The biggest lottery jackpots in history
The world's ten biggest jackpots were all won in the United States, and half were drawn since 2023.
On November 7, 2022, Powerball drew the largest lottery jackpot ever recorded: US$2.04 billion. The winning ticket was sold at a convenience store in Altadena, California, and winner Edwin Castro became one of the best-known names in lottery history. The jackpot reached that level only because 40 consecutive draws had no six-number winner.
The record nearly fell in 2025. In September, two tickets from Missouri and Texas shared US$1.787 billion. Three months later, on Christmas Eve, a single ticket sold at a gas station in Cabot, Arkansas, won US$1.817 billion, the second-largest prize ever.
| # | Lottery | Date | Where it was won | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powerball | Nov 7, 2022 | California (1 ticket) | US$2.04 billion |
| 2 | Powerball | Dec 24, 2025 | Arkansas (1 ticket) | US$ 1,817 bi |
| 3 | Powerball | Sep 6, 2025 | Missouri and Texas | US$ 1,787 bi |
| 4 | Powerball | Oct 11, 2023 | California (1 ticket) | US$ 1,765 bi |
| 5 | Mega Millions | Aug 8, 2023 | Florida (1 ticket) | US$ 1,602 bi |
| 6 | Powerball | Jan 13, 2016 | California, Florida and Tennessee | US$ 1,586 bi |
| 7 | Mega Millions | Oct 23, 2018 | South Carolina (1 ticket) | US$ 1,537 bi |
| 8 | Mega Millions | Jan 13, 2023 | Maine (1 bilhete) | US$ 1,348 bi |
| 9 | Mega Millions | Jul 29, 2022 | Illinois (1 bilhete) | US$ 1,337 bi |
| 10 | Powerball | Apr 6, 2024 | Oregon (1 ticket) | US$ 1,326 bi |
The advertised amount is not what the winner takes home
The billboard figure is the sum of 30 annual payments: one immediate payment and 29 yearly installments that increase by 5% per year. Almost all winners prefer the much smaller lump sum. For the Christmas 2025 jackpot, the cash option was US$834.9 million, less than half the advertised amount, before federal and state taxes.
Eight of the ten biggest jackpots were won by a single ticket.
2026 so far
So far, the year has not produced a top-ten jackpot. The biggest 2026 prize was US$1.04 billion in Powerball, won by an Illinois player, exceeding the US$800 million Mega Millions paid to a Florida player on August 12. In July, the two jackpots totaled more than US$1.4 billion at the same time.
Why jackpot records keep growing
Three factors explain the increase: more expensive tickets, increasingly difficult odds and no jackpot cap. As prizes roll over, more people play and the jackpot grows faster. We explain that mechanism in Powerball vs. Mega Millions and explore the mathematics in Why winning the lottery is so hard.