North Carolina has one of the United States' youngest lottery systems, having been enacted in 2005 after Gov. Mike Easley signed the North Carolina State Lottery Act. Prior to this it was the only state on the East Coast without a lottery. It’s known as the North Carolina Education Lottery because 100% of North Carolina Lottery net proceeds go directly to benefit the state's education with the current figure sitting at $2.69 billion since its inception. Of the money generated by ticket sales seven percent is paid to retailers as commission, fifty percent is paid as winnings to players, eight percent is cost-of-sales and the remaining 35% goes to education proceeds.

There are a number of games available to play these include scratch-off tickets, countrywide draws such as Powerball and Mega Millions and Carolina Pick 3, Carolina Cash 5 and Carolina Pick 4. There are twice daily draws in Carolina Pick 3 and Carolina Pick 4 whilst Carolina Cash 5 is drawn nightly.