See where $4.4B was spent on lottery games in Michigan in 2025

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More than $4.4 billion was spent on lottery games in Michigan in 2025.

Unsurprisingly, Michigan’s most populous county, Wayne, saw the most spent on lottery games at $1.06 billion. Wayne County is home to Detroit and an estimated 1,771,063 residents in 2024.

The county that saw the lowest amount of sales was Keweenaw, which is Michigan’s least populated county at 2,161 residents and is located at the top of the Upper Peninsula. A little more than $423,000 was spent on lottery games in the county last year.

While the bulk of money spent on lottery games goes to the prizes, a sizable portion goes into the Michigan School Aid Fund, the budget that helps fund public education in the state.

In the last fiscal year, 63% of lottery sales proceeds went to prizes, 25% to the School Aid Fund, 9% to retailer and vendor commissions and 3% to funding Michigan Lottery operations.

With $4.4 billion in sales last year, that would mean $2.77 billion would go to prizes, $1.1 billion to schools, $396 million to retailers and vendors and $132 million to Michigan Lottery operations based on 2025 sales figures.

It wasn’t clear if this percentage split in lottery sales proceeds would change in the upcoming fiscal year. Michigan Lottery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Michigan’s current education budget totals $24.1 billion, with $19.5 billion coming from the School Aid Fund. That means the lottery’s estimated $1.1 billion share in 2025 to schools would equal about 4.56% of the total education budget.

For this story, MLive analyzed lottery sales data by county to find which counties saw the highest and lowest amount of sales in 2025.

When looking at the amount spent on lottery games per 10,000 residents, a majority of the top 20 counties are on the east side of the state. Many of them are in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.

The data provided by Michigan Lottery does not distinguish whether a resident or out-of-county person purchased a lottery game within a county. Rather, sales reflect where purchases were made, not where buyers live.

Michigan saw $4.4 billion in lottery sales in total. With an estimated 10.14 million residents, the average statewide sales per 10,000 residents was $4.33 million.

Montmorency County, home to an estimated 9,828 people in 2024, had more than double this average and the highest amount spent on lottery games per 10,000 residents.

With $8.95 million total spent on lottery games in Montmorency County, that equals $9.11 million per 10,000 residents.

That’s roughly $2.3 million higher than second-place Iosco County, which saw $6.8 million spent on lottery per 10,000 residents. Iosco County has an estimated 25,361 residents and saw a total of $17.26 million spent on lottery games in 2025.

Leelanau County saw the lowest amount spent on lottery games per 10,000 residents. The county with an estimated 22,871 residents saw a total of $3.53 million spent on lottery games, breaking down to $1.54 million per 10,000 residents.