by Frank Schroth

An article in today’s Boston Globe examines how Massachusetts localities benefit (or not) from state aid relative to the amounts they spend per capita on the lottery. The front page ranks MIlton 4th in the state in terms of the ratio of stae aid received to lottery revenue generated.

You can find the article here.

According to the Globe, Milton contributed $43 per capita ($1,156,546 total) and received $101 per capita ($2,717,762 total). This analysis is based on data from the Massahusetts State Lottery Commission, Massachusetts DOR, and US Census.

The following table from the Globe shows that, compared to similar communities, Milton is the only one to receive more per capita than it’s residents spend.

POPULATION	        MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME	     POVERTY RATE
27,003	                $107,577	             4.8%

In 2013, per capita lottery ticket spending in Milton was:

$0.60                    $217.41
PER DAY                  PER YEAR

Similar Municipalities
Municipality	Lottery sales contributed	State aid received
Milton	        $1,156,546	                $2,717,762
Belmont	        $2,458,406	                $1,909,790
North Reading	$3,314,972	                $1,501,819
Mansfield	$2,686,273	                $1,886,682
Dedham	        $5,029,810	                $2,765,940

*This table compares similar municipalties to Milton based on an equally weighted proximity to population, median household income, and poverty rate.