Powerball Vs Mega Millions: Which Lottery Has Produced More Jackpot Winners?
Fans of Powerball and Mega Millions have enjoyed a lot of success since the games were launched. Both lotteries have created millions of prize winners, including thousands of new millionaires, and players have had the opportunity to win record-breaking jackpots on both. Powerball started first, but Mega Millions can lay claim to a large number of top prize winners too. Here’s how they match up against each other.
How many players have won the jackpot for Powerball and Mega Millions?
Since the beginning of Powerball, there have been 363 jackpot winners. The top five Powerball jackpot-winning states are Indiana with 39 wins, Missouri (31), Minnesota (22), Kentucky (18), and Pennsylvania, which has witnessed 17 successes. You can view the full list of successful states on the Powerball Winners page.
The first Mega Millions drawing took place in September 1996, four years after Lotto America was replaced by Powerball. Since then, a total of 175 jackpots have been won by 199 ticket holders. 20 of these Mega Millions jackpots have been split between two or more players.
The original participating states, including Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia, have all produced jackpot-winning ticket holders. Since the game expanded in 2010, Mega Millions jackpots have been won in 22 jurisdictions, including New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In 2017, six Mega Millions jackpots have been won by ticket holders in Michigan, Rhode Island, New York, California, Texas and Arkansas. Powerball has created slightly more jackpot winners than Mega Millions so far this year, with a total of seven lucky winners hailing from Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Louisiana.
The latest Powerball jackpot winner of $191.1 million from Louisiana has yet to come forward and claim their prize winnings for the drawing on October 25th.
Which game has produced the largest jackpot?
Powerball made lottery history when it reached an incredible $1.586 billion for the drawing on January 13th, 2016. The record-breaking jackpot was split between three ticket holders from California, Florida and Tennessee, providing each with $528.8 million before taxes.
The $1.586 billion jackpot remains the largest in the world, and Powerball also holds the record for biggest ever jackpot won by a single ticket, the $758.7 million payout won by Mavis Wanczyk from Chicopee, Massachusetts on August 23rd, 2017. Take a look at Powerball.net’s news story about the $758.7 million win, which is the second largest jackpot payout in lottery history.
Mega Millions can boast the third largest lottery jackpot anywhere in the world. That prize was worth $656 million and was won by three lucky ticket holders from Maryland, Illinois and Kansas on March 30th, 2012. Each player earned $218.6 million before tax withholdings. The second largest Mega Millions jackpot of $648 million is the fourth biggest jackpot in the world and was won by two ticket holders from Georgia and California on December 17th, 2013.
Could you be next?
If you haven’t managed to win the top prize yet for either game, the next Powerball drawing is tomorrow, and the jackpot is an estimated $163 million. You can pick up a ticket from your local authorized retailer or choose your numbers online.
Tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot is slightly lower than the current Powerball jackpot, at an estimated $132 million. If you would like further information, you can view the odds of winning a Powerball prize and check how many winners there were in each prize tier following last Saturday’s drawing at the Powerball Prizes page. Good luck!
Page Last Updated: 11/28/2017 8:48:15 AM ET
