Middle school teacher says she can buy her dream car after winning $10 million on a $50 North Carolina scratch-off

A middle school teacher from Goldston, North Carolina has won the $10 million top prize on a $50 North Carolina scratch-off. According to the North Carolina Education Lottery, Jena Johnson bought the jackpot winning 500X The Cash ticket at the Murphy Express on New Chatham Road in Siler City and claimed the prize on Thursday, August 27.

Johnson has taught for more than 20 years and she told the lottery she has wanted a BMW convertible since she was 16, and that her daughter recently got engaged, so the win covers the wedding.

She won on the best ticket in the state

500X The Cash is the strongest active game in North Carolina by our numbers. It returns 82.4% of sales as prizes and rates 90.6 on our ValueScore™, ahead of all 85 other active games in the state. MAX-A-MILLION at $30 is second in North Carolina at 84.3.

The gap to the state average is wide. North Carolina's active games return 72.2% on average, so this ticket pays back 10.2 percentage points more than the other games on average. It also beats the national average for its price point, where the 70 active $50 games we track return 79.5%.

The game launched on January 30, 2026 with five $10 million top prizes and ten $250,000 prizes. Four of the $10 million prizes and seven of the $250,000 prizes are still unclaimed, and only 25.3% of the print run has sold, leaving about three quarters of the tickets unsold. Overall odds are 1 in 3.33.

The cash option or an annuity

Johnson had a choice at the claim center between $500,000 a year for 20 years ($10 million) and a lump sum of $6 million. She took the lump sum, which is 60% of the $10 million the game advertises.

The lottery withheld $1,679,386 in taxes and paid her $4,320,614. That withholding works out to 27.99%, combining the flat 24% federal rate on gambling prizes with North Carolina's 3.99% state income tax. On this lottery prize, she will owe an additional 13% to the IRS next April as the prize is in the top 37% federal tax rate, so that's an additional $737,000 more she owes.

Our lottery tax calculator runs the numbers for any prize in any state, how lottery winnings are taxed explains the mechanics, and lump sum vs annuity covers the choice she faced. Congratulations to Jena Johnson!

Sources

North Carolina Education Lottery: Chatham County mom can buy dream car with $10 million win