Ranking the Luckiest States in the USA: From Lottery Wins to Life Expectancy

Did you know New Hampshire is statistically the luckiest state in the U.S.? We ranked states based on lottery wins, life expectancy, crime levels, car accidents, and natural disasters to uncover where fortune truly favors.

Curious how your state measures up? Explore the full list—and discover where your luck might strike.

The Luckiest States in America: Top 5 Rankings

1. New Hampshire

New Hampshire residents have hit more jackpots via the lottery per 10 million people than any other state; enough to put it at number one alone on our list. But that’s not all, as NH also has the lowest crime-rate in the country.  

Out of all 50 states, New Hampshire is among the least likely to experience natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, too.

So, if you live in New Hampshire and feel lucky to do so, guess what? It’s not just you, since New Hampshire is the luckiest state in the country.

2. Vermont

Number two on the list of luckiest states is the Green Mountain State itself, Vermont. The second-least populated state in the union is in the top 10 in life expectancy, with an average lifespan of 78.8 years.

Vermont has the second lowest crime rate in America as well; though it also has less than half the residents of number one.

You’re also more likely to win the state lottery in Vermont than you are in every state except New Hampshire.

Add on the state’s beautiful landscapes — particularly its changing leaves in autumn — and it’s no wonder why Vermont is the second luckiest state in the U.S.

3. New Jersey

New Jersey is the third luckiest state in America, in spite of its less-than-stellar reputation. The Garden State has the 13th highest population, but ranks only fourth in car accidents; 489 per 100,000 people. Considering that the state is known for its freeways (and exits!), that isn’t bad at all.

While New Jersey is famous for organized crime, it has the fifth lowest crime rate in all of America. And guess what? New Jersey is third in lottery wins, too.

Even though it’s the laughing stock of many TV shows and movies, NJ residents should be proud to call the third-luckiest state in the whole union home.

4. Massachusetts

Coming in at number four on our list of the luckiest states is Massachusetts. Only New Hampshire has less crime than MA, and it ranks in the bottom five as far as car accidents per 100,000 as well.

The state is also tied for the lowest natural disaster potential, and has a life expectancy in the top five.

5. Rhode Island

Even though Rhode Island is the smallest state in the country by land area, it’s luckier than 90% of the rest of the country!

The Ocean State has the fifth smallest population in the U.S., and the fifth lowest crime rate as well; 2,722 crimes per 100,000 people. It’s also tied for lowest chance of natural disaster as well, despite the fact that the majority of the state is, in fact, an island.

What Rhode Island lacks in land area, it more than makes up for it in outright luck.

The 5 Unluckiest States in America

1. Mississippi

Mississippi has the lowest life expectancy in the country at 71.9 years, as well as the highest car accident rate. The Gulf Coast state also has a high natural disaster expectancy rate, as it is frequently in the direct line of hurricanes and tropical storms.

That said, Mississippi’s crime rate is ranked 23rd out of 50, or right in the middle of the pack, approximately. 

2. Arkansas

Arkansas residents are unlikely to hit the lottery, as only 0.32 per 10 million people win lottery prizes. It has the fifth highest crime rate too.

The Natural State is the third most likely state to get into a car accident as well, with 1,875 incidents per 100,000 people.

3. Louisiana

Coming in as the third unluckiest state is Louisiana, which has a higher-than-average car accident rate of 1,638 per 100,000 people. The Gulf State also has a low lottery win rate of 0.44 per 10 million people.

While the state is famous for the disastrous Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the state is only ranked 33rd out of 50 in natural disaster likelihood.

4. South Carolina

South Carolinian lottery players have fairly low luck when it comes to playing the lottery, only 0.18 winners per 10 million people. Car accidents are also high in South Carolina, 1,875 per 100,000 people. It has the fourth-highest crime rate as well, at 5,973 per 100,000 people.

5. New Mexico

Like South Carolina, New Mexico has unlucky ratings in traffic accidents and crime. The state averages 1,724 car accidents per 100,000 people, which is the sixth highest in the nation.

It is also tied for the lowest average lottery wins, though it does make up for it by falling close to the middle of the country when it comes to likelihood of natural disasters.

Key Findings and Patterns

Methodology: What Makes a State Lucky?

We gathered data from various online sources to analyze all 50 states, carefully weighting the numbers to ensure a fair and accurate comparison of luck across the country. Lottery wins were adjusted to reflect the number of winners per 10 million people, while crime and car accident rates were normalized per 100,000 people for consistency.

Natural disaster data was pulled and adjusted from the Red Cross disaster preparation page; metrics included floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Life expectancy is the most straightforward of our metrics and didn’t require any adjustments.

Each state was then ranked by category and given a total index score based on the averages of all metrics. If a state led the country in a metric, it received a 100% rating, and if it ranked last it received a 0.01% rating.

For example, since New Hampshire was first in lottery winnings per 10 million people, it received a 100% Lottery Index score. Mississippi, meanwhile, was tied for last in lottery winnings, so it received a 0.01% rating in the Lottery Index.

How Lucky is Your State?

Here we’ve listed how lucky all 50 states are, according to our weighted metric. Feel free to share these statistics on social media to find out if your friends and loved ones agree with our rankings.

Rank	US State	Lottery Index	Life Expectancy Index	Car Accident Index	Natural Disaster Index	Crime Index	Total Index
1	New Hampshire	100.00%	80.68%	86.78%	66.67%	100.00%	86.83%
2	Vermont	72.30%	78.41%	76.47%	66.67%	93.61%	77.49%
3	New Jersey	60.30%	63.64%	93.34%	66.67%	95.92%	75.97%
4	Massachusetts	20.02%	80.68%	100%	66.67%	98.28%	73.13%
5	Rhode Island	42.65%	71.59%	92.66%	66.67%	90.82%	72.88%
6	New York	50.52%	65.91%	99.35%	66.67%	79.58%	72.40%
7	Maine	33.40%	67.05%	65.40%	66.67%	98.13%	66.13%
8	Connecticut	12.92%	73.86%	83.35%	66.67%	76.49%	62.66%
9	Wisconsin	39.48%	65.91%	73.82%	50.00%	76.91%	61.22%
10	Pennsylvania	21.70%	55.68%	81.14%	66.67%	67.61%	58.56%
11	Idaho	0.01%	73.86%	70.30%	50.00%	97.04%	58.24%
12	Delaware	44.85%	54.55%	68.63%	66.67%	67.61%	57.17%
13	Maryland	15.12%	55.68%	77.98%	66.67%	69.04%	56.90%
14	Illinois	26.19%	55.68%	79.30%	50.00%	70.84%	56.40%
15	Michigan	32.65%	46.59%	71.01%	50.00%	79.21%	55.89%
16	Minnesota	8.13%	81.82%	90.26%	50.00%	46.99%	55.44%
17	Iowa	14.57%	63.64%	73.75%	50.00%	67.07%	53.81%
18	Virginia	10.70%	64.77%	75.43%	33.33%	81.13%	53.07%
19	Ohio	23.79%	38.64%	72.38%	50.00%	59.57%	48.88%
20	Utah	0.01%	76.14%	83.07%	50.00%	30.89%	48.02%
21	Nebraska	0.01%	65.91%	65.51%	50.00%	56.10%	47.51%
22	Florida	30.58%	63.64%	47.75%	33.33%	61.68%	47.40%
23	Hawaii	0.01%	100.00%	95.04%	0.01%	33.63%	45.74%
24	Nevada	0.01%	50.00%	74.42%	50.00%	52.16%	45.32%
25	California	26.50%	80.68%	76.58%	0.01%	42.30%	45.21%
26	Indiana	13.59%	35.23%	60.41%	50.00%	61.63%	44.17%
27	Arizona	31.24%	50.00%	52.55%	50.00%	36.96%	44.15%
28	Colorado	15.84%	72.73%	71.65%	50.00%	9.01%	43.84%
29	Washington	23.89%	82.95%	88.45%	0.01%	17.07%	42.48%
30	Kansas	15.91%	51.14%	55.03%	50.00%	39.80%	42.37%
31	North Dakota	0.01%	56.82%	58.73%	50.00%	45.77%	42.27%
32	West Virginia	26.52%	10.23%	50.18%	33.33%	80.31%	40.11%
33	South Dakota	0.01%	54.55%	44.97%	50.00%	49.71%	39.85%
34	Texas	9.07%	52.27%	60.22%	33.33%	37.03%	38.39%
35	Wyoming	0.01%	50.00%	18.76%	50.00%	73.02%	38.36%
36	Georgia	16.81%	42.05%	48.68%	33.33%	49.71%	38.12%
37	Missouri	37.68%	36.36%	45.13%	50.00%	20.81%	38.00%
38	Oregon	22.16%	78.41%	66.56%	0.01%	20.69%	37.57%
39	North Carolina	8.54%	47.73%	52.38%	33.33%	38.61%	36.12%
40	Montana	0.01%	55.68%	30.91%	50.00%	42.52%	35.82%
41	Alaska	0.01%	53.41%	86.12%	0.01%	26.78%	33.27%
42	Tennessee	52.01%	21.59%	38.02%	33.33%	19.52%	32.90%
43	Kentucky	0.01%	18.18%	40.33%	33.33%	64.21%	31.21%
44	Alabama	0.01%	14.77%	33.79%	33.33%	14.38%	24.81%
45	Oklahoma	0.01%	25.00%	43.68%	33.33%	11.87%	23.28%
46	New Mexico	0.01%	29.55%	32.38%	50.00%	0.01%	22.37%
47	South Carolina	8.57%	32.95%	24.14%	33.33%	1.31%	22.17%
48	Louisiana	20.54%	13.64%	36.88%	33.33%	1.31%	21.14%
49	Arkansas	15.16%	21.59%	20.53%	33.33%	13.67%	20.86%
50	Mississippi	0.01%	0.01%	0.01%	33.33%	47.79%	16.23%

Luckiest State Index: Key Takeaways

The luckiest states in America include New Hampshire, Vermont, and New Jersey, while Mississippi and Arkansas are among the least lucky.

This is based on real-world data such as percentage of lottery winners, life expectancy, and likelihood of natural disasters like floods or earthquakes. We pulled this information from sources including official lottery websites and the Red Cross. The data was then weighted, adjusted for relevancy between states, and given an index score in each category.

Any surprises that made the cut? Shocked other states didn’t make either top 5? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below! And if you want to test your own luck, be sure to check out our guide to the best casinos online.

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