How many jackpot-winning Mega Millions, Powerball tickets have been sold in NC?
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As the jackpots continue to grow in both the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery games, so does the anticipation for the next lucky winner or winners.
The prizes for both multi-state lottery draw games are now well above half a billion dollars. The Mega Millions pot is at $735 million (cash value: $356.7 million) ahead of Tuesday night’s drawing, making it the sixth-largest in the game’s history. The Powerball jackpot is a little lower, standing at $559 million (cash value: $273.3 million) after Monday night’s drawing.
The odds to win either jackpot are pretty high — 1 in 302.6 million for Mega Millions and 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball. But the long shots don’t stop people from trying, and residents of some states are far luckier than others.
🎰 Winning numbers from the latest NC Education Lottery drawing
According to data from Mega Millions, New York has sold the most jackpot-winning tickets in the game’s history with 42, followed by California with 36 — including two sold at the same Southern California gas station last year — and New Jersey with 23.
Powerball’s data shows Pennsylvania is the luckiest state to play in, as the state has produced 18 jackpot-winning tickets. Florida is a close second with 16 winning tickets, followed by California with 14.
So where does North Carolina land on the lucky scale?
According to data from the two lotteries, the Tar Heel State has sold a total of seven jackpot-winning tickets between the two games — five in Powerball, and two in Mega Millions. The numbers include split jackpots as well as single-ticket wins.
The last time a Mega Millions jackpot was won in North Carolina was on Sept. 30, 2011, when a family from Greenville split a $113 million prize with a group of six people from Los Angeles. Each group got $56.5 million.
The year before that, a Greensboro man won a $12 million jackpot on May 28, 2010. His was the only winning ticket in that drawing.
Winner, winner! 🤞 Read all the latest victory tales from the NC Lottery here
North Carolina’s last Powerball winner was in 2015, when a woman split the $564.1 million jackpot with two other tickets. Other Powerball jackpot-winning tickets from the state were sold in 2010, 2009, and 2006. The lottery’s history only shows winners dating back to 2003.
So will the next Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot winner be from North Carolina? Hopefully it won’t take too long to find out.
The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday night and the next Powerball drawing is Wednesday night, both at 11 p.m. ET.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
