(NEXSTAR) – Since Powerball first began in 1992, the jackpot has been hit hundreds of times – in some states, over a dozen times, while others haven’t ever sold a jackpot-winning ticket.
When Powerball began, there were 14 participating states, as well as the District of Columbia. Since then, 30 more states have joined the game. Wyoming is the newest member after it began selling Powerball (and Mega Millions) in 2014.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also participate in Powerball. There are five states that don’t: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.
With the exception of the five states that do not participate, there are four states in which a Powerball jackpot has never been hit: Maine, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
According to Powerball records dating back to 2003, there are also a handful of states that have only had one jackpot-winning ticket purchased there: Arkansas, Montana, Virginia and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
More jackpot-winning tickets have been sold in Pennsylvania than in any other state, Powerball records show. A total of 18 winners have been recorded in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the most recent jackpot in early August worth $122.4 million.
Though it’s home to the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history – a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot hit in November 2022 – California has sold only the third-most grand prize-winning tickets, tying with Indiana and New York.
Here are the states where the most Powerball jackpots have been hit:
- Pennsylvania: 18
- Florida: 16
- California, Indiana and New York: 12
- Missouri and New Jersey: 11
- Louisiana: 10
Below is an interactive map showing how many winning Powerball jackpot tickets have been sold in each state:
The five most recent jackpot-winning tickets were sold in Virginia, Washington, Kansas, California, and Pennsylvania. That doesn’t necessarily mean a winner can’t hail from one of those states again — in 2008, for example, Pennsylvania had back-to-back jackpot winners.
If you’re lucky enough to win the jackpot, you can receive your pot as an annuity (30 graduated payments over 29 years) or as a lump sum.
Your odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 24.9, while your odds at the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
Tickets are $2 per play, and drawings occur every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
