Essex County Had 39 Big Lottery Wins In 2024, Officials Say

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Dozens of people scored big lottery wins in Essex County last year, which saw the fifth-highest total of prizes above $10,000 in the entire state.

The New Jersey Lottery said nearly 500 people across the state captured five-figure prizes in 2024. That total includes 39 wins in Essex County.

The most prizes above $10,000 were seen in Bergen County (54), Middlesex County (49), Hudson County (42) and Monmouth County (42).

Statewide, more than 50 players won prizes of $1 million or more last year.

“Among individual players, the Mega Millions player who walked into a Monmouth County ShopRite Liquor store on March 26 in Neptune and won an otherworldly $1.13 billion was the year’s highlight with an exclamation point,” lottery officials said.

For comparison’s sake, that’s almost twice the amount of the contract that Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets this month, officials said.

Another huge win came on June 10 when a Camden County player captured a $221 million Powerball prize on June 10 at the Preet Food Mart in Lindenwold.

In Essex County, some lottery wins this year have included:

• A $2 million Powerball ticket was sold for the Dec. 21 drawing at a deli and food mart in Nutley (read more here)
• A $1 million Powerball lottery ticket was sold in Newark for the Sept. 18 drawing (read more here)
• A pharmacy in Irvington sold a lottery ticket worth $514,889 for the Jersey Cash 5 drawing on Dec. 18 (read more here)
• A Jersey Cash 5 lottery ticket worth more than a half-million dollars was sold at the Essex Green ShopRite in West Orange for the March 11 drawing (read more here)
• A supermarket in Bloomfield sold a Powerball lottery ticket worth $50,000 for the Jan. 22 drawing (read more here)
• A convenience store in East Orange sold a winning Jersey Cash 5 ticket worth $270,502 for the drawing on Aug. 12 (read more here)

Other big wins across New Jersey in 2024 included:

Pick 6 – On March 28, two players – one in Monmouth County (Wawa #910 in Freehold) and the other in Morris County (Quick Check #162 in Butler) – evenly split the Pick-6 jackpot of $30 million. Pick-6 wins came again in May ($4.9 million at Morris County’s Mill Lane Tavern in Rockaway) and June ($3 million at Masonville News and Food Store in Mount Laurel in Burlington County)

Mega Millions – $4 million on July 23 at Laurel Market in Hazlet Township, Monmouth County

Powerball – $2 million on Feb. 28 at Smoker’s Outlet in Runnemede, Camden County; $2 million on Dec. 20 at Lucky & Deli in Nutley, Essex County; $2 million by a Bergen County player through Jackpot.com

Jersey Cash 5 – $2.44 million, Oct. 3 at Wilson Avenue Deli, Port Monmouth, Monmouth County

Scratch-Offs – $4 million in 200X Cash Blitz at Sunoco Food Mart in Elmer, Salem County

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.