Largest Lottery Win in Each State and Who Gained It

The couple who received the grand prize have been from Glendale however selected to stay nameless, a neighborhood NBC Information station reported on the time, in June 2020.

The profitable lottery ticket was additionally the primary Mega Tens of millions profitable ticket within the state’s historical past, KTAR Information reported. 

The profitable Mega Tens of millions was offered in 2017 in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and value a whopping $177 million, or a money worth of about $107 million earlier than taxes.

A Powerball winner in California claimed the most important lottery win in US historical past in November 2022. The profitable ticket was offered at Joe’s Service Heart in Altadena, about 15 miles exterior downtown Los Angeles, NBC Information reported on the time.

The winner was recognized as Edwin Castro, who opted for a lump sum of $997.6 million, USA In the present day reported. Castro, who was reportedly residing in a one-bedroom house on the time of his win, went on to purchase two multimillion-dollar properties shortly after accumulating his prize.

NBC Information additionally reported that the proprietor of the fuel station and comfort retailer, Joseph Chahayed (pictured together with his sons), was offered with a $1 million verify for promoting the ticket. 

The ticket was bought by 67-year-old Judy Finchum in September 2017. ABC Information reported he had been enjoying the very same lottery numbers for 30 years till she lastly received the $133.2 million Powerball jackpot on her canine Tillie’s birthday. 

The winners of the Powerball jackpot, three businessmen from Greenwich — one in every of America’s wealthiest cities — got here ahead 27 days after it was introduced, NBC Connecticut reported in November 2011.

The Delaware Lottery stated that an nameless group of 33 co-workers from a printing firm in Seaford, Delaware, offered the profitable ticket and claimed the $214.7 million jackpot prize on October 12, 2004, every strolling away with $2,657,754 after federal taxes.

Florida In the present day reported that Powerball ticket winner Gloria C. MacKenzie, 84, grew to become the then-largest sole lottery winner in US historical past when she received in Could 2013.

MacKenzie, from Zephyrhills, Florida, bought the ticket at a Publix grocery retailer and obtained just below $371 million. Florida In the present day additionally reported that she later sued her son for mismanaging the large fortune, however she died in February 2021 earlier than the case was settled. 

Ira Curry of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was recognized because the winner of the Mega Tens of millions jackpot in December 2013, WSB-TV reported.

“It is unreal,” Curry stated throughout a information convention. “It is like I am nonetheless dreaming.”

NPR reported in 2013 that Brad Duke from Star, Idaho, grew to become the winner of the state’s largest lottery jackpot in Could 2005 when he received a staggering $220.3 million within the Powerball drawing. 

“I took the ticket in, let the gals behind the counter run the ticket by, and the machine made a bunch of bizarre noises they usually began leaping up and down and leaping in circles,” Duke advised NPR. “And I used to be attempting to truly pluck the ticket out of their hand as a result of my first intuition was simply to type of get out of there.”

In September 2022, eight weeks after profitable the large Mega Tens of millions jackpot — the most important in Illinois and the second largest in Mega Tens of millions historical past — two folks lastly got here ahead to assert it, Forbes reported. They elected to separate the $780.5 million pre-tax money lump sum.

The profitable ticket was bought by an Indiana household on their method to one in every of their youngsters’s sports activities video games, a Mega Tens of millions press launch reported in July 2016.t

The household selected to stay nameless “to guard the security and well-being of their youngsters.”

“Their priorities are to make use of the winnings to repay debt, plan for his or her youngsters’s futures, and deal with their household long-term,” a consultant for the household stated within the press launch.

The winner of the large Powerball lottery, 51-year-old Lerynne West, a grandmother of six from Redfield, nearly could not declare her October 2018 prize after she unintentionally left the profitable ticket on the ground of her sister’s truck, in keeping with the Iowa Lottery.

The April 2016 winner of the Mega Tens of millions lottery selected to stay nameless, though state lottery director Dennis Wilson stated that the winner was wanting “ahead to retirement,” CNN reported.

The New York Day by day Information reported in 2010 that Rob Anderson of Georgetown, Kentucky, received the Christmas present of a lifetime after he bought a $3 Fast Choose lottery ticket on Christmas Eve.

Anderson had needed to purchase three $1 lottery tickets, however the clerk made a mistake. Anderson saved the ticket anyway and ended up profitable the large Powerball prize.

The Powerball prize was claimed by a lawyer in December 2017 on behalf of the profitable three-member household, native information station WBRZ reported. 

The primary Mega Tens of millions winner in Maine’s historical past, who selected to stay nameless, opted for the pre-tax money cost of $723,564,144, quite than the annuity over 30 years.

The ticket was bought in January 2023 from Hometown Gasoline and Grill in Lebanon, pictured. The shop obtained a $50,000 bonus for promoting the profitable ticket, lottery officers stated.

Powerball stated an nameless group of winners who had nicknamed themselves “The Energy Pack” claimed the $546.8 million lump sum money choice. Although the profitable ticket was drawn on January 20, 2021, the winners didn’t step ahead till Could 26, 2021.

The winner of the Powerball lottery was Mavis L. Wanczyk, a 53-year-old hospital employee from Chicopee, Massachusetts, CBS Information reported in August 2017. Wanczyk, a mom of two, stated at a press convention that she picked a few of her numbers based mostly on relations’ birthdays.

Mega Tens of millions stated {that a} four-member Oakland County lottery membership claimed the $1.05 billion jackpot in March 2021.

“This type of cash will impression the households of our membership members for generations to return,” the membership’s consultant and legal professional, Kurt D. Panouses, stated in a press launch. “We plan to remain humble and pay it ahead by charitable giving in southeast Michigan.”

In August 2011, Thomas and Kathleen Morris, a pair from Burnsville, Minnesota, received the Powerball jackpot. That they had been discussing their retirement choices with a monetary advisor after they bought a random-number lottery ticket, the Related Press reported.

“It is nonetheless type of arduous to get my head round,” Thomas Morris advised the AP. “It is some huge cash.”

WLOX reported that the Match5 profitable ticket was offered at Ramey’s Market in Poplarville in February 2022. The winner determined to stay nameless.

The winner cut up half of September 2025’s $1.8 billion Powerball drawing, which set a brand new document for the state, with one other ticket bought by a Texas lottery participant. They every took house about half of the grand prize in a lump-sum payout, and each remained nameless.

The profitable ticket was bought at QuikTrip, situated on Lusher Highway in St. Louis County, USA In the present day reported, and is the most important prize ever received by a Missouri lottery participant.

Lottery Submit reported that the winnings have been cut up between two tickets, one bought by a winner in Ohio and one other by two North West Dwelling Well being Care staff, Kim Claassen, 55, and 23-year-old Joe Lamport Jr.

At first, Claassen mistakenly thought they hadn’t received and tore up the ticket, however when she realized she’d been checking it in opposition to older numbers, she managed to fish the scraps out of the trash and put the items again collectively, finally studying of their win, Lottery Submit reported.

USA In the present day reported that eight ConAgra Meals co-workers took house the profitable Powerball jackpot in 2006. 

USA In the present day reported that an nameless lady claimed the $559.7 million Powerball jackpot. William Shaheen, her lawyer, accepted the lump-sum payout of $352 million and fought for his shopper to remain nameless. New Hampshire state regulation requires the discharge of a winner’s identify and hometown.

“We respect the Courtroom’s resolution and are happy to have a decision,” the New Hampshire Lottery stated in a press release, USA In the present day reported in March 2018. “We’re happy that our winner has claimed her prize cash and that she has already shared a considerable quantity of her winnings with New Hampshire nonprofit organizations.”

The profitable Mega Tens of millions ticket was bought in Neptune Township in March 2024, and the winner stayed nameless after they claimed the prize in December of that yr. (Winners in New Jersey have as much as a yr to assert their prize, and sometimes, they take time to get their funds and authorized illustration so as earlier than stepping ahead.)

The winner opted for a one-time money payout, strolling away with $537.5 million earlier than state and federal taxes.

The New Mexico Lottery stated that 9 pals — Randy Miller, Ron and Cindy Miller, Ryan and Nicole Miller, Kevin and Jessica Breedyk, and Carl and Holly Baldwin — cut up the large prize after they pooled cash collectively at a celebration to be able to buy a ticket two hours earlier than the drawing in September 2014.

The New York Submit reported in September 2021 that the profitable Mega Tens of millions ticket was bought from a Manhattan pizza joint, Pronto Pizza on West forty eighth Avenue in Midtown.

The pizza store additionally received a slice of the pie — it obtained a $10,000 fee for promoting the jackpot-winning ticket.

USA In the present day reported that 66-year-old North Carolina native Charles W. Jackson Jr. took house the most important prize within the state’s historical past in June 2019 after he used numbers from a fortune cookie within the Powerball lottery. 

“I by no means anticipated to win,” Jackson stated. “I simply received fortunate.”

The profitable ticket was offered at Casey’s Normal Retailer in Fargo, North Dakota, AP reported in March 2021. The winner selected to stay nameless.

The profitable Mega Tens of millions ticket was offered at a Large Eagle grocery store in Mentor, a suburb of Cleveland, the AP reported. The numbers have been drawn on December 17, 2019, simply in time for the vacations. 

Don and Joyce Harvey have been the grand winners of the Powerball jackpot in June 2007, the Related Press reported on the time. They bought the ticket at a Shell service station in Roland, a city in jap Oklahoma.

They selected to obtain a $33.3 million lump sum after taxes as an alternative of the complete quantity, which might be paid out over 29 years, the AP reported.

After Joyce Harvey had been utilizing the identical numbers for years, she stated a ticket “got here out flawed,” however she continued to make use of these numbers for subsequent tickets — and it paid off.

Frances and Bob Chaney and their daughter, Carolyn West, and son-in-law, Steve West, received the Powerball jackpot in 2005 after all of them chipped in to purchase $40 price of tickets in southwest Oregon, CNN reported on the time.

NBC Philadelphia reported that the profitable Fast Choose ticket was offered at a 7-Eleven in Levittown, Pennsylvania, in Could 2021. The winners of the large Mega Tens of millions jackpot elected to stay nameless. 

ABC Information reported in March 2012 that the winner of the huge Powerball jackpot was 81-year-old Louise White of Newport, Rhode Island. On the time, it was the third-largest Powerball lottery within the historical past of the sport.

White bought the ticket after stopping for some rainbow sherbet at a neighborhood Cease N Store. In honor of the dessert that led to her win, she went on to create The Rainbow Sherbert Belief to learn her household.

“I need to say that I am very completely happy and I am very proud. It will make my household very completely happy,” White advised ABC Information. “We’re actually blessed. Thanks.”

Although the identification of the winner of the Mega Tens of millions jackpot was by no means revealed, officers stated in March 2019 that she was a South Carolina lady on a “scenic drive” by Greenville when she stopped to purchase a ticket, The Greenville Information reported.

She opted to take her winnings as a one-time cost of $877,784,124 in October 2018. It was the most important jackpot in US historical past up till that time.

Neal Wanless, a 23-year-old cowboy engaged on a ranch in Mission, South Dakota, received the Powerball jackpot in 2009, The Wall Avenue Journal reported in 2020. 

WSJ reported that Wanless bought the lottery ticket at a neighborhood comfort retailer whereas he was getting fuel. He went on to buy his personal ranch with the winnings however listed it in 2020 for $41.15 million, making it one of the vital costly ranches ever offered within the state.

The Powerball jackpot was cut up amongst 20 coworkers who referred to as themselves “The Tennessee 20,” WKRN reported in November 2016. The colleagues, who performed the lottery collectively each week, stated they weren’t going to give up their jobs immediately as a result of they did not need to depart their employers “excessive and dry,” WKRN reported.

The profitable ticket was bought on the Smoke Store in Lafayette, which additionally obtained $25,000 in change for promoting the profitable ticket.

Texas’ largest-ever payout was $410.3 million in October 2025, representing half of the lump sum from the $1.8 billion grand prize, which was cut up with one other winner in Missouri.

The profitable Powerball ticket was bought at Massive’s 103 and was the primary of the 2 profitable tickets bought.

The Powerball winner got here ahead in August 2022 to gather the huge prize however selected to stay nameless, WCAX reported.

The winner of the huge Mega Tens of millions lottery selected to stay nameless after they stepped ahead in August 2025, however they did share their plans for his or her first buy: a brand new zero-radius driving garden mower, per The New York Submit. At round $3,000, that is a fraction of the winner’s newfound fortune.

The winner selected to simply accept the one-time prize of $155.6 million in money, quite than receiving funds of the complete prize quantity over 30 years.

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

She stated she had already spent her allotted price range for lottery tickets for the week when she noticed an indication for the then-$747 million prize in a Fred Meyer retailer.

Boeing had simply delivered its final 747 jumbo jet, King 5 reported, so she took it as an indication and determined to purchase yet one more ticket. Finally, she walked away with $309 million after taxes.

The Los Angeles Instances recognized Andrew “Jack” Whittaker, 55, because the winner. When he received the huge prize on Christmas Day in December 2022, Whittaker was already a millionaire because of his sewage-treatment contracting enterprise. 

“I’ve labored for every thing I received,” Whittaker advised the LA Instances, “however that is the very first thing anyone’s ever given me.”

ABC Information reported that the winner of the Powerball jackpot was 24-year-old Wisconsin resident Manuel Franco. On the time, it was the third-largest lottery quantity in US historical past.

“I walked into the Speedway and I bought $10 price of particular person Powerball tickets,” Franco stated at a press convention, in keeping with ABC Information. “I actually felt so fortunate that I did search for on the digital camera and I needed to wink at it ‘trigger I simply had that fortunate feeling.”

The March 2016 win was the primary Mega Tens of millions lottery ever received within the state after launching in August 2014, Mega Tens of millions stated.