Lottery Jackpot Records - United States

United States

All lottery winnings are subject to Federal taxes; many smaller jurisdictions also levy taxes. The IRS requires at least a 25% withholding of any gambling wins in excess of $5,000. However, the net for a major jackpot winner is often misleading. Winners often find themselves in a tax bracket much greater than 25%, often paying additional to the IRS when they file their returns.

All lump-sum prizes listed below are reported as the pre-tax amount, as this is the income the player earned and must report on their returns to be subject to taxation. Jackpot amounts are reported as the annuity payout.

For various reasons, an annuity jackpot can have a higher cash value than a larger annuity with a lower cash value, as can be seen below.

List of U.S. jackpots of at least $300 million
  • $656 million, (1) Mega Millions, won (30 March 2012) by 3 tickets: Kansas, Illinois, and Maryland. Cash payout $474 million, largest cash payout in American lottery history.
  • $550 million, (2) Powerball, drawing on (28 November 2012 at 22:59 Eastern Standard Time): Cash payout $360.2 million, second largest cash payout in American lottery history.
  • $390 million, (3) Mega Millions, won (6 March 2007) by 2 tickets: Georgia and New Jersey. Cash payout $233.1 million, fourth largest cash payout in American lottery history.
  • $380 million, (4) Mega Millions, won (4 January 2011) by 2 tickets: Holly Lahti of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Jim and Carolyn McCullar of Ephrata, Washington. Cash payout $240 million, third largest cash payout in American lottery history.
  • $365 million, (5) Powerball, won (18 February 2006) by 1 ticket: Nebraska. Biggest win on a single ticket; shared by eight workers in a meatpacking plant.
  • $363 million, (6) The Big Game, (precursor of Mega Millions), won (9 May 2000) by 2 tickets: Illinois and Michigan.
  • $340 million, (7) Powerball, won (19 October 2005) by 1 ticket: Oregon. Cash payout $164.4 million was chosen and split by the Chaney and West families.
  • $337 million, (8) Powerball, won (15 August 2012) by 1 ticket: Michigan. Cash payout $223.7 million, largest cash payout to one individual winner for any U.S. lottery. The 7 higher lottery jackpots were split among multiple tickets and multiple people.
  • $336.4 million, (9) Powerball, won (11 February 2012) by 1 ticket: Rhode Island. Cash: $210 million.
  • $336 million, (10) Mega Millions, won (28 August 2009) by 2 tickets: California and New York.
  • $331 million, (11) The Big Game, won (16 April 2002) by 3 tickets: Georgia, Illinois, and New Jersey.
  • $330 million, (12) Mega Millions, won (31 August 2007) by 4 tickets: New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, and Virginia.
  • $319 million, (13) Mega Millions, won (25 March 2011) by 1 ticket: New York.
  • $315 million, (14) Mega Millions, won (15 November 2005) by 1 ticket: Anaheim, California. Cash payout $175 million was chosen by the group called "The Lucky 7".
  • $314.9 million, (15) Powerball, won (25 December 2002) by 1 ticket: West Virginia. Cash payout $170,505,876 was chosen by Andrew J. Whittaker Jr.
  • $314.3 million, (16) Powerball, won (25 August 2007) by 1 ticket: Indiana. Cash payout of $146,985,099.

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