"Can I stay anonymous?" is the first question most big US winners ask, and unlike Canada — where the answer is a near-uniform no — the US answer is genuinely "it depends on your state." Some states protect you by statute, some only above a dollar threshold, most publish your name and city as public record, and nearly all of them leave a side door open: a trust or LLC. Here's the current map, with the important caveat that these laws are changing fast.
States that protect all winners
A group of states will not release a winner's identity without written consent, at any prize level:
| State | How it works |
|---|---|
| Delaware, Kansas, Maryland | No publication without the winner's consent |
| Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota | No publication without consent |
| South Carolina, Wyoming | Statutory anonymity for all prizes |
| Oregon | Name withheld if you sign a release; town and amount still disclosed |
| New Jersey | Anonymous if you affirmatively opt out of publicity |
| Virginia | All winners, as of 2026 — see below |
Virginia is the clearest example of the trend. Its statute (§ 58.1-4029) now says the lottery "shall not disclose information about the identity of an individual lottery winner unless the winner consents in writing." There's no dollar threshold at all. The path there is telling: Virginia protected winners over $10 million in 2019, dropped that to $1 million in 2025, and extended it to all winners in 2026. Older tables that still show a threshold are out of date.
States that protect you above a threshold
Others grant anonymity only for larger prizes:
| State | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Texas | $1,000,000+ |
| West Virginia | $1,000,000+ |
| Kentucky | $1,000,000+ (opt-out, up to a year) |
| Arkansas | $500,000+ |
| Georgia, Illinois | $250,000+ (Illinois by request; still subject to open-records law) |
| Arizona | $100,000+ (and confidential for 90 days at $600+) |
| Maine | $100,000+ (2025 law; also protects address-confidentiality participants) |
Thresholds and effective dates in this group shifted heavily in 2025, so treat the numbers as current-but-check-your-state.
The trust-and-LLC side door
Here's what many winners in "disclosure" states don't realize: you can often claim in the name of a legally formed trust or LLC, so the entity's name becomes the public "winner" instead of yours. A real New York example: a large scratch-off prize was published as "Precious Blessings LLC." States reported to permit entity or trust claims include New York, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and others.
Ohio is worth singling out because it's frequently mislabeled as an "anonymous state." It isn't — a direct claim in Ohio is public record. But Ohio law (§ 3770.07) specifically lets a trustee claim on the winner's behalf through a blind trust, which is a trust route, not personal statutory anonymity. Two hard limits on the technique: Colorado and Wisconsin do not allow entity claiming (you must claim as an individual first), and the entity name itself is public — so it must not contain personal identifiers.
States where you can't hide (by name)
Most large states make the winner's name and city public record: New York, California, Florida, and many more. In New York, you cannot stay anonymous by statute, though the trust/LLC route is available. California publishes winners and does not allow entity claiming for anonymity — it's one of the hardest states to win quietly. New Hampshire discloses by default but grants conditional anonymity for documented safety reasons (a rule established after a winner sued to protect herself).
A handful of states — Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah — have no state lottery at all, so the question is moot there.
Anonymity is not the same as tax-free
One thing anonymity never changes: your tax bill. Whether you claim in your own name or through a trust, you still provide your Social Security or taxpayer ID number for reporting, and federal and state tax apply identically. A trust hides your name from the public; it does nothing about the taxes on the prize.
The practical takeaway
If privacy matters to you, three moves before you ever claim:
- Check your specific state's current rule — this area changed more between 2025 and 2026 than in the prior decade, and a blog table can be a year out of date.
- If your state discloses, ask a lawyer about a trust or LLC — and set it up before claiming, not after.
- Keep personal identifiers out of any entity name, because that name becomes the public record.
The 2025–2026 wave of new laws — Virginia, Maine, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and more — was driven by winners being harassed, scammed, and endangered after their names went public. It's moving in winners' favor, but slowly and unevenly. Know your state's rule before you sign the ticket, not after.