Arizonans spend less than half as much money on lottery tickets compared to Americans overall, according to a new study based on state-government lottery receipts.

Arizonans on average shelled out $100.85 per capita on lottery tickets in 2015, according to the study by LendEDU, based on preliminary data for state government finances collected by the Census Bureau. For Americans overall, the per-capita figure was $206.69.

Arizona and 42 other states have lotteries. The exceptions are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Arizona ranked 32nd in per-capita spending of the 43 lottery states examined.

The study by LendEDU, a student-loan marketplace, also sheds light on how the $66.8 billion in national lottery revenue was spent: $42.3 billion went for prizes and $3.2 billion went for administration, with $21.4 billion left over to support various state programs.

For fiscal 2016, the Arizona Lottery said it distributed more than $205 million, including $115 million to the state’s general fund, $39 million to programs that benefit arts and education, $27 million for health/human services, $15 million for business/economic development and $10 million for the environment.

Lotteries are generally more popular in Eastern states, according to the study. Massachusetts residents spent the most on lottery tickets by far in 2015: $734.85 per person on average. That was well above the next closest states: Rhode Island ($513.75), Delaware ($420.82), New York ($398.77) and West Virginia ($359.78).

North Dakotans spent the least, an average of $34.09, followed by Oklahoma ($43.74), Montana ($53.19), New Mexico ($65.84) and Nebraska ($78.52).

The study didn’t examine why residents of certain states spend more on lottery tickets than others.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8616.

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