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Strong valueActive$5,000,000 Ultimate · $30 · North Carolina Lottery
$5,000,000 Ultimate: Strong value. A $30 ticket pays back $25.65 on average.
▲ +5.6 pts vs launch#1 of 9 · $30 NC gamesUpdated Jun 15, 2026
▲ +5.6 pts vs launch#1 of 9 · $30 NC gamesUpdated Jun 15, 2026
$5,000,000 Ultimate is a $30 scratch-off ticket from the North Carolina state lottery. Its current expected value is 85.5%, up 5.6 percentage points from the launch value of 79.9%. 3 of the original 5 $5,000,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 73% of the 16.7M printed tickets have been sold.
85.5%
expected return
1 in 3.0
odds of any win
3 of 5
$5M jackpots left
73%
claimed · 12.3M of 16.7M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 1,467,198 winning tickets still unclaimed.
23 win more than $30
$40 – $200, an actual profit
10 win their money back
a $30 prize, so you break even
67 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 197 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $25.65 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $30 – $500
$21.89 · 73.0% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $100K
$0.37 · 1.2% of price
Jackpots $5M+
$3.39 · 11.3% of price
Realistic return, jackpots set aside
74.2%
Just 3 tickets out of 4.4M carry the $5M+ prizes. This is your expected return if none of them is yours.
Most of the value pays out as
$30 – $500 wins
1,466,427 winning tickets remain in this range: 85% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
73% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Mar 2023.
16.7M
tickets printed
12.3M
tickets claimed · 73%
4.4M
still out there
Tickets claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
60%
Tickets left
27%
60% of top prizes remain with only 27% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
North Carolina Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $30 NC peers
#1 of 9
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from North Carolina Lottery published claim data, updated Jun 15, 2026.
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