North Carolina Grandmother Rakes In Lottery Windfall

North Carolina grandmother wins lottery. THAT is a story that grabs my attention 100% of the time. It's often said, and it's true, that you never know what it's like to want to do for another until you become a parent. Your children's well-being and dreams are all consuming for you. I can only imagine what that feeling becomes when it doubles as you become a grandparent. And now, Jo Jones gets to live the dream of doing all she can for her kids and grandkids.

What did you do on Monday night? My night was not too dissimilar from Jo Jones'. I too stopped off at a convenience store on my way home. However, that's where our commonalities cease. Monday night, Ms. Jones, a resident of Robeson County, walked into Kwik Stop on U.S. 74 in Rowland. She floated out on a cloud. Jo had claimed a million-dollar prize in the North Carolina Education Lottery's "10 Million Spectacular" game. This ticket offers five prizes of $10 million, 20 prizes of $1 million and 20 prizes of $100,000. There are now just 11 $1million prizes remaining thanks to Jo Jones (there's still three major jackpots of $10 million, and 10 $100,000 prizes out there).

Now, back to the reason I love Jo Jones. She's a family gal. This grandmother of THIRTEEN wins a $1 million lottery jackpot and what is her first instinct? Jones tells WXII, "This still just feels unreal. I'm going to help my children," she said. "I'll help them in any way I can."

This is always my favorite part of any lottery-winning story: how does the winner choose to accept the windfall? Last week I wrote about Jalen McLean, the 18-year-old from Raleigh who became an instant lottery millionaire. As a young guy, he took the 20-year, $50,000 annuity option. At 18, this is not a bad idea. Jo Jones? She's like you and me. She took the lump sum payout of $600,000. After Uncle Sam and the Tar Heel State took their taste, Jo Jones got a direct deposit of $429,014 to help her family.

There are some states that are luckier than others. There is no doubt about it. North Carolina made the list of 15 lucky states in the United States, according to OLBG. Everyone has fantasized about winning the lottery, whether it's the Mega Millions or the Powerball. Whether you're planning a lavish vacation, buying a house, treating a loved one, giving to charity, or all of the above, when we buy a ticket we always have a little bit of hope and our imaginations go wild when we hear about the unclaimed winning ticket...

When it comes to winning big on the lottery, which states are the luckiest? To determine where in America has the greatest likelihood of winning the big bucks, OLBG analyzed all lottery winners in the U.S. with a jackpot of $300 million or more. You can see the top 15 states below.

California was ranked 12th luckiest state despite having the highest number of big lottery winners, primarily because the state has such a large population that there are very few lottery winners, and the average winning ticket for a California winner is only $190.5 million.

North Carolina has won a whopping $1.1 billion between both lottery winners, making its average winning ticket $550 million, the highest in the country. As a result of its higher population, North Carolina didn't quite capture the title by itself, with a lower percentage of its population winning than New Hampshire.

In terms of lottery jackpot winners, New Hampshire and North Carolina share the gold for the luckiest states. Residents in New Hampshire have won a total of $693.7 million, which is an average of $346.85 million per winning ticket. As one of the states with the highest percentage of people who have won over $300 million, New Hampshire has the third smallest population.