Winning big Mega Millions prizes is difficult. So how many Floridians have done it?

Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read
4

Earlier this month, a $1.58 billion Mega Millions ticket sold in Neptune Beach, Florida, became the biggest win ever in the lottery’s history.

What were the odds of winning the jackpot? One in 302,575,350.

For comparison, you are more likely to get struck by lightning (1 in 15,300), be killed by a shark (1 in 4.3 million) or get hit by a meteorite (1 in 1.6 million).

But the Mega Millions jackpot – which requires your numbers to match all six of the drawing’s numbers – isn’t the only money prize players can win. Matching any of the drawing’s numbers will earn you some amount, even if it's just the $2 spent to play in the first place.

That's why there have been approximately 72 million winning tickets in Florida since the state joined Mega Millions in 2013. But practically all these tickets have earned less than $600, according to Florida Lottery officials. The lottery only maintains data on prizes of $600 and above.

The odds of winning Mega Millions? You have a better chance of dying in shark attack

So what are the chances that you will win more than $600 in Mega Millions? How many Floridians have done it? How many have won in Volusia and Flagler counties?

Here is what we know:

How many Floridians have won big Mega Millions prizes?

To win the jackpot, players must match all six numbers from the drawing, including the “Mega Ball” number (which is a number between 1 and 25).

But there are other cash amounts players can win from their Mega Millions tickets:

  • $1 million – requires five matching numbers.

  • $10,000 – requires four matching numbers and the “Mega Ball.”

  • $500 – requires four matching numbers.

  • $200 – requires three matching numbers and the “Mega Ball.”

  • $10 – requires two matching numbers, plus another matching number or the “Mega Ball.”

  • $4 – requires one matching number and the “Mega Ball.”

  • $2 – requires the “Mega Ball.”

In what further illustrates how difficult it is to win the jackpot or the next two prizes, only 16,791 out of about 72 million tickets in Florida won more than $600 in Mega Millions.

Why are these number so different? The chances of a $10,000 win is 1 in 931,001, while the chances for the next prize, $500, are 1 in 38,792, according to the lottery.

The chances of a ticket winning $1 million are 1 in 12,607,306.

How many Mega Millions tickets have won in Volusia and Flagler?

According to numbers provided to The News-Journal from the Florida Lottery, more $600 and above winning tickets have been recorded in Volusia County than in Flagler County: 432 in Volusia and 96 in Flagler.

Out of the almost 16,800 wins in the state, some counties have thousands of winning tickets, while others have yet to win their first one.

Some of the counties with most wins include:

  • Miami-Dade – 2,505.

  • Broward – 1,714.

  • Palm Beach – 1,185.

  • Orange – 996.

  • Hillsborough – 966.

Several other counties are in the lower end of the rankings, with some even yet to have their first win: Lafayette and Liberty counties.

Florida Lottery win: Flagler County man wins big from Florida Lottery scratch-off $1 million a Year for Life

Others with few wins include:

  • Calhoun – 3.

  • Union – 3.

  • Gilchrist – 4.

  • Bradford – 5.

  • Franklin – 5.

The next estimated Mega Millions jackpot is $36 million. For information, visit megamillions.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mega Millions wins in Florida: How many local residents have won big?