Here Are the 10 Biggest U.S. Lottery Jackpots Ever

Huge jackpots have become increasingly common in the multistate Mega Millions and Powerball lottery drawings because of changes to the games over the years and higher ticket prices. More than a dozen jackpots in the United States have surpassed $1 billion since 2016.

In 2024 alone, there were three jackpots over $1 billion. The $1.817 billion Powerball jackpot won on Christmas Eve this year was the second-largest in U.S. lottery history.

Here’s a look at the 10 biggest U.S. jackpots ever:

The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won on Nov. 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, Calif., just north of Pasadena.

On Feb. 14, 2023, California Lottery officials revealed the name of the winner, Edwin Castro, but did not release further information about him at his request.

This Christmas Eve jackpot came after a run of a record 47 drawings, officials said. Instead of the full $1.817 billion paid out over 30 years, the winner chose a lump-sum payment of $834.9 million before taxes, Arkansas lottery officials said. The person has chosen to stay anonymous.

The Murphy USA gas station where the winning ticket was sold in Cabot, Ark., would get a $50,000 commission.

Two Powerball tickets sold in Missouri and Texas won the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in the Sept. 6, 2025, drawing. Taken as a cash payout instead of an annuity, each winner will receive $410.3 million, before taxes, according to Powerball.

4. $1.765 billion

The winning ticket for this Powerball, drawn in October 2023, was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, a rural town about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, Calif. In March 2024, the California Lottery said that Theodorus Struyck had come forward as the representative of a group of people who would split the jackpot.

5. $1.7 billion

The latest Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $1.7 billion after there was no winner in the drawing on Monday. It is now the second-biggest Powerball jackpot of 2025, behind the $1.787 billion jackpot in September. The next drawing is on Wednesday.

This jackpot, also a Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn on Jan. 13, 2016, matching tickets bought in Chino Hills, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; Munford, Tenn., north of Memphis; and Melbourne Beach, Fla., on the Atlantic Coast.

“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesman for the California Lottery, said at the time.

7. $1.58 billion

This Mega Millions jackpot was won on Aug. 9, 2023.

In late December that year, the company Saltines Holdings LLC in Miami was named as the winner, according to the Florida Lottery, which reported that the entity accepted a lump-sum payment of $794,248,882. Winners in Florida cannot remain completely anonymous, but can conceal their identities by creating a legal entity.

A single ticket sold in Simpsonville, S.C., won a Mega Millions jackpot on Oct. 23, 2018. The prize was not claimed until March of the following year, when an anonymous winner came forward through a lawyer, opting for a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 instead of taking payments over 30 years.

A single ticket sold in Lebanon, Maine, won an estimated $1.35 billion in the Mega Millions drawing on Jan. 13, 2023. A winner came forward a month later but chose to remain anonymous, officials said. The person collected the prize, through a limited liability company, as a single cash payment of $723,564,144 before taxes.

The winning Mega Millions ticket on July 29, 2022, was sold in Des Plaines, Ill. After several weeks, an anonymous winner came forward. Illinois is one of several states that allow lottery winners to keep their names and addresses confidential.

Reporting was contributed by Orlando Mayorquín, Mike Ives, Eduardo Medina, April Rubin, Jesus Jiménez, John Yoon, Jenny Gross, Amanda Holpuch, Yan Zhuang and Qasim Nauman.