The Largest Lottery Jackpot Winnings in U.S. History

The odds may be long, but it only takes lightning to strike once for a life-altering lotto win like the ones we’ve listed here. Plus, payouts for winners of Mega Millions and Powerball, the two major players in the multi-state lotteries, have only gotten larger since each altered its formula to include more numbers. 

These adjustments have made jackpots explode, with every one of the top largest payouts coming in the past decade. Plus, some of the stories surrounding the winners are incredible. Life-changing money may change some, but in many ways, it’s gone to people who are willing to help one another.

So, who are these winners and how much did they win exactly? These are the largest lottery jackpot winnings in U.S. history.

This is stunningly the first of eight — eight! — jackpots that come from California. An extremely lucky purchaser claimed the jackpot drawing at a Chevron gas station in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles in January 2022 and received an eye-popping single payment of $289.5 million.

Four others won more than $1 million thanks to the drawing netting four of the five winning numbers.

The Smith family in the Central New Jersey town of Lawrenceville told NBC News the eight Powerball numbers that netted their jackpot win came to them in a dream “through divine intervention.” Whatever the case, the family received more than $284 million in a lump-sum payout thanks to the winning ticket that was purchased at a 7-Eleven in nearby Trenton.

It was the largest single-ticket win in New Jersey at the time.

The Mega Millions drawing on Sept. 21, 2021, yielded an incomprehensible jackpot for the winner, who purchased the winning ticket on West 48th Street in New York City and received a $314.4 million lump-sum payment.

That night’s drawing also netted a $1 million winner who got four of the five numbers correct and in a row.

A Purdue University alum and engineer in Lafayette, Indiana, claimed $190 million in a lump-sum, post-tax payment after hitting five numbers and the Powerball.

The man, who has remained anonymous, purchased his winning ticket at the Super Test gas station in Lafayette and told reporters, through a lottery representative, that he intended to give money to his family to help pay for their education. Can we be related to him?