167 Lottery Prizes Worth $1 Million or More Go Unclaimed Every Year. Here’s Where the Money Goes

Some of the biggest lottery misses in the US are not bad odds, they are forgotten paperwork. In fiscal 2017 alone, lottery-data researcher Jacobson counted 167 prizes worth $1 million or more that expired unclaimed, part of $2.89 billion in unclaimed winnings nationwide in the 12 months ending June 2017. The most extreme case is still the $77.1 million Powerball ticket bought on 6/29/2011 at a Pilot Travel Center in Tallapoosa, Georgia, whose owner never showed up before the state’s 180-day deadline and the ticket expired in 12/2011. Jacobson points to a mundane driver: “People don’t even realize there are secondary prizes,” while California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker says, “In the last 5 to 10 years it’s averaged $40 and 50 million a year” in unclaimed prizes in that state.

Millions left on the table, hiding in plain sight

Every so often, the data tells a story that feels less like finance and more like human nature. In fiscal 2017, lottery-data researcher Jacobson counted 167 prizes worth $1 million or more that were never claimed, pulling figures from every state lottery commission. In the 12 months ending June 2017, his dataset also put total unclaimed winnings at $2.89 billion.

It is a big number, but it sits inside an even bigger machine: US lottery sales exceeded $113 billion in fiscal year 2024. ScratchCheck estimates unclaimed prizes tend to run at about 1% of annual lottery revenue, meaning more than $1 billion in winnings can quietly expire in a typical year.

The biggest misses: when jackpots simply vanish

The largest known unclaimed jackpot on record is the one that still makes lottery officials wince. A $77.1 million Powerball ticket was bought on June 29, 2011 at the Pilot Travel Center in Tallapoosa, Georgia, and nobody came forward before the state’s 180-day claim window closed; it expired in December 2011, per ScratchCheck.

History has other sharp examples. A $51.7 million Powerball jackpot from a ticket sold near the Indianapolis International Airport in September 2002 went unclaimed, the first time since Powerball’s 1992 launch that a jackpot expired; it was half of a $103 million jackpot, with the other half claimed in Pennsylvania. Mega Millions has its own cautionary tale: a $68 million ticket bought in Queens for the December 24, 2002 drawing went unclaimed, and a man named Fritzner Bechette later sued the New York State Lottery and lost.

Why it happens: “no jackpot” often reads as “no win”

Jacobson’s explanation is surprisingly simple: people often miss the smaller tiers. “People don’t even realize there are secondary prizes,” he said, and those secondary prizes can run into thousands or even millions even when the jackpot is missed.

The other common cause is mundane, and that might be the point. Tickets get lost in pockets and junk drawers, including a Massachusetts woman who found a $100,000 Mass Cash winner just before it expired. The money was always there, waiting on a routine check.

Where the money goes next: states, schools, and rules

Expired winnings do not evaporate, they get routed. For multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions, unclaimed jackpots are returned to participating states based on each state’s share of ticket sales during that jackpot run, while unclaimed non-jackpot prizes stay with the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold.

California is a vivid case study: spokesperson Carolyn Becker said, “In the last 5 to 10 years it’s averaged $40 and 50 million a year,” and the state’s longer-term reporting pegs the average at about $46.8 million in unclaimed prize money annually, with $75.4 million unclaimed in fiscal 2019-2020 and $19.5 million the following year. In California, unclaimed prizes are directed to public schools, and over the lottery’s history that stream has totaled roughly $1.1 billion.