Topline
The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $740 million, the eighth-largest prize in the lottery’s history, after no winning tickets were drawn Friday night, though a lucky winner—facing one-in-302-million odds—could take home less than one-third of that amount after paying required taxes.
The prize is the eighth-largest in the lottery’s history.
Key Facts
The ticket holder who matches all five white balls and one “megaball” for the jackpot can select a payout over 30 annual installments or a one-time lump sum of $342.9 million.
A mandatory 24% federal tax withholding would reduce the winnings to $260.6 million, while a federal marginal rate as high as 37%—depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions—would cut the prize to $216 million.
Annual installments would pay an average of $15.5 million with a 37% federal rate.
Some states also tax lottery winnings, with rates as high as 10.9% in New York ($32.4 million) and as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($7.4 million), while other states like California or Texas don’t tax winnings.
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What To Watch For
Mega Millions’ next drawing is on Tuesday night. Powerball holds its next drawing Saturday night for a $45 million jackpot. That grand prize includes a $21 million lump sum option, which would be reduced to $15.9 million after a 24% mandatory tax withholding, or to $13.2 million with a federal marginal rate as high as 37%.
Surprising Fact
The jackpot is the eighth-largest in Mega Millions history. Six of the top seven grand prizes eclipsed $1 billion, including a $1.1 billion jackpot won in March. An $810 million prize, the seventh-largest in Mega Millions history, was won in September as the last winning drawing.
Big Number
1.2 million. That’s how many non-jackpot-winning tickets were drawn Friday night, including one ticket that won $3 million.
Key Background
More rule changes to the Mega Millions lottery will provide players with “bigger jackpots, better odds” and new rewards, the lottery announced in October. The changes include removing one of the “megaballs” from the draw, improving odds from one-in-25 to one-in-24, starting with a larger jackpot, implementing a “randomized” multiplier for non-jackpot-prizes and no break-even prizes, meaning a player could win at least $10 if they match a “megaball.” The Powerball lottery was last won on Dec. 7 by a ticket holder in New York. That draw included a grand prize of $256 million and a lump sum option of $123.5 million.
