Mega Millions Participating States (2024)

The Arizona Lottery sold its first lottery ticket on July 1st, 1981. Arizona only recently crowned its first Mega Millions jackpot winners, but prior to that had been home to multiple second-place winners, each of whom have won $1 million or more!

The Arizona Lottery uses some proceeds from ticket sales to fund organisations and programs in higher education, health, conservation and economic development – with the University Bond alone receiving around $40 million per year, and The Arizona State General Fund around $120 million.

The Arkansas Lottery began selling Mega Millions tickets in 2010, and has since given out over $2 billion in winnings. The largest jackpot ever won in Arkansas went to construction worker Eliberto Cantu, who bought a ticket while on business in Stuttgart, AR. He was the sole claimant of the $177 million jackpot.

The Arkansas Lottery focuses its philanthropic efforts on providing scholarships; so far, the Lottery has sent over 300,000 students to colleges and universities in the state, spending $780 million in the process. Over 92% of the Lottery’s revenue funds the scheme.

The California Lottery was formed in 1984, with a goal to provide extra funding to public schools and colleges in the state. To date the Lottery has allocated more than $30 billion in funds.

Mega Millions came to California after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested joining a multi-jurisdictional lottery in 2004. California’s Mega Millions is unique, in that it is the only state not to offer the Megaplier, and the only state to rule that all nine prize tiers be pari-mutuel. In other words, the prizes for each tier are not fixed, but decided by the number of players and winners in each draw.

California has seen a little more than its fair share of Mega Millions jackpots: In 2017, Jack Freney won $190 million from a ticket bought in San Bernadino County; and in July 2018, a jackpot of $543 million was won by an office syndicate of 11 people, in Santa Clara County.

Colorado has allocated over $3.1 billion in funds to protect Colorado’s natural environments – from parks to forests to trails and beyond. The move to focus funds on the outdoors was decided by a public vote in 1992; the Great Outdoors Colorado Fund receives 50% of the allocated proceeds, while the Conservation Trust Fund receive 40%, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife 10%.

As for winners and prize payouts, the Colorado Lottery has given more than $5 billion in prizes since its inception in 1983 - though there hasn’t yet been a high-profile jackpot winner.

The Connecticut Lottery has some impressive figures behind its near-half-decade history; $9.4 billion has been allocated to the state, and lottery winners state-wide have collected in excess of $17.4 billion altogether!

The Lottery allocated roughly a quarter of its charitable donations to education and libraries between 2016 and 2018; around $345 million is distributed across the state each year.

Mega Millions was launched in Delaware in 2010; there have been no jackpot winners in The First State since the launch, but that doesn’t mean Delaware’s day isn’t soon at hand! Delaware is also one of relatively few states to allow lottery winners to remain anonymous after winning.

The Delaware Lottery is the state’s fourth-largest revenue generator, contributing over $200 million to the State General Fund every year.

The Florida Lottery’s beneficiary trust is the EETF, or Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. It receives 26.9% of ticket revenue, and has received $34 billion since the Florida Lottery began in 1988. The Florida Lottery also boasts one of the lowest operating costs of any state lottery, at 1.3% of ticket revenue.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever, worth $1.602 billion, was won here on August 8, 2023. The ticket was bought at a Publix in Neptune Beach.

Georgia has seen a whopping 17 jackpot winners since Mega Millions began in 2002. The largest prize awarded to a Georgian was one half of a $636 million jackpot in 2013 – the 2nd largest jackpot in US history at the time. Ira Curry, New-York-born Stone Mountain resident, took home the cash option of $120 million after taxes.

The Georgia Lottery is also keen on investing in education; in 2018 it generated $1.14 billion of the Lottery’s revenue for the Lottery for Education Account, which services the HOPE scholarship program and the Pre-K pre-school funding program.

To date, Idaho has had one Mega Millions jackpot winner: Holly Lahti, who won half of a $350 million jackpot in 2011. Her win was mired in mystery, after she briefly disappeared with her children without a trace, though they soon returned, happy and healthy, after a spell on the California coast taking a holiday from publicity.

The Idaho Lottery has returned over $869 million to the Gem State, with much of the funds gong to public schools across the state and the Permanent Building Fund.

Illinois has the distinct pleasure of being home to the very first Mega Millions jackpot winner, in the very first Mega Millions draw! Samuel Rice laid claim to $28 million on May 17th, 2002.

Illinois’ largest ever jackpot win is also the third biggest Mega Millions jackpot in history. The jackpot, worth $1.337 billion (Cash value of $780.5 million), was won by a single ticket holder in Des Plaines in July 2022.

A quarter of The Illinois Lottery’s ticket revenue is transferred to the Common School Fund, the Capital Projects fund, and the operation of their Specialty Tickets service: small scratch-card games, 100% of the profits of which go to medical charities.

Indiana is home to the only state lottery named for the people who play it: The Hoosier Lottery. Only two Hoosiers have won Mega Millions jackpots so far – though one of them was one of the largest jackpots Mega Millions had ever seen.

The Hoosier Lottery has so far supplemented police and firefighters’ pensions with nearly $700 million, donated $857 million to the Teacher’s Retirement Fund, and over $4 billion to the Build Indiana Fund.

Though Iowa hasn’t yet seen a Mega Millions jackpot winner, there have been plenty of millionaires made by Mega Millions, and other lotteries besides; the Iowa Lottery has given over $4.3 billion in prizes since its 1985 inception.

The Iowa Lottery takes special pride in its funding of veterans’ charities, through the Iowa Veteran’s Trust Fund. The Lottery has allocated over $2.5 million in funds annually since 2008, with the proceeds going to job training, tuition assistance, some medical assistance and counselling.

The Kansas Lottery was started up in November 1987, and has since paid nearly $3.3 billion to players – with an impressive $340 million paid out to retailers who sold winning tickets.

Kansas has had one Mega Millions jackpot winner to date; an anonymous player from Ottawa won $213 million before taxes, after being one of three tickets to win the $640 million jackpot on March 31st, 2012. Kansas is one of few states to allow lottery players to remain anonymous after winning.

The Kentucky Lottery has achieved a lot in its 30 years of operation. The Lottery has allocated 26% of ticket sale proceeds to funds and scholarship programs – amounting to nearly $5.2 billion. Of that money, $3.4 billion went into education: grants, scholarships, and educational assistance funding for college students.

There have been no jackpot winners of Mega Millions in Iowa to date, but that could change at any minute!

The Louisiana Lottery introduced Mega Millions relatively recently, offering the game from November 16th, 2011. There haven’t been any Mega Millions jackpot wins in the state since, though the Louisiana Lottery has paid out around $4.75 billion in prizes since it started in 1991.

Over a third of the Lottery’s proceeds go to the state treasury – since 2004, those funds have been destined to fund K-12 public education. Including an annual $500,000 donation to the Louisiana Department of Health for Behavioural Health, the lottery has given up to $3.5 billion since 1991.

The Maine Lottery was established in 1974 by state-wide referendum. Since then, it has given over $1.2 billion to the Maine State Government’s General Fund, and over $18 million to the Outdoor Heritage Fund, where crucial wildlife conservation projects are carried out.

It has also paid out more than $3.5 billion in prizes, including $1.35 billion to a single jackpot winner on January 13, 2023. It was the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in history, and the winning ticket was sold in the town of Lebanon.

There have been 11 Mega Millions jackpot winners in Maryland since Mega Millions began; Maryland was one of the first states to offer the lottery when it started in 2002. One of the winning tickets, sold in Baltimore County in 2012, won a one-third share in what was at the time the largest ever lottery jackpot in world history!

The Maryland Lottery has also given $16 billion in revenue to the State of Maryland since 1973, making it one of the United States’ largest contributors to state funds overall.

The Massachusetts Lottery pays out the highest percentage of its proceeds to players of all U.S. states, with 73 cents on every dollar going back to players. In 2018 alone, the Lottery paid out $3.89 billion in prizes. The Lottery only takes 1.9% of revenue for administration making it one of the lowest-cost state lotteries in the United States.

Massachusetts is home to three Mega Millions jackpot winners, one of whom was the largest ever single-ticket lottery winner at the time. Retired house cleaner and ex-marine Geraldine Williams won $294 million in 2004.

One of the Michigan Lottery’s core tenets is the funding of schools, with around 26% of ticket revenue going to the School Aid Fund. Since 1972, the Lottery has provided over $22 billion in profits to public education, in recent years raising as much as $941.3 million per year.

Plenty of Mega Millions jackpots have been won in Michigan since the start of the lottery in 2002, making Michigan one of the luckiest Mega Millions states in the country! The largest Mega Millions jackpot to come out of Michigan was $1.05 billion, won in its entirety by four members of the Wolverine FLL club. At the time it was only the second billion dollar jackpot to be won.

Minnesota joined the Mega Millions fold in January 2010, and is well overdue a jackpot win; only one Minnesotan has won the top prize from Mega Millions in over nine years.

The Minnesota Lottery has allocated over $3 billion to the state, with $1.2 billion going directly to funds benefitting nature and conservation. One of the more recent beneficiaries of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust fund was the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which is currently working to preserve the legacy of the North Star State’s native orchids. The rest of the $3 billion is split between the state’s General Fund and other state programs.

Mega Millions launched in the Magnolia State in January 2020 after many years of lobbying by supporters. One of the biggest benefits of playing in Mississippi is that winners can remain anonymous, even those who win the biggest Mega Millions jackpots. There is a state tax on prizes of up to 5%, which places it in the middle of the pack compared to its neighboring states.

The proceeds from Mega Millions ticket sales are used to fund the state’s roads and bridges, with any excess going towards public education.

The Missouri Lottery adopted Mega Millions in January 2010, and has had two jackpot winners in its nine-year run. Most recently, Shawnee resident Hira Singh won a $50 million jackpot to himself in March 2019.

Annual contributions from the Missouri Lottery make up nearly 4% of the state’s funding for public schools, in one case funding up to 89% of a residential program for children under the care of the Department of Mental Health. Overall, the Lottery’s contributions to its state total around $6 billion!

The Montana Lottery began in 1987, after a public referendum delivered a decisive vote on its creation. The Lottery began with a single $1 scratchcard called "Pot of Gold"; its first jackpot was won on the very first day it went on sale! Shirley Waldo of Billings won $10,000 on June 24th, 1987, kicking off an industry which would see Montanans win an average of $48,000 a day. Montana has been a participating state in Mega Millions since March 2010, though no notable winners have surfaced from the Treasure State as yet.

The Montana Lottery allocates money to a wide variety of funds and causes – most recently, to scholarships for students studying STEM subjects in Montana colleges and universities.

The Cornhusker State began its lottery in September 1993. It was 17 years later in 2010 that it introduced Mega Millions to its roster, though there have been no Mega Millions jackpot winners in the state so far.

The Nebraska Lottery allocates money to four distinct funds: The Nebraska Education Improvement Fund, the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund; the Nebraska State Fair; and the Compulsive Gamblers’ Assistance Fund. Since 1993, it has delivered nearly $730 million back to the people of Nebraska through these beneficiary funds.

New Hampshire has the distinct honour of being the first U.S. State to introduce a lottery in recent times. On March 10th, 1964, 198 out of 211 communities voted for the lottery, and tickets went on sale two days later.

Since then, the New Hampshire Lottery has raised over $2 billion for public education, at an average of 25 percent of ticket costs each year. An impressive 63% of ticket revenue is paid back to players in the form of prizes, amounting to nearly $4.4 billion – though the first Mega Millions jackpot winner in NH didn't happen until 2019.

New Jersey introduced Mega Millions in May 1999. Since then, the Garden State has been home to more than 20 Mega Millions jackpot winners! One of the most recent jackpot winners was the largest single-ticket win in New Jersey history; a $1.13 billion grand prize on March 26th, 2024. This smashed the state record of $533 million that was previously held by another Mega Millions player - food production manager Richard Wahl, who won in March 2024.

The New Jersey Lottery returns around 60 percent of its ticket sales to players on average, with over 20 percent allocated to state funds.

The New Mexico Lottery officially launched in 1996; since its launch, it has provided more than $807 million for education in New Mexico, with over 122,000 college students benefiting from the Legislative Lottery Scholarship.

New Mexico introduced Mega Millions to its lottery offerings in 2010, though it isn’t yet home to a Mega Millions jackpot winner. Could a Mega Millions jackpot soon be in store for the Land of Enchantment?

New York is home to the most Mega Millions lottery winners by state, by a long way – more than 40 players have claimed jackpots in The Empire State since Mega Millions began on May 17th, 2002. The largest Mega Millions win in NY to date was a $476 million payout that went to Johnnie Taylor in April 2023.

The New York Lottery has allocated all profits from ticket sales since 1967 to public schooling – an amount which comes to $64 billion. Aside from administrative fees, retail commissions and, of course, lottery prizes, lottery proceeds go nowhere else but K-12 public education.

The North Carolina Lottery is one of the United States’ youngest lotteries, starting out in late 2005. Since then, the Lottery has raised $5.5 billion for state education – with much of the funds going to school construction and to support staff salaries.

North Carolina introduced Mega Millions in January 2010, and had its first Mega Millions jackpot winner in May that year, when Mike Manheim won $12 million. He and his wife declared that they intended to go RVing with their windfall – a trip they promised they’d make if they ever won the lottery. They also said they’d "like for [the jackpot] to be bigger"…

The North Dakota Lottery was formed in 2004, after voter approval led to an amendment of the constitution in 2002. There are no single-state lotteries available in North Dakota; the games available to play through the Lottery are all part of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). There have been no Mega Millions winners of note since it was formally introduced in 2010, but in 2016 an anonymous winner from Williston won a $3 million 2nd-tier prize, by matching five numbers and bagging a 3x Megaplier.

The Lottery has no specific mission in mind with regard to philanthropy, instead entrusting its proceeds to the State General Fund.

Ohio was one of the first states to launch Mega Millions in 2002, and has since seen 19 citizens scoop a Mega Millions jackpot. The largest jackpot to be won in Ohio was $270 million, claimed on February 28th 2006 by the M & H Blind Trust. In Ohio, trusts can be formed to collect winnings on behalf of claimants, allowing jackpot winners to remain anonymous.

The Ohio Lottery’s mission is to fund K-12 public education services; its Lottery Profits Education Fund receive up to $1.1 billion from ticket sales each year, which go on to fund state primary and secondary schools.

The Oklahoma Lottery began in 2005, after a people’s vote in 2003. Since Oklahoma began participating in Mega Millions in 2010, there hasn’t been a Mega Millions jackpot winner.

The Oklahoma Lottery contributes nearly a third of its proceeds to education, its mission statement being "to maximise revenues for public education". The Lottery has given over $907 million since its 2005 beginnings; around $63 million a year is generated for the Oklahoma Education Fund. Nearly $13 million of that money goes to funding STEM education in K-12 programs, with the rest divided between schools across the state, and the teachers’ retirement fund.

Oregon introduced its lottery in November 1984, after a public vote. Since its beginnings, the Lottery has contributed over $11 billion to the state, making it the second-largest revenue provider. The money raised is allocated to broad causes outlined by the public. 58% of lottery proceeds from 2016 to 2018 have gone to public education, where 26% went to job creation across the board.

Mega Millions was introduced to Oregon in March 2010 – though no Oregonians have yet taken home the Mega Millions jackpot.

The Pennsylvania Lottery is one of America’s older lotteries, having been formed in 1971 – the first tickets were sold in March 1972. The Lottery’s mission is to fund services for older citizens in PA, from prescription assistance to rent rebates and beyond. Since starting out, the Lottery has contributed over $29 billion to these programs.

Mega Millions came to the Keystone State in January 2010 – one of 23 states to do so. Since that date, there have been multiple Mega Millions jackpot winners. Carl Szott was PA’s first Mega Millions winner, with a jackpot of $149 million in 2014; Steven Peloquin came 13 months later with a jackpot prize of $153 million.

Rhode Island was one of several states to pass a constitutional amendment in 1973, allowing the Rhode Island Lottery to begin sales in 1974. Though Rhode Island is the smallest state in the U.S., it has the second-highest population density, meaning its Lottery’s contributions to the State General Fund are generous: $6.9 billion overall, making it the largest voluntary source of income for the state.

Rhode Island is home to one Mega Millions jackpot-winning ticket. Father and son duo Eddy and Alejandro Trinidad won one half of a $42 million jackpot in October 2017, the other ticket holder winning from Michigan.

The South Carolina Education Lottery began in 2002, with the aim to "support improvements and enhancements for educational purposes and programs". Since 2002, $5.4 billion has been allocated to public education, with most of the proceeds going to higher education and scholarships.

South Carolina is also home to the second-largest ever single-ticket lottery win in history – a Mega Millions ticket, and the only Mega Millions jackpot ever won in South Carolina. An anonymous woman laid claim to a $1.53 billion jackpot over three months after the draw in October 2018. In a statement through her lawyer, Jason Kurland, she said she was aware of her "tremendous social responsibility", and named several charities who would be the first to benefit from her philanthropy.

The South Dakota Lottery began in 1987, after a 1986 constitutional amendment allowed for the creation of a state lottery. Since the Lottery’s formation, it has provided over $2.5 billion to the state – through the State General Fund, tax subsidies for eligible South Dakotans, and the Capital Construction Fund. The Capital Construction Fund allows local communities to construct rural waster systems and improve recycling and waste programs in their area.

South Dakota joined Mega Millions in May 2010; however, no jackpot winners have yet materialised in the Mount Rushmore State.

Tennessee’s lottery is one of the younger lotteries, having begun operations in 2004. The Lottery is run by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, or TELC, and has raised over $4.8 billion for education programs. Around 1.3 million students have benefitted from the Tennessee Lottery, thanks to scholarships and grants across the state.

Mega Millions was introduced by the TELC in January 2010, alongside 22 other states. Since then, there has had multiple Mega Millions jackpot winners, with Bettina "Tina" Still on January 11th 2014 claiing a $61 million Mega Millions jackpot with her son Jonathan, being the first.

The Texas Lottery was introduced in 1992, and has allocated over $29 billion to the state of Texas. Beneficiaries include public education via the Foundation School Fund, and Texas war veterans via the Texas Veterans’ Commission Fund.

Texas introduced Mega Millions in 2003, with double-digit jackpot winners coming forward in the state since then. The largest jackpot went to William R Keifer, of Katy. He won a $144 million jackpot in January 2010 and pledged to give 60% of his after-tax winnings to charity. Perhaps more memorable was a $49 million payout that went to an anonymous winner in Balch Springs. The jackpot size wasn’t particularly unusual, but the name of the trust used to keep the winner anonymous was bound to turn heads: the "It Will Buy Me a Boat" Revocable Trust.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Lottery (USVI) is the longest-running continuous lottery in U.S. history. It was established in 1937, and has been improving quality of life in the Virgin Islands ever since. Mega Millions joined the jurisdiction in October 2010, though no one from the Islands has yet claimed a jackpot.

The USVI splits its proceeds fairly evenly between some key causes; on average, $1.5 million a year is given each to the Pharmaceutical Assistance Program and to the Education Initiative Fund, benefitting public schools in the jurisdiction. Around $1 million a year is allocated to the GERS Retirees Bonus Program, and $650,000 a year is split between local non-profit organisations, the Office of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Horse Racing Commission.

The Vermont Lottery was established in October 1977 as an enterprise fund, voted for in a public referendum the previous year. It is one third of the Tri-State Lottery – the first multi-jurisdictional lottery, established in 1985 in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. The Tri-State Lottery is a separate entity to the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), though the MUSL is allowed to operate in all three states. Vermont joined the Mega Millions club in January 2010, and hasn’t seen a jackpot winner yet.

One hundred percent of the Vermont Lottery’s proceeds, after prizes, commissions and administration, are funnelled into the Vermont Education Fund. The most recent program to benefit is the Educate/Innovate Grant, wherein eligible schools further their digital learning capacity through technology.

The Virginia Lottery was voted into effect by the public in 1987, and has since raised over $9 billion for public schooling. The Lottery allocates an average of $1.6 million in funding per day to the State Lottery Proceeds Fund, which in turn funds K-12 public schools in Virginia. The Virginia government introduced a law requiring any unclaimed winnings to be paid into the Virginia Literary Fund, aiding educational services in the state. The fund has since received well over $275 million in unclaimed prize funds!

Virginia was introduced to Mega Millions in 2002, after its prior incarnation "The Big Game" underwent a rebrand. Since 2002, there have been nine Mega Millions jackpot winners in the state, the largest of which was $330 million, paid to two brothers from Buckingham County in 2012.

The state of Washington introduced its lottery, Washington’s Lottery, in 1982. It was the second lottery to be established in the West, after Arizona became the first in 1981. Since its introduction, Washington’s Lottery has paid out nearly $9 billion in winnings – an average of around 62% of ticket sales each year. The Washington Opportunities Pathway Account is the main beneficiary of the Lottery’s proceeds, which aid schools in the state.

The Evergreen State began offering Mega Millions in September 2002, and has minted multiple jackpot winners since. In January 2011, Jim and Carolyn McCullar together won a one half share in a $380 million Mega Millions jackpot – Jim reported he had to take his heart medication as his numbers were read out on the news! The other half of the jackpot went to an Idaho winner.

The District of Columbia Lottery & Charitable Games Control Board, or D.C. Lottery, was founded in 1982, and has since given over $1.5 billion in funding to the District of Columbia – money which benefitted schools, child services and infrastructure.

While Mega Millions hasn’t minted any jackpot winners in the District of Columbia, it has made many millionaires through its lower prize tiers. Perhaps the time is soon at hand for a D.C. jackpot winner! The D.C. Lottery as a whole gives out an average of $115 million in prizes each year!

The West Virginia Lottery came into being in 1984, after 67% of Virginia voters approved an amendment to the State Constitution. Virginia’s first lottery tickets were sold in 1986, attracting 1.5 million sales on day one! Mega Millions only came to West Virginia in 2010, but no jackpot winners have emerged from the state yet.

Since that first draw in 1986, the West Virginia Lottery has given over $1.1 billion in ticket proceeds to programs benefitting senior citizens, $1.1 billion to tourism and natural resources and $3.3 billion to funds benefitting schools and education.

Since the Wisconsin Lottery first began in 1988, it has devoted an average of 30% of ticket sales to funding for Property Tax Credits, subsidising the rental costs for thousands of Wisconsin homeowners. Nearly 57% of ticket revenue is paid straight back to players, in the form of winnings. In total, the Wisconsin Lottery has generated nearly $15 billion – only 7% of which was used for administration.

To date, there has been only one winner of the Mega Millions jackpot in Wisconsin when $119 million was won in Septemnber 2020.

Wyoming is home to the youngest lottery in the United States; it came into being on July 1st, 2013, and first sold tickets in late 2014 – over a year after Wyoming Governor Matt Mead authorized its creation. Scratchcards are still prohibited, making the Wyoming Lottery and the North Dakota Lottery the only lotteries not to offer them in the U.S.

Mega Millions was one of the first lotteries to be offered in the state, being available for purchase on day one of the Wyoming Lottery’s public operation. Though no one in Wyoming has yet laid claim to a Mega Millions jackpot, one lucky winner in Evanston pocketed $5,000,000 after matching five main numbers, with a Megaplier of x5!