For most of us, becoming a lottery millionaire feels about as likely as being struck by lightning while riding a unicorn. After all, the odds of scooping the Lotto jackpot sit at a staggering 1 in 45 million, while the likelihood of taking home anything at all is 1 in 9.3. But People's Postcode Lottery players enjoy far friendlier fortunes. Despite the fact the top prizes are smaller, each ticket has a 1 in 4 chance of winning. When it comes to the larger prizes — Postcode Millions, Millionaire Street or the £250,000 prize — you're looking at 1 in 250,000; a long way from being a safe bet, but still more favourable.
With more than 71% of the UK's 1.6 million postcodes now taking part, some neighbourhoods are racking up wins faster than others. So which corners of the UK are proving luckiest of all? In analysis from lottery.co.uk, Birmingham's 'B' postcode claimed the crown for having the UK's biggest Postcode Lottery wins across the country, racking up an eye-watering 1,595 since January 2011. Not far behind was Sheffield's 'S' prefix with 1,514 victories, while Manchester's 'M' landed in third place with 1,333, and Newcastle upon Tyne's 'NE' area secured fourth spot at 1,217. Nottingham's 'NG' postcode rounded out the top five with 1,177 wins, followed by Glasgow's 'G' (1,135), Cardiff's 'C' (1,028), Peterborough's 'PE' (987), Portsmouth's 'PO' (962), and Bristol's 'BS' (957) rounding out the final 10.
Important Caveat Behind the Rankings
There's an important caveat behind this ranking. While these postcode areas have recorded the highest number of wins overall since the draw began, they also cover some of the UK's biggest and most densely populated cities — meaning they naturally have far more players taking part. However, when researchers from latestbettingoffers.co.uk looked at wider regions, London came seventh of 11, recording 1,138 wins in the last two years and accounting for 8.7% of the national total. North West England in fact topped this list, with 1,756 wins, with South East England next at 1,663, and Yorkshire and the Humber third at 1,348.
'Success in the People's Postcode Lottery is about active participation in your community as much as luck, as areas with higher play rates naturally appear more frequently in the results,' site manager Matthew White commented on the findings.
Luckiest UK Regions in People's Postcode Lottery (Since February 2024)
- North West England: 1,756 wins (13.50% of total)
- South East England: 1,663 wins (12.80%)
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 1,348 wins (10.30%)
- South West England: 1,291 wins (9.90%)
- East of England: 1,239 wins (9.50%)
- Scotland: 1,173 wins (9.00%)
- London: 1,138 wins (8.70%)
- West Midlands: 995 wins (7.60%)
- East Midlands: 957 wins (7.30%)
- Wales: 878 wins (6.70%)
- North East England: 588 wins (4.50%)
Per-District Analysis: Preston Tops the List
When figures were adjusted to account for the number of individual districts within each prefix, the leaderboard looks even more different. Last year, analysis by Casino Deps revealed 'PR', the postcode for Preston, Lancashire, was luckiest in this sense, with an average of 47.64 wins across its 11 postcode districts. Next up was 'WA' in Warrington, coming in at 38.63 average wins, followed by 'FY', from the seaside town of Blackpool — also in Lancashire — with 37.38. At the other end of the scale, residents of Kirkwall's 'KW' area in the Orkney Islands fare worst, with just 3.75 wins per postcode district on average.
