Biggest Powerball jackpots in history

The all-time largest jackpots

Powerball's structural changes in 2012 (45-state expansion) and 2015 (number matrix overhaul making jackpots harder to win) caused jackpots to climb dramatically higher. Every jackpot above $750 million in this list has been won since 2016.

$2.04 billion — California, November 2022

The world-record Powerball jackpot was won by a single ticket sold at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, California. The winner, Edwin Castro, took the lump-sum cash option of approximately $997.6 million before taxes.

The drawing was originally scheduled for Monday, November 7, but was delayed nearly 10 hours due to one participating lottery requiring additional time to process sales. The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball 10.

Castro, who was in his late 20s at the time, quickly invested in real estate, purchasing a $25.5 million Hollywood Hills mansion shortly after the win.

$1.817 billion — Arkansas, December 2025

The second-largest Powerball jackpot was won on Christmas Eve 2025 in Arkansas — only the third billion-dollar Powerball jackpot at the time. The winner remained anonymous for several months under Arkansas law, which permits lottery winners to keep their identities private.

The winning numbers were 4, 17, 32, 41, 50, and Powerball 7. The cash value option was approximately $830 million.

$1.765 billion — California, October 2023

Less than a year after the world-record win, California produced another billion-dollar Powerball winner. The ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market in Frazier Park. The winner, Theodorus Struyck, chose the lump-sum payment of $774 million.

The drawing was again delayed — a recurring theme with mega jackpots, as ticket sales surge in the final hours and require extra processing time.

$1.586 billion — Three winners, January 2016

The original record-breaking Powerball jackpot was split three ways between tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee. Each winner received approximately $528 million annuity value, or about $327 million cash.

This jackpot also marked Powerball's first transition above $1 billion and was the result of structural changes made the previous year to make jackpots accumulate faster.

$1.326 billion — Oregon, April 2024

A single ticket sold in Portland claimed this jackpot, won by Cheng Saephan, who chose the cash option of approximately $621 million. Saephan, a Laotian immigrant, said he planned to use winnings for cancer treatment and to support his family.

What the data shows

A few interesting trends emerge from looking at all jackpots above $400 million:

• California dominates. 7 of the top 25 jackpots were won in California — more than any other state by a wide margin. This is partly population and partly the fact that California doesn't tax lottery winnings, attracting heavy ticket sales when jackpots peak.
• Most billion-dollar winners are solo. Of the 6 jackpots over $1 billion in history, 5 were won by single tickets. Splitting is rare at the top end.
• Frequency is accelerating. Powerball saw its first billion-dollar jackpot in 2016. Since then, the game has produced one almost every year, and sometimes two.
• Most winners take the cash option. Of jackpot winners since 2018 who have been publicly identified, more than 90% have chosen lump-sum cash over the 30-year annuity.

How long does it take to reach $1 billion?

Powerball jackpots start at $20 million (or sometimes lower) and grow each drawing that no one wins the jackpot. Each rollover typically adds $10–30 million depending on ticket sales.

To reach $1 billion from scratch requires roughly 35–45 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner — about 3 to 4 months. Recent billion-dollar jackpots took:

• $2.04 billion (2022): 40 drawings, ~13 weeks
• $1.817 billion (2025): 41 drawings, ~14 weeks
• $1.765 billion (2023): 35 drawings, ~12 weeks
• $1.326 billion (2024): 41 drawings, ~14 weeks

The mathematics: at 1 in 292 million odds and roughly 50–150 million tickets sold per drawing during a hot run, the expected number of drawings to a winner sits around 35–50.