Iowa Lottery has one of its best years ever — here's why

The Iowa Lottery is celebrating one of the strongest years in its 41-year history after reporting higher sales, bigger prizes for players, and increased funding for state programs during fiscal year 2026. According to lottery officials, the state lottery saw sales reach $469.6 million for the year ending June 30. That makes it the third-highest annual sales total in the Iowa Lottery's history.

The state saw sales increase by 8% year over year, while contributions to the state climbed over 10% to $95.1 million. It was also a strong year for players, who won $305.6 million in lottery prizes, while lottery retailers earned $30.5 million in commissions from ticket sales.

What contributed to the sales growth?

In a statement, Iowa Lottery Director Steve Waymire explained:

Fiscal year 2026 was a strong year for the Iowa Lottery, and those results reflect the continued support of our players, our retail partners, and our dedicated lottery employees.

What contributed to that sales growth? The leading product for the Iowa Lottery is always scratch-off tickets. They had another strong year with $291.4 million in sales. This is slightly ahead of last year's numbers and also accounts for more than 62% of the total lottery sales.

While scratch-off tickets remained the Iowa Lottery's top-selling product, Powerball did help produce one of the year's biggest success stories. The Iowa Lottery saw Powerball sales jump from $37.5 million in FY 2025 to $66.5 million in FY 2026, which is a remarkable 77% increase.

This huge jump in sales for Powerball could be linked to two enormous jackpots that reached $1.79B and $1.82B in September and December, respectively. Those jackpots became the second- and third-largest jackpots in Powerball history. Because of that excitement, ticket sales increased during those long jackpot runs.

In addition to Powerball, other products from the Iowa Lottery that saw gains included InstaPlay games, Pick 4, and pull-tab games. On the flip side of things, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, and Lotto America experienced year-over-year declines.

Big winners and top-selling retailers

Those higher ticket sales also helped lead to some memorable wins for Iowa players.

According to lottery officials, there were 16 prizes of $500,000 or more claimed during the year, including five prizes worth $1 million or more. The biggest win came in January 2026 when Jaime Zavala of Norwalk claimed a $3 million Mega Millions prize.

Other million-dollar winners included:

• Doug Dearborn of Lohrville – $2.2 million Millionaire for Life prize
• Debra Bickle of Waterloo – $2 million Mega Millions prize
• William Zak of Dysart – $1 million Powerball prize
• Ron Rothe of Denison – $1 million Powerball prize

On the retail side of things, Hy-Vee continued to dominate lottery sales in the state. Nine of the state's Top 10 lottery retailers were Hy-Vee locations within the state, with the Top 5 spots going to Hy-Vee locations in Cedar Rapids.

Leading the pack of retailers was a Hy-Vee, located on 1843 Johnson Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids. For FY 2026, they recorded $1.51 million in lottery sales.

Helping to support Iowa communities

Looking past just the prizes, the Iowa Lottery's revenue continues to fund programs across the state.

One highlight from FY 2026 was $2.5 million raised for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, which assists veterans and their families. Since the lottery began supporting the program in 2008, it has contributed over $44.8 million.

Money from the lottery revenue also goes to support the Public Safety Survivor Benefits Fund, the Department of Corrections Survivor Benefits Fund, and the state's General Fund. These funds help to pay for everything from education initiatives to agricultural programs.

With strong scratch ticket sales, booming Powerball jackpots, and millions flowing back to players, retailers, and state programs, fiscal year 2026 proved to be one of the Iowa Lottery's most successful years to date.

Enjoy playing the Iowa Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.