Did you know there are more than 1300 places you can buy lottery tickets in Cuyahoga County? We didn't either, until we checked the data.
Scene submitted a records request to the Ohio Lottery Commission asking for data about where in the county people are buying tickets and how much each place is taking in for a six month period. We got back an Excel spreadsheet of statistics directly from their database listing the 1318 agents that sold $245.4 million in lottery tickets in a six-month span earlier this year (the beginning of February through the beginning of August).
We then took the data and imported it into Google Maps Engine Pro to visualize each of the 1318 sellers in Cuyahoga County, in separate layers based on how much they sold, and embedded everything here. If you click on any of the icons, the complete information for the specific spot will pop up. I set it so only the top 200 best selling stores will show up by default, so if you want to see the full list, check the box next to "Top 201-500" and "The rest." If you want to see fewer tiers, just uncheck what you don't want to see. Click the + or - on the bottom right of the map to zoom in and out. Click the box icon on the top right or here to view it in a separate page:
If you don't want to bother with the map, here's a listing of the top 10 stores selling lottery tickets between February and August 2013 (mapped with a black marker, above):
1. $2,556,294 - Smith & Snow Shell - 4918 Smith Rd, Brook Park
2. $1,455,073 - Quick Shop Food Mart - 4263 Monticello Blvd, South Euclid
3. $1,374,375 - Emery Convenient Food Mart - 21925 Emery Rd, Warrensville Heights
4. $1,285,701 - Convenient Food Mart - 23555 Lorain Rd, North Olmsted
5. $1,215,478 - Convenient Food Mart - Warrensville Center Rd, Maple Heights
6. $1,212,358 - D&M Convenience Food Mart - 33630 Aurora Rd, Solon
7. $969,388 - Dunham Beverage - 6191 Dunham Ave, Maple Heights
8. $958,692 - Lucky's Beverage & Deli - 5228 Broadview Rd, Parma
9. $922,495 - East 55th St. Clair Shell - 5505 St. Clair Ave, Cleveland
10. $899,388 - Wilson Mills 271 Marathon - 6295 Wilson Mills Rd, Highland Heights
I also created a map listing lottery sales as a whole by each of the 52 zip codes in Cuyahoga County to get a broader geographical sense of where people are playing the lottery. More than $10 million in lottery tickets were purchased in the six month period in the three zip codes with the black stars. Click on each icon to find out more about each zip code, including the total stores selling, the total amount sold, the total amount cashed by winners, and the averages for each store (and, again, click the box icon on the upper right of the map or click here to see it in a separate page):
Here are the top five the zip codes for total lottery sales in the county for the six month period:
1. 44130 (Middleburg Heights) - $13.7 million sold by 64 stores ($213,565 per store)
2. 44134 (Parma) - $10.6 million sold by 56 stores ($189,449 per store)
3. 44128 (Warrensville Heights) - $10.5 million sold by 35 stores ($300,854 per store)
4. 44111 (Cleveland, West Side) - $9.6 million sold by 63 stores ($152,927 per store)
5. 44105 (Cleveland, East Side) - $8.8 million sold by 46 stores ($190,427 per store)
Here are the top five zip codes where people bought the most per store:
1. 44119 (Cleveland) $748,573 from one store
2. 44143 (Highland Heights) - $326,508 from 15 stores ($4.9 million total)
3. 44128 (Warrensville Heights) - $300,854 from 35 stores (10.5 million total)
4. 44120 (Shaker Heights) - $285,166 from 30 stores ($8.6 million total)
5. 44121 (South Euclid) - $282,415 from 21 stores ($5.9 million total)
Here are the luckiest zip codes in Cuyahoga County for playing the lottery (the total dollar amount of lottery tickets cashed divided by the total dollar amount of lottery tickets sold in the zip code):
1. 44134 (Parma) - 54.8 percent - $10.6 million in tickets sold, $5.8 million in tickets cashed
2. 44144 (Brooklyn) - 53.6 percent - $5.9 million sold, $3.1 million cashed
3. 44107 (Lakewood) - 53.4 percent - $6.7 million sold, $3.6 million cashed
4. 44133 (North Royalton) - 53.4 percent - $4.2 million sold, $2.2 million cashed
5. 44138 (Olmsted Falls) - 53.4 percent - $1.9 million sold, $1.0 million cashed
Here are the least lucky zip codes in Cuyahoga County
1, 44040 (Gates Mills) - 32.9 percent - $165,038 in tickets sold, $54,331 in tickets cashed
2. 44106 (Cleveland, East Side) - 35.9 percent - $4.2 million sold, $1.5 million cashed
3. 44140 (Bay Village) - 37.8 percent - $419,399 sold, $158,616 cashed
4. 44122 (Beachwood) - 38.2 percent - $3.0 million sold, $1.1 million cashed
5. 44108 (Cleveland, East Side) - 40.5 percent - $5.0 million sold, $2.0 million cashed
If you want to check out the full data for yourself, here are some links to the Google Docs spreadsheets I've been using to create the maps: click here for the full listing of 1300+ locations selling tickets and how much they've sold, and click here for a breakdown of that information (along with data about cashed tickets) by zip code. If you want the exact Excel spreadsheet the Ohio Lottery Commission sent me, feel free send me an email ([email protected]) and I'll pass that along.
Source: Ohio Lottery Commission's Integrated Agent Database
Location: Cuyahoga County.
Timeframe: Six months (beginning of February-beginning of August 2013).
