Scott Healy
Playing the lottery is always a gamble, but despite the extremely low odds of actually winning big, millions of people continue to buy tickets and try their luck every week. Some stick to the same numbers for years, usually picking birthday or anniversary dates, and others rely on traditionally “lucky” numbers such as 7 or 3 plus a few random picks.
But is there a way to increase the odds of winning the lottery? One way is to buy multiple tickets and try as many combinations as possible, but while this will definitely improve your chances, it will also cost you a lot of money. You can buy a ticket from the states most likely to win (the states where the most jackpots have been won so far) or pick the numbers most likely to win. Of course, all numbers are equally likely to be picked, but it is possible to find out which numbers have been drawn most often det over time. Our team at SlotsMove took it upon ourselves to dig through thousands of lottery draws and find the most frequently drawn numbers.
Methodology
In order to find the luckiest lottery numbers in the United States, we checked the five biggest multi-jurisdiction lotteries in the country, namely Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto America, and Cash4Life. For all of these games, we looked at the draws held since the last change of rules. When it came to Lucky for Life, we only studied the draws from the past year, meaning a total of 365 draws were analyzed for this lottery.
Powerball, 855 Total Draws
5/69 numbers and 1/26 Powerballs
Jackpot Odds: 1: 292,201,338
Offered in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Powerball is the largest lottery in the United States. It was formed in 1992, and since then, it has produced hundreds of millionaires, as well as the largest lottery jackpot in world history – on November 8, a single ticket sold in Altadena, California won a staggering $2.04 billion. The jackpot can be won after matching 5 white numbered balls and 1 Powerball, and is awarded either in cash or as an annuity paid in 30 yearly installments.
To discover which were the most common numbers in this lottery, we looked at all 855 draws since the current number matrix has been used. These are the draws between October 7, 2015, and March 6, 2023, and within them, the luckiest number is 61 – drawn 83 times. The second most common one is 32 (82 times), followed by 36, 63, and 69, which have been among the winning numbers a total of 75 times. The least common number is 34 – it has appeared only 46 times, followed by 13 (47 times) and 34 (48 times). The luckiest Powerball, drawn 45 times so far, is 24, while the least common number is 23, having been drawn only 26 times.
Mega Millions, 558 Total Draws
5/70 numbers and 1/25 Mega Ball
Jackpot Odds: 1:302,575,350
Mega Millions originally started under the name The Big Game in 1996 when it was offered in six states. Today, tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in order to win the jackpot, players need to match 5 out of 70 numbers as well as 1 Mega Ball out of 25. As with most lottery games in the U.S., the jackpot prize can be awarded either in cash or in graduated yearly installments.
Since the last change of rules, a total of 558 draws have taken place, the first of which was on October 31, 2017. The most common number is 14 (54 times), followed by 17 (51 times), while 31, 38, and 46 have been picked 50 times. The least common numbers, on the other hand, are 51 and 49, appearing only 25 and 26 times respectively over the past 5 years and a half. Mega Ball 22 is the luckiest one, drawn 33 times. Next is Mega Ball 11, which has been picked 29 times.
Lucky for Life, 365 Draws
5/48 numbers and 1/18 Lucky Ball
Jackpot Odds: 1:30,821,472
Lucky for Life was launched in 2009 in Connecticut but within a few years, it became a nationwide lottery game and is now available in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Advertised as “the game of a lifetime”, it is one of the two lotteries that offer guaranteed lifetime winnings – the other one is Cas4Life. The jackpot in Lucky for Life is paid as an annuity for life – $365,000 a year, which is $1,000 per day, while the second-tier prize is $25,000 per year. Winners of both prizes are also offered a cash option.
In order to win the jackpot, players need to guess 5 out of 48 numbers, as well as 1 green Lucky Ball out of 18. Since Lucky for Life has daily draws, we looked at the results from the past year, and within these 365 draws, the most frequent numbers were 1 and 15 – each appearing 50 times. Number 2 has been the second-most common ball, being drawn 48 times, while 16 and 42 were among the winning numbers a total of 45 times. The unluckiest numbers were 14 and 40, each picked 29 times, and number 9, drawn only 25 times. The most frequent green ball is 10 (29 times) and the least frequent one is 16 (11 times).
Lotto America, 588 Total Draws
5/52 numbers and 1/10 Star Ball
Jackpot Odds: 1:25,989,600
Originally, Lotto America was a multi-state lottery game that ran for four years before it was eventually replaced by Powerball in 1992. The newer version was launched in 2017 after another lottery, Hot Lotto, was discontinued due to a huge rigging scandal and falling sales. Now, Lotto America is offered in 13 states, and drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. To win the jackpot, players have to pick five numbers from 1 through 52, and a “Star Ball” numbered from 1 through 10.
Since November 15, 2017, when the lottery was held for the first time, there have been 588 draws with the most frequent numbers being 1 and 35, each appearing 71 times. The second most common ones are 34 (66 times), and 22, 25, and 32 (65 times). The unluckiest number, on the other hand, is 20 – so far, it has been picked only 42 times. The most frequent Star Balls are 9 (69 times) and 8 (62 times), while the least frequent ones are 1 (49 times) and 3 (53 times).
Cash4Life, 1,872 Total Draws
5/60 numbers and 1/4 Cash Ball
Jackpot Odds: 1:21,846,048
Offered in ten states, Cash4Life is a lottery game similar to Lucky for Life – it gives jackpot winners $1,000 per day for life, paid out as an annuity or as a cash option where the prize is set at $7 million. The lottery was launched in June 2014 with two draws per week, but since July 1, 2019, Cash4Life draws have been held nightly. The jackpot is won with 5 matching numbers from the main 60-ball pool plus 1 Cash Ball – if the player guesses only the main five numbers, the second-tier jackpot is won. It is the equivalent of $1,000 per week for life or $1 million cash.
As of Tuesday, March 7, Cash4Life has been held a total of 1,872 times and the most frequent winning number has been 21, drawn 177 times. Being picked 173 and 171 times, respectively, 14 and 40 are the second most common winning numbers in the game. The least lucky ones are 29 and 54, drawn only 136 times. When it comes to the Cash Balls, 1 is the most frequently picked ball (490 times), followed by 2 (474 times), 3 (462 times), and 4 (446 times).
