While the $1.7 billion Powerball jackpot continues to climb, the third largest in U.S. history, a $1 million ticket was sold in Aurora on Wednesday.

Consisting of five matching numbers, the $1 million ticket was sold at Joe’s Tobacco & Vape, 1945 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora. On the same day, a $50,000 ticket, matching four numbers, was sold down the street at the BP Gas & Food at 2200 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora.

A $50,000 winning ticket also was purchased at a Rock Falls convenience store.

The next drawing for the $1.7 billion Powerball jackpot is on Saturday night, Sept. 6.

The Powerball sweepstakes began on June 2. Since then, more than 1.3 million winning tickets have been sold, and Illinois Lottery players have won nearly $15.7 million in prizes, according to a release by the Illinois Lottery.

Retailers who sell winning tickets receive 1% of the prize money on any winning ticket.

People statewide spent around $3.86 billion on the lottery in 2024. Their ticket-buying habits resulted in $883.6 million in proceeds being distributed.

Since the Powerball jackpot run beginning June 2, the lottery has netted $73.8 million in ticket sales. The Illinois Lottery is returning nearly $29.5 million to the Common School Fund to support K-12 education across the state, according to the release.

According to the Illinois Association of School Boards, the lottery generated $762 million for public schools in fiscal 2021. That’s about 5.3% of the state’s $14 billion in total contributions to public education. The vast majority of the $45.6 billion spent on public education in that same year was generated from local property taxes.

The Illinois Answers Project reported that, “lottery revenues earmarked for education are used to offset money the state used to spend on education, most of which is now spent elsewhere.”