The Top 5 Biggest Lottery Jackpots in World History ($1.5B+)
Lottery jackpots over a billion dollars were unthinkable a generation ago. Today they arrive every year or two, and each new one rewrites the record books. Here are the five biggest jackpots ever won, all above $1.6 billion, with what we know about each, plus the next five and what the numbers mean for anyone playing in a group. (The very largest lottery prizes in the world are American, which is why this list is entirely US games.)
The Top 5 at a Glance
| # | Jackpot (annuity) | Cash value | Game | Date | Winning tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2.04 billion | $997.6 million | Powerball | Nov 7, 2022 | 1 (California) |
| 2 | $1.817 billion | $834.9 million | Powerball | Dec 24, 2025 | 1 (Arkansas) |
| 3 | $1.787 billion | $820.6 million | Powerball | Sep 6, 2025 | 2 (Missouri, Texas) |
| 4 | $1.765 billion | $774.1 million | Powerball | Oct 11, 2023 | 1 (California) |
| 5 | $1.602 billion | $794.2 million | Mega Millions | Aug 8, 2023 | 1 (Florida) |
The Top 5
1. $2.04 billion Powerball, November 7, 2022
The all-time record. A single ticket sold at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, California, matched all the numbers. The winner took the cash option of about $997.6 million before taxes. More than three years later, it remains the largest lottery jackpot ever won.
2. $1.817 billion Powerball, December 24, 2025
A Christmas Eve drawing produced the second-largest jackpot in history, won by a single ticket sold in Arkansas. The cash option was about $834.9 million before taxes. It came just over three months after the previous record-setter on this list, a sign of how often giant jackpots now arrive.
3. $1.787 billion Powerball, September 6, 2025
This one was won by two tickets, one in Missouri and one in Texas (the Texas ticket was sold in Fredericksburg). Each winner could take an annuity of $893.5 million or a lump sum of $410.3 million before taxes.
4. $1.765 billion Powerball, October 11, 2023
A single ticket sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, California, took this jackpot. California has now produced two of the four largest prizes ever.
5. $1.602 billion Mega Millions, August 8, 2023
The largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time was won by a single ticket bought in Florida. Its cash value was about $794.2 million.
Numbers 6 to 10
| # | Jackpot | Game | Date | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | $1.586 billion | Powerball | Jan 13, 2016 | Split 3 ways: California, Florida, Tennessee |
| 7 | $1.537 billion | Mega Millions | Oct 23, 2018 | South Carolina |
| 8 | $1.350 billion | Mega Millions | Jan 13, 2023 | Maine |
| 9 | $1.337 billion | Mega Millions | Jul 29, 2022 | Illinois |
| 10 | $1.326 billion | Powerball | Apr 7, 2024 | Oregon |
The 2016 jackpot, once the record, has now slipped to sixth. Its Tennessee share went to a family from Munford, and each of the three tickets was worth roughly $528 million as an annuity. Billion-dollar jackpots keep coming: a single Illinois ticket won a $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot in August 2026.
This list reflects reported results through October 2026. Check the official Powerball and Mega Millions sites for the latest.
What the Numbers Really Mean
Headline vs. cash
Every headline figure above is the annuity value, paid over 30 years. The cash option is typically less than half. The September 2025 winners, for example, could take $410.3 million cash from an $893.5 million annuity share. And that's before taxes. See how much you actually take home from a $100 million jackpot.
Why do jackpots get this big?
Both games have odds of roughly 1 in 290 million for the top prize, so jackpots often roll over for weeks. As the prize grows, more people buy tickets, which pushes it higher still. Rule and price changes in both games over the past decade have made very large jackpots more common. Four of the top ten are from 2023 or later.
Bigger jackpot, same odds
A $2 billion jackpot is no easier to win than a $20 million one. The odds are the same on every ticket. What changes is the number of players, which means a bigger chance of sharing the prize, as with numbers 3 and 6 on these lists.
What a Record Jackpot Means for a Pool
Here's what the #3 jackpot, a single $410.3 million cash share, would look like split among pools of different sizes, before taxes:
| Pool size | Each member's cash share, before taxes |
|---|---|
| 5 members | About $82 million |
| 10 members | About $41 million |
| 20 members | About $20.5 million |
| 50 members | About $8.2 million |
Even after splitting and taxes, every one of those shares is life-changing. That's why pools surge when jackpots climb, and why the rules need to be settled before they do.
What Group Players Can Learn
- Big jackpots make big pools. The larger the prize, the more people ask to join. Decide in advance who is in, and when new members can join. See our group agreement guide.
- Set a "big jackpot" rule. Will the pool buy extra tickets when the jackpot passes $1 billion? Who pays for them? Decide calmly, not in the excitement.
- Splitting is common. Two of the ten jackpots here were shared among several tickets, and your group's share would then be divided again among members.
- Plan for the claim. Our jackpot checklist explains what to do first, and our Form 5754 guide explains how to make sure each member is taxed on their own share.
"The odds don't care how big the jackpot is. Your agreement does."
Frequently Asked Questions
Have any of the billion-dollar jackpots been won by a pool?
Most of the very largest were won by individual tickets, though some winners claimed through trusts or other entities. Office and family pools have won many jackpots in the hundreds of millions; see how office pools won massive jackpots.
Has a huge jackpot ever gone unclaimed?
Yes, though rarely at this size. See the largest unclaimed lottery jackpots in history.
Which game produces bigger jackpots?
Powerball holds the top four spots, but both games regularly pass $1 billion. For how they compare for a pool's budget, see Powerball vs. Mega Millions for groups.
Play for fun and only with money you can spare. A pool lets you take part in the excitement of a record-breaking jackpot for a small, shared cost.
Sources: Powerball, Fox 5 / AP list of biggest jackpots and Wikipedia: Lottery jackpot records. Cash values are before taxes; per-member figures are illustrations.