research by OLBG revealed that Virginia took 10th place as one of the unluckiest states in the U.S., with .23 jackpot winners per million people in the last 20 years. 

Despite this, Virginia remains within the top 25 states for the highest average jackpot win per person at $189.90 million. 

OLBG's 2023 research assessed which states increased a residents' ability to win the Powerball. The study compared the highest number of jackpot winners per million people per state, the highest average jackpot win per person per state and the state with the highest number of jackpot winners. 

Though Virginia's luck has been historically low, it may be slowly increasing. One of Virginia's biggest lottery legacies occurred in March 2023. The jackpot? $161 million! The winning Powerball ticket was sold at the Gill Brothers gas station in Dublin, Virginia. Even better news, this was the fourth-largest prize ever won in a Virginia lottery game! 

The study emphasized that few states have seen more than 10 jackpot winners. While Pennsylvania defied the norm and took the top spot with 18 jackpot winners, Virginia fell below average with its two winners. 

Lose the long face! Across the DMV, Delaware has consistently felt the luck. The state has celebrated five jackpot winners. And with 4.85 jackpot winners per million people, Delaware took the top spot in OLBG's 2023 research as the state with the highest ratio of jackpot winners to people. A major win for the region. 

If winning the lottery is on your bucket list, the good news is  you can continue calling the DMV home, but you better start looking at property in Delaware!