The biggest ever lottery win in every state

The mates who won the expansive prize were from Glendale but chose to stay anonymous, a section NBC News position reported astatine the time, successful June 2020.

The winning lottery summons was besides the first Mega Millions winning summons successful the state's history, KTAR News reported. 

The Powerball jackpot drawn connected Christmas Eve 2025 was the second-biggest successful history. One summons sold astatine a state position successful Cabot, northeast of Little Rock, matched each six numbers. The victor claimed the prize successful January 2026, opting for the $834.9 cardinal lump-sum option.

The prize dwarfs the erstwhile largest triumph successful the state. In 2017, a Mega Millions summons sold successful Stuttgart, Arkansas, was worthy $177 million, aliases a rate worth of astir $107 cardinal earlier taxes.

A Powerball victor successful California claimed the largest lottery triumph successful US history successful November 2022. The winning summons was sold astatine Joe's Service Center successful Altadena, astir 15 miles extracurricular downtown Los Angeles, NBC News reported astatine the time.

The victor was identified arsenic Edwin Castro, who opted for a lump sum of $997.6 million, USA Today reported. Castro, who was reportedly surviving successful a one-bedroom location astatine the clip of his win, went connected to bargain 2 multimillion-dollar properties soon aft collecting his prize.

NBC News besides reported that the proprietor of the state position and convenience store, Joseph Chahayed (pictured pinch his sons), was presented pinch a $1 cardinal cheque for trading the ticket. 

A Powerball summons sold successful Middletown won the $230.8 cardinal prize successful a drafting connected April 6, 2026, the first clip the Powerball jackpot has been won successful Delaware since 2016, according to the lottery. Winners successful the authorities tin enactment anonymous.

The triumph surpassed the erstwhile grounds of $214.7 cardinal prize claimed by 33 Seaford coworkers successful 2004.

A azygous Mega Millions summons sold astatine a Wawa successful Bradenton won the $800 cardinal jackpot successful a drafting connected July 28, 2026, but the victor has not yet been publically identified. The prize has a rate action of $344.2 million, which they'd person to declare successful 60 days.

Previously, the grounds was held by Gloria C. MacKenzie, 84, who became the then-largest sole lottery victor successful US history erstwhile she won the Powerball successful May 2013. She died successful 2021.

Ira Curry of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was identified arsenic the victor of the Mega Millions jackpot successful December 2013, WSB-TV reported.

"It's unreal," Curry said during a news conference. "It's for illustration I'm still dreaming."

NPR reported successful 2013 that Brad Duke from Star, Idaho, became the victor of the state's largest lottery jackpot successful May 2005 erstwhile he won a staggering $220.3 cardinal successful the Powerball drawing. 

"I took the summons in, fto the gals down the antagonistic tally the summons through, and the instrumentality made a bunch of weird noises and they started jumping up and down and jumping successful circles," Duke told NPR. "And I was trying to really pluck the summons retired of their manus because my first small heart was conscionable to benignant of get retired of there."

The winning summons was purchased by an Indiana family connected their measurement to 1 of their children's sports games, a Mega Millions property merchandise reported successful July 2016.

The family chose to stay anonymous "to protect the information and well-being of their children."

"Their priorities are to usage the winnings to salary disconnected debt, scheme for their children's futures, and return attraction of their family long-term," a typical for the family said successful the property release.

James Farthing, of Georgetown, Kentucky, and his mother won the $167.3 cardinal Powerball jackpot, the largest successful the state's history, successful April 2025.

Within days, Farthing was arrested connected charges stemming from a conflict astatine a Florida hotel, USA Today reported. In February 2026, he pleaded blameworthy to misdemeanor artillery and resisting an serviceman without violence, and he was sentenced to the 9 days he had already served and fined $1,000.

He has since been arrested connected 3 much occasions, including an apprehension connected charges of home unit successful July 2026. He has pleaded not blameworthy to first-degree strangulation and fourth-degree battle successful that case, WAVE3 reported.

The first Mega Millions victor successful Maine's history, who chose to stay anonymous, opted for the pre-tax rate costs of $723,564,144, alternatively than the annuity complete 30 years.

The summons was purchased successful January 2023 from Hometown Gas and Grill successful Lebanon, pictured. The shop received a $50,000 prize for trading the winning ticket, lottery officials said.

Mega Millions said that a four-member Oakland County lottery nine claimed the $1.05 cardinal jackpot successful March 2021.

"This benignant of money will effect the families of our nine members for generations to come," the club's typical and attorney, Kurt D. Panouses, said successful a property release. "We scheme to enactment humble and salary it guardant done charitable giving successful southeast Michigan."

In August 2011, Thomas and Kathleen Morris, a mates from Burnsville, Minnesota, won the Powerball jackpot. They had been discussing their status options pinch a financial advisor erstwhile they purchased a random-number lottery ticket, the Associated Press reported.

"It's still benignant of difficult to get my caput around," Thomas Morris told the AP. "It's a batch of money."

The victor divided half of September 2025's $1.8 cardinal Powerball drawing, which group a caller grounds for the state, pinch different summons purchased by a Texas lottery player. They each took location astir half of the expansive prize successful a lump-sum payout, for a full of astir $410.3 cardinal each, and some remained anonymous.

The winning summons was purchased astatine QuikTrip, located connected Lusher Road successful St. Louis County, USA Today reported, and is the largest prize ever won by a Missouri lottery player.

Lottery Post reported that the winnings were divided betwixt 2 tickets, 1 purchased by a victor successful Ohio and different by 2 North West Home Health Care employees, Kim Claassen, 55, and 23-year-old Joe Lamport Jr.

At first, Claassen mistakenly thought they hadn't won and tore up the ticket, but erstwhile she realized she'd been checking it against older numbers, she managed to food the scraps retired of the trash and put the pieces backmost together, yet learning of their win, Lottery Post reported.

USA Today reported that an anonymous female claimed the $559.7 cardinal Powerball jackpot. William Shaheen, her lawyer, accepted the lump-sum payout of $352 cardinal and fought for his customer to enactment anonymous. New Hampshire authorities rule requires the merchandise of a winner's sanction and hometown.

"We respect the Court's determination and are satisfied to person a resolution," the New Hampshire Lottery said successful a statement, USA Today reported successful March 2018. "We are pleased that our victor has claimed her prize money and that she has already shared a important magnitude of her winnings pinch New Hampshire nonprofit organizations."

The winning Mega Millions summons was purchased successful Neptune Township successful March 2024, and the victor stayed anonymous erstwhile they claimed the prize successful December of that year. (Winners successful New Jersey person up to a twelvemonth to declare their prize, and often, they return clip to get their finances and ineligible practice successful bid earlier stepping forward.)

The victor opted for a one-time rate payout, stepping distant pinch $537.5 cardinal earlier authorities and national taxes.

The New York Post reported successful September 2021 that the winning Mega Millions summons was purchased from a Manhattan pizza joint, Pronto Pizza connected West 48th Street successful Midtown.

The pizza shop besides sewage a portion of the pastry — it received a $10,000 committee for trading the jackpot-winning ticket.

USA Today reported that 66-year-old North Carolina autochthonal Charles W. Jackson Jr. took location the largest prize successful the state's history successful June 2019 aft he utilized numbers from a luck cooky successful the Powerball lottery. 

"I ne'er expected to win," Jackson said. "I conscionable sewage lucky."

Don and Joyce Harvey were the expansive winners of the Powerball jackpot successful June 2007, the Associated Press reported astatine the time. They purchased the summons astatine a Shell work position successful Roland, a municipality successful eastbound Oklahoma.

They chose to person a $33.3 cardinal lump sum aft taxes alternatively of the afloat amount, which would beryllium paid retired complete 29 years, the AP reported.

After Joyce Harvey had been utilizing the aforesaid numbers for years, she said a summons "came retired wrong," but she continued to usage those numbers for consequent tickets — and it paid off.

ABC News reported successful March 2012 that the victor of the monolithic Powerball jackpot was 81-year-old Louise White of Newport, Rhode Island. At the time, it was the third-largest Powerball lottery successful the history of the game.

White purchased the summons aft stopping for immoderate rainbow sherbet astatine a section Stop N Shop. In grant of the dessert that led to her win, she went connected to create The Rainbow Sherbert Trust to use her family.

"I want to opportunity that I'm very happy and I'm very proud. This will make my family very happy," White told ABC News. "We are genuinely blessed. Thank you."

Though the personality of the victor of the Mega Millions jackpot was ne'er revealed, officials said successful March 2019 that she was a South Carolina female connected a "scenic drive" done Greenville erstwhile she stopped to bargain a ticket, The Greenville News reported.

She opted to return her winnings arsenic a one-time costs of $877,784,124 successful October 2018. It was the largest jackpot successful US history up until that point.

Neal Wanless, a 23-year-old cowboy moving connected a ranch successful Mission, South Dakota, won the Powerball jackpot successful 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported successful 2020. 

WSJ reported that Wanless purchased the lottery summons astatine a section convenience shop while he was getting gas. He went connected to acquisition his ain ranch pinch the winnings but listed it successful 2020 for $41.15 million, making it 1 of the astir costly ranches ever sold successful the state.

The Powerball jackpot was divided among 20 coworkers who called themselves "The Tennessee 20," WKRN reported successful November 2016. The colleagues, who played the lottery together each week, said they weren't going to discontinue their jobs correct distant because they didn't want to time off their employers "high and dry," WKRN reported.

The winning summons was purchased astatine the Smoke Shop successful Lafayette, which besides received $25,000 successful speech for trading the winning ticket.

Texas' largest-ever payout was successful October 2025, representing half of the lump sum from the $1.8 cardinal expansive prize, which was divided pinch different victor successful Missouri. The rate lump sum was $410.3 cardinal each.

The winning Powerball summons was purchased astatine Big's 103 and was the first of the 2 winning tickets purchased.

The victor of the monolithic Mega Millions lottery chose to stay anonymous erstwhile they stepped guardant successful August 2025, but they did stock their plans for their first purchase: a caller zero-radius riding section mower, per The New York Post. At astir $3,000, that's a fraction of the winner's newfound fortune.

The victor chose to judge the one-time prize of $155.6 cardinal successful cash, alternatively than receiving payments of the afloat prize magnitude complete 30 years.

Following the February 2023 drawing, Auburn resident Becky Bell, a 36-year worker of Boeing, was revealed arsenic the victor of the Powerball jackpot, King 5 reported.

She said she had already spent her allotted fund for lottery tickets for the week erstwhile she saw a motion for the then-$747 cardinal prize successful a Fred Meyer store.

Boeing had conscionable delivered its past 747 jumbo jet, King 5 reported, truthful she took it arsenic a motion and decided to bargain 1 much ticket. Ultimately, she walked distant pinch $309 cardinal aft taxes.

The Los Angeles Times identified Andrew "Jack" Whittaker, 55, arsenic the winner. When he won the monolithic prize connected Christmas Day successful December 2002, Whittaker was already a millionaire acknowledgment to his sewage-treatment contracting business. 

"I've worked for everything I got," Whittaker told the LA Times, "but this is the first point anybody's ever fixed me."

ABC News reported that the victor of the Powerball jackpot was 24-year-old Wisconsin resident Manuel Franco. At the time, it was the third-largest lottery magnitude successful US history.

"I walked into the Speedway and I purchased $10 worthy of individual Powerball tickets," Franco said astatine a property conference, according to ABC News. "I honestly felt truthful fortunate that I did look up astatine the camera and I wanted to wink astatine it 'cause I conscionable had that fortunate feeling."