Which states win most? Which stores sell jackpot tickets? We analyze every major US lottery win so you don't have to.
Ranked by combined Powerball + Mega Millions jackpot value won in each state
💡 Key insight: California leads by total prize money due to the historic $2.04B Powerball in 2022 and the $1.22B Mega Millions in 2024. Arkansas punches well above its weight — a state with 3 million people has produced two top-5 all-time jackpots.
The largest single lottery prizes in recent history
Retailers that have sold the highest-value winning tickets
💡 Key insight: Gas stations and convenience stores sell the majority of jackpot-winning tickets. Rural and suburban locations outperform urban ones — partly because fewer tickets are sold per draw, slightly improving odds of a local winner.
Cities with the highest-value lottery prizes sold
Which convenience store chains sell the most winning tickets?
💡 Key insight: QuikTrip has sold tickets for two of the five largest jackpots in US history. The chain's focus on high-traffic suburban corridors makes it a natural lottery destination. Casey's dominates the Midwest, while Murphy USA benefits from Walmart-adjacent foot traffic in the South.
LotteryMap tracks every major Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot win and major scratch ticket prize using official state lottery announcements and the lottery organizations' own winner records. Rankings are updated after every draw.
Why does state luck vary so much? Pure probability — every ticket has identical odds regardless of where it's bought. States with more wins simply have more ticket buyers. Larger population states like California, New York, and Texas buy far more tickets per draw, making jackpot wins statistically more likely. Small-state wins like Arkansas's two recent billion-dollar jackpots are genuine statistical outliers.
Do stores matter? No — the store that sells the winning ticket doesn't influence the outcome. However, stores that sell more tickets are mathematically more likely to sell a winning one. High-volume retailers in busy locations sell more tickets and therefore appear on lucky store lists more often.