The Biggest Powerball and Mega Millions Jackpots Ever

Billion-dollar jackpots used to be once-in-a-lifetime news. Not anymore. Powerball and Mega Millions have now produced 15 jackpots of $1 billion or more between them, and three of the biggest came in just the last 13 months. Here’s the full list as of September 2026, straight from the official game sites.

Every billion-dollar jackpot ever won

The amount is the advertised annuity jackpot. The cash value is the lump-sum option, before taxes, as published by Powerball or Mega Millions.

Game	Jackpot (annuity)	Cash value	Draw date	Winning ticket(s) sold in
Powerball	$2.04 billion	$997.6 million	Nov. 7, 2022	California
Powerball	$1.817 billion	$834.9 million	Dec. 24, 2025	Arkansas
Powerball	$1.787 billion	$410.3 million per ticket (2 tickets)	Sept. 6, 2025	Missouri, Texas
Powerball	$1.765 billion	$774.1 million	Oct. 11, 2023	California
Mega Millions	$1.602 billion	$794.2 million	Aug. 8, 2023	Florida
Powerball	$1.586 billion	$327.8 million per ticket (3 tickets)	Jan. 13, 2016	California, Florida, Tennessee
Mega Millions	$1.537 billion	Not listed	Oct. 23, 2018	South Carolina
Mega Millions	$1.348 billion	$723.5 million	Jan. 13, 2023	Maine
Mega Millions	$1.337 billion	$780.5 million	July 29, 2022	Illinois
Powerball	$1.326 billion	$621 million	April 6, 2024	Oregon
Mega Millions	$1.269 billion	$571.9 million	Dec. 27, 2024	California
Mega Millions	$1.128 billion	$536.6 million	March 26, 2024	New Jersey
Powerball	$1.08 billion	$558.1 million	July 19, 2023	California
Mega Millions	$1.050 billion	$776.6 million	Jan. 22, 2021	Michigan
Powerball	$1.040 billion	$450.5 million	Aug. 12, 2026	Illinois

A couple of notes on the table. Mega Millions’ jackpot history doesn’t list a cash value for the 2018 South Carolina win. For the 2016 Powerball record, the figure shown is the cash value of one third of the jackpot, as published when the Tennessee winners claimed their share.

The big wins of 2025 and 2026

The last two years have been busy at the top of the charts:

• Christmas Eve 2025: A single ticket sold in Cabot, Arkansas, won $1.817 billion, the second-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
• September 2025: Tickets in Missouri and Texas split $1.787 billion. That draw capped a 42-drawing jackpot run, a Powerball record at the time.
• November 2025: Mega Millions paid out $983 million ($453.6 million cash) on a ticket sold in Newnan, Georgia.
• July 2026: Mega Millions awarded $803 million ($345.5 million cash) on a ticket sold in Bradenton, Florida.
• August 2026: A ticket sold in Illinois won $1.040 billion, now the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot. It was the first Powerball jackpot run to include players in the United Kingdom, where sales launched on July 21, 2026.

Fun facts about giant jackpots

How a jackpot snowballs

Every draw without a jackpot winner rolls the prize forward, and it keeps climbing until someone matches every number. Then it resets. Powerball starts over at $20 million. Mega Millions, since its 2025 update to a $5 ticket, starts at $50 million, and the game says the higher price point allows for faster-growing jackpots once momentum builds.

The runs can last months. The $2.04 billion record was hit on the 41st drawing of its run, and the August 2026 Illinois win came on the 44th.

Final sales often push the number higher

The advertised jackpot is an estimate, and ticket sales in the last stretch before a draw can lift it. Before the August 2026 drawing, Powerball raised its estimate from $975 million to $1.0 billion, and the final jackpot landed at $1.040 billion. The same thing happened in 2022, when final sales pushed the record jackpot past its earlier estimate to $2.04 billion.

Big jackpots bring out big crowds

Players love a headline number. Powerball said ticket sales for one Monday drawing in August 2026 were up more than 86% compared to the previous Monday, as the jackpot closed in on $1 billion. More sales mean faster growth, which is how a run turns into a record.

The cash option is a different number

That eye-popping headline is the annuity total, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years. The cash option is a single payment, and every billion-dollar cash value since 2024 has come in under half the advertised amount. Take the Illinois winner: $1.040 billion as an annuity, or $450.5 million in cash, both before taxes. Our guide to lump sum vs. annuity walks through how each option works.

Taxes take a bite too

Every figure above is before taxes. Curious what a giant jackpot looks like after federal and state withholding? Try our lottery tax calculator, or see the current estimate on our Powerball jackpot after taxes page.