Buffalo buys the most lottery tickets

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- No U.S. city buys more lottery tickets -- scratch off or non-scratch-off -- at a higher rate than Buffalo, N.Y., a survey indicates.

A survey of 210,000 U.S. adults by market consumer research firm Scarborough indicated 57 percent of the population of Buffalo bought a lottery ticket in the last month, followed by: Providence, R.I.; Albany, N.Y.; Pittsburgh; New York; Boston; Harlingen, Texas; Miami; Rochester, N.Y.; and Orlando, Fla.

Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults purchased a lottery ticket in the last month, and of this population courting lady luck, 34 percent purchased only scratch-off tickets, 31 percent purchased only non-scratch-off tickets and 35 percent purchased both kinds of tickets.

The top local market for scratch-off ticket purchasers was Buffalo, with 49 percent of the population purchasing a ticket, while the top local markets for non-scratch-off ticket had Orlando, Providence and Tampa, Fla., tied at 38 percent.

Local markets least likely to purchase lottery tickets were: Las Vegas at 13 percent, Salt Lake City at 8 percent and Honolulu at 5 percent.

Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota hold no lottery drawings.