TRENTON (January 7, 2026) – In 2025, nearly 900 New Jersey Lottery players won prizes of at least $10,000 in 2025. Among those winners, more than 60 were prizes of at least $1 million. Discussions of big prizes in the Garden State is nothing new. What is new every year are the stories the players share about their experiences. With that in mind, the New Jersey Lottery reflects on 2025’s successes by not just looking at prize values or where the winners were, but on the stories behind the life-changing events.

Prizes Are Everywhere, and Evenly Distributed

Every one of New Jersey’s 21 counties had at least seven prize winners of at least $10,000. Visit this link to see total wins per county and the complete list of all winners. Bergen had the most with 118. Middlesex (98), Monmouth (90), Essex (78) and Ocean (70) round out the top five. Camden (41) had the most of South Jersey Counties ahead of Burlington (32) and Cumberland (18).

In total across the Garden State, there is roughly one prize winner of at least $10,000 for every 10,000 residents. By that measure, Warren County (population of roughly 109,000) is the best performing county with one winner for every 6,800 residents. Bergen (978,000) has a ratio of one winner for every 8,294 winners. Most counties have winners around the state average.

Anything Can Happen In New Jersey

The dollars and cents and locations of the prizes don’t tell the full story. The Lottery slogan “Anything Can Happen in Jersey” is not just a marketing gimmick. It is the reality for several Lottery players:

• Doing the Right Thing Pays Off: In April, a Warren County player went to the Phillipsburg Paul Mart with the intent of playing a Scratch-Off. Before purchasing tickets, the player saw a $100 bill on the store’s counter. “There’s a person at the ATM and two people waiting in line,” the player recalled. “I said ‘Did somebody leave this here?’” The player asked the store to put the money in lost and found. “Everybody’s saying, ‘just keep it.’ I feel that if you take something that’s not yours, you will never get your own. Everybody looked at me like I was nuts.” After obliging to the request, the clerk sold three Power 20X tickets to the player. One of the tickets was a $1 million prize. “I started crying and shaking. I just truly believe it was a test from God. If I had taken the money I would have left the store without the tickets.”
• A Million Dollars in a Drawer: In May, a Mercer County couple bought a few Mega Millions tickets on the last day of 2024 during a visit to a West Trenton store. After returning home, they set the ticket aside and didn’t think about it until May. “I was in the house and I just opened the drawer and I saw the tickets. I decided to get them checked,” the player said. “I scanned a ticket that said ‘winner.’” The player took the ticket back home, checked the ticket against the numbers on the Lottery website, and saw they had matched the five white balls. “I couldn’t believe it--$1 million?!?”
• Patience Pays Off: In June, an Essex County player was stuck in traffic. “There was a car stopped. I was just waiting. I honked. Rather than moving, (the driver) just sat there, and I could tell he was glaring at me. I did not want the drama, so I decided to pull into the 7-11 that was right there. I said to myself ‘Let me go get a lottery ticket.’” The Colossal Crossword Scratch-Off was worth $600,000.
• Half a Million in a Dumpster: In December, $590,000 was won in a Quick Draw game played at a West Deptford bar. The player had discarded the ticket, but got it back due to some detective work conducted by the bar owner. According to a Patch news site, the owner matched the time the ticket was purchased against security camera footage of the ticket being discarded. From there, the owner dug through his dumpster to find the ticket and return it to the owner.
• Once…Make That Twice…In a Lifetime: In November, an Ocean County Couple won a $3 million top prize in the Jersey Jackpot Scratch-Off Game. That once-in-a-lifetime event came just six months after the couple won the $1 million top prize in the $1,000,000 Ultimate Spectacular.

The Jackpot Winners

Huge jackpots capture the news headlines and players’ imaginations. And New Jersey has had plenty this year:

• Mega Millions Comes to Union City: In December, a Hudson County player captured the $90 million Mega Millions jackpot. It was 10th jackpot in either Powerball or Mega Millions won by a New Jersey player in the last eight years.
• A Good Year for the Pick-6: The venerable Pick-6 game has had four jackpots won in 2025. A $32 million prize won in January in Ocean County, a $22 million win in Hudson County in October, a $5.5 million prize won in March in Union County, and a $5.9 million prize won in May in Essex County.
• All In on Jersey Cash 5: The Jersey Cash 5 had 65 jackpots won in 2025 (nine were split among two players and one among three), with 13 players winning at least $1 million. The prize list includes a game record jackpot of $3.8 million split by two players in Camden and Monmouth counties in October and a $2.8 million jackpot hit in December by a Monmouth County player.
• Cashing In With Cash4Life: In 2025, the game was quite good to New Jersey Lottery Players. In May, a Union County player won the top prize, selecting the $7 million cash value. Six other players won big secondary prizes of $1 million each.
• Shout-Out to Scratch-Offs: Scratch-Off games remain top-sellers among New Jersey Lottery players. In June, a Union County player won the largest Scratch-Off prize in the New Jersey Lottery offerings, the top prize in the $5 million Fortune. In January, a Bergen County player won the $4 million top prize in the 200X Cash Blitz.

You Did Not Have to Win a Jackpot to Win Big.

There are only so many jackpots and top Scratch-Off prizes that can be won. But Garden State residents can still win big.

New Jersey Lottery players cashed in big with the multi-state Mega Millions and Power Ball games.

In 2025, 199 Powerball players won prizes of at least $50,000. Among Mega Millions players, 61 won prizes of at least $10,000. Among both games, not including the jackpot, 16 payers won prizes of at least $1 million.

Mega Millions players benefited from the game’s April rule changes, which allow player to receive free multipliers.

In June a Bergen County player saw their prize jump to $4 million from $1 million thanks to the multiplier and an Ocean County player saw their $1 million prize jump to $3 million.

More About the New Jersey Lottery

Since its inception in 1970, the Lottery has contributed nearly $34.7 billion to the State, helping to support many worthwhile programs and services. Lottery profits currently help bolster the public employee pension system under a 30-year agreement signed into law in 2017.