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With 2024 in the rear-view mirror now, it's the perfect time to reflect on a year that's been nothing short of amazing for lottery enthusiasts. From coast to coast, jackpots were won, dreams became realities, and tickets that cost just a few dollars turned into life-changing paydays. Some lucky winners walked away with enough money to rewrite their futures, buy a fleet of luxury yachts, or even retire years ahead of schedule. Other winners snagged smaller, but no less exciting, prizes that still sparked plenty of celebrations.
In 2024, the lottery world saw record-breaking jackpots and unforgettable stories of luck and perseverance, proving the saying true: you can't win if you don't play. Which states produced the year's biggest winners? How many billion-dollar jackpots turned everyday people into overnight legends?
Join us as we take a look back at the biggest lottery wins of 2024 — a year where lightning didn't just strike twice, but it struck again and again. Whether you're a regular lottery player or just a player when the jackpots get big, this roundup will have you dreaming of your own lucky break in 2025!
1 - $1.33 billion – Powerball – April 6, 2024
The biggest jackpot of the year happened to go to a winning trio in Oregon. The lucky winner purchased the only ticket to match all of the winning numbers and the Powerball for the April 6 drawing, winning the $1.33 billion jackpot.
The man, who has battled cancer in the past and was currently fighting a recurrence, told lottery officials he agreed to share the prize with his wife and their friend. The trio elected to split the prize, with the friend taking 50% and the husband and wife taking the other 50%. All three of them chose the cash option, which totaled $422.3 million after taxes.
2 - $1.27 billion – Mega Millions – December 27, 2024
The second-highest jackpot win of 2024 happens to be the latest jackpot run to get people out there buying tickets. It was a 31-draw run, which ended during the December 27 drawing.
The jackpot made its way up to $1.27 billion, and one lucky ticket purchased in Cottonwood, California, was the only ticket to match all six of the winning numbers drawn. This was the fifth largest Mega Millions jackpot in the game's history and also was the biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever won in the state of California.
3 - $1.13 billion – Mega Millions – March 26, 2024
Talk about riding out the wave. This lucky winner, who chose to remain anonymous, waited months before finally stepping forward to claim their $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot win.
The winning ticket was purchased at a ShopRite in Neptune Township, New Jersey, for the March 26 drawing and ended up matching all six of the numbers drawn that night. The winner received $537.5 million before state and federal taxes after electing the lump sum payment option.
At the time of the win, it was the fifth largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won, but after the latest jackpot win on December 27, it now moves down to the sixth spot on that list. Still, it's not too shabby at all for this lucky winner.
4 - $842 million – Powerball – January 1, 2024
The new year kicked off with a bang, as one lucky ticket sold in Michigan won the New Year's Day Powerball drawing. That lucky ticket, which matched all six of the winning numbers drawn that night, won the $842.4 million jackpot.
The winning ticket was purchased by three lottery players in Grand Blanc, who happened to claim their winnings in June as the “Breakfast Club” lottery club. The name came from their shared love of starting their day with a lottery ticket.
5 - $810 million – Mega Millions – September 10, 2024
The eighth-largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time also happened to be the largest jackpot prize ever won by a Texas Lottery player. The winning ticket was sold at Murphy Express 8488 in Sugar Land, Texas, for the September 10 drawing.
The winning Mega Millions jackpot started at $20 million and rolled 27 times before being hit for the $810 million prize. Despite it being September, this was just the third Mega Millions jackpot win of the year.
6 - $552 million – Mega Millions – June 4, 2024
The second Mega Millions jackpot win of the year came in June when an Illinois woman purchased her jackpot-winning ticket using the iLottery platform from the Illinois Lottery. The lucky Illinois resident, who went by the name MEGA Millionaire, became the recipient of the largest jackpot ever won through iLottery in the history of the United States.
This online win for MEGA Millionaire was the ninth-largest Mega Millions jackpot ever at the time of the win but has since been knocked out of the Top 10 list. However, it still ranks as the second-largest prize ever claimed in the state.
7 - $478 million – Powerball – October 23, 2024
It took Georgia eight years, but they finally crowned another Powerball jackpot winner in 2024. It was worth the wait though, as the $478 million win on October 23 happened to bring home the biggest lottery prize ever for the state.
The winning ticket was purchased at Quick Mart, located at 2155 Buford Dam Road in Buford. This was the first jackpot win in Powerball for the state of Georgia since 2016. The $478 million prize beat the previous state record, which was a Mega Millions winner from Stone Mountain, who claimed half of a $648 million jackpot in December 2013.
8 - $256 million – Powerball – December 7, 2024
The Big Apple made their way to the leaderboard for lottery jackpot wins in 2024. One lucky Powerball ticket sold in New York matched all six of the winning numbers to claim the $256 million prize for the December 7 drawing.
With this win, it was the state's first Powerball jackpot win since 2020. This also marked the ninth jackpot win for Powerball players nationwide in 2024, which is more than double the amount of Mega Millions jackpot winners this year.
9 - $222.6 million – Powerball – June 10, 2024
New Jersey was definitely one of the luckiest states in the country when it comes to big jackpot wins. Not only did a player from New Jersey win the $1.13 billion Mega Millions drawing in March, but now another jackpot-winning ticket was sold in the state.
This time the winning ticket was purchased at Preet Food Mart, located at 598 Chews Landing Road in Lindenwold. The ticket matched all of the winning Powerball numbers for the June 10 drawing to win the $222.6 million jackpot that night.
10 - $214.9 million – Powerball – May 6, 2024
Florida also made their way to the list, taking the number 10 spot with a big Powerball win back in May. One lucky ticket matched all six of the winning numbers drawn during the May 6 Powerball drawing to win the jackpot worth $214.9 million.
The winning ticket was sold at Publix, located at 9050 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Shores. This jackpot win marked the third Powerball jackpot winner of 2024.
11 - $213.8 million – Powerball – August 12, 2024
It was a 17-draw run that ended with one lucky ticket in Pennsylvania matching all six of the winning numbers to win the Powerball jackpot. This took place on August 12, with the lucky ticket winning the $213.8 million jackpot that night.
The winning ticket was sold at AJ's Pizza, located at 3565 Harts Run Road in Pittsburgh. For selling the winning ticket, the lucky lottery retailer received a $100,000 bonus from the state lottery.
12 - $139.3 million – Powerball – July 3, 2024
The nice thing to see with these big jackpot wins is that they are being shared among the different states, besides New Jersey hogging two of the Top 10 wins. Coming in at the twelfth spot is Ohio and their $139.3 million Powerball jackpot win.
This win took place during the July 3 drawing, so the fireworks were definitely going off for one player in the state. The winning ticket was purchased at a Walmart store located at 7680 Brandt Pike in Huber Heights. They chose the Quick Pick option when purchasing their ticket.
13 - $54 million – SuperLotto Plus – July 20, 2024
The first non-multi-state game to make the list is SuperLotto Plus from California. The in-state draw game had gone 48 draws without a winner before one lucky ticket matched all six of the winning numbers on July 20 to win the $54 million jackpot.
The winning ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven located on Cottonwood Street in Woodland. The winning Mega Millions ticket from California above was purchased in Cottonwood, so it must be a lucky word for California residents.
14 - $47 million – SuperLotto Plus – December 11, 2024
No Cottonwood here, but we do have another big win from the California Lottery. One lucky ticket matched all six of the winning numbers in the December 11 drawing for SuperLotto Plus. In doing so, they won the $47 million jackpot for that night.
The winning ticket was purchased from Fresh Catch Seafood Market, located on South Street in Artesia. For selling the winning ticket, they received a bonus from the lottery of $235,000.
15 - $45 million – Florida Lotto – February 7, 2024
Another in-state draw game cracks the list, as the Florida Lotto had a $45 million jackpot win back in February.
The winning ticket was purchased at Coastal Wine & Liquor, located on U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. It matched all of the winning numbers drawn to win the $45 million jackpot.
16 - $44 million – Powerball – August 19, 2024
While the $44 million seems like a small jackpot for a Powerball win, this win did come with some drama. The winner, Jerry, went to the media claiming the California Lottery was not paying him weeks after he won the $44 million jackpot.
The issue was finally resolved after the California man was finally paid his winnings, almost 12 weeks after the drawing took place. While Jerry thought the process took too long, lottery officials said it normally takes six to eight weeks to pay out winners, if not longer, because of their vetting process.
17 - $30 million – Pick-6 – March 28, 2024
New Jersey is back with another big lottery winner from the state, this time with two tickets matching all of the winning Pick-6 numbers to split the $30 million jackpot for the March 28 drawing. This happened to be the fourth-largest jackpot in the game's 44-year history.
Each winning ticket claimed half of the estimated $30 million annuity jackpot. Those winning tickets were sold at Quick Chek #162, located at 1435 Route 23 South in Butler, and at Wawa #910, located at 909 Highway 33 in Freehold.
18 - $29 million – Lotto Texas - June 24, 2024
Everything is bigger in Texas, including this Lotto Texas jackpot. The big win came during the June 24 drawing when one lucky ticket matched all of the winning numbers drawn to win the $29 million jackpot.
The winning ticket was a Quick Pick ticket and was purchased at Salt Springs Xpress, located at 8101 Salt Springs Drive in Austin. The lucky Austin resident came forward in August to claim their prize.
There have been no jackpot winners since that June 24 drawing, pushing the current Lotto Texas jackpot to $60.5 million.
19 - $20.5 million – Florida Lotto – August 7, 2024
A $20.5 million Florida Lotto jackpot was up for grabs back in August, and a man from the Bahamas ended up purchasing the winning ticket. The lucky winner purchased the ticket from a Murphy USA gas station in Kissimmee.
There have been no jackpot winners since that August 7 drawing, pushing the current Florida Lotto jackpot to $38.5 million.
20 - $20 million – SuperLotto Plus – February 3, 2024
Bringing the list to a close, we have a $20 million jackpot win for SuperLotto Plus in California. The jackpot-winning ticket matched all six of the numbers drawn for that February 3 drawing.
The winning ticket was purchased at the Y & Y Market, located on West 39th Street in Los Angeles.
With 2024 behind us, it's clear this year was one for the lottery history books. From record-breaking jackpots to unforgettable moments of triumph, it reminded us all that dreams really can come true. Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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