Mega Millions Jackpot Cracks All-Time Top 10 At $650 Million

Closing in on four months since the last drawing that produced a jackpot winner, Mega Millions has broken into the all-time top 10 for the size of its grand prize, with an estimated $650 million at stake if some lottery player goes a perfect six-for-six in Tuesday’s drawing.

There’s actually a chance the jackpot could ascend to ninth on the all-time list, as $650 million is only an estimate for now, and the No. 9 spot is held by a $656 million jackpot won in 2012.

The trend lines of ticket sales do support the possibility that the estimate will prove a bit low.

After some 8.78 million tickets were purchased for the Oct. 10 drawing (by Lottery Geeks’ estimates), that number rose to 9.23 million for Oct. 14 and 9.59 million for the most recent Mega Millions drawing last Friday night.

If the Tuesday drawing ends up with significantly more than 10 million tickets sold, there’s every reason to think the final jackpot amount could exceed the current estimate of $650 million (with a lump-sum cash option of $304.1 million).

For last Friday’s drawing — when the winning numbers were 9, 21, 27, 48, 56, and gold Mega Ball 10 — the estimated jackpot was $625 million, and there were no grand prize winners nor even any Match 5 winners. The largest payout awarded before taxes was $100,000 for a ticket sold in California that matched four white balls and the Mega Ball and hit the maximum multiplier of 10x.

That was the 32nd consecutive rollover since the Mega Millions jackpot hit on June 27 in Virginia.

Powerball puffing up

The Powerball jackpot isn’t as large as Mega Millions, nor is the dry streak as long, but with three drawings a week compared to Mega Millions’ two, it’s closing in on both fronts.

Nobody won Monday night’s drawing for an estimated $305 million — though three players, all in New York state, hit the Match 5 for an even $1 million — leading to a Wednesday jackpot of an estimated $320 million (cash prize: $152.2 million).

So Powerball now stands at almost exactly half what Mega Millions has available up top.

The Powerball jackpot was last won on Sept. 6 when it was worth a near-record $1.787 billion. The pot-splitting winners in Missouri and Texas have claimed their prizes anonymously.

Since then, there have been 19 straight drawings without a grand prize winner.

The most recent drawing attracted ticket sales of approximately 9.88 million.

Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5, and Powerball tickets cost $2. Most states offer the multiplier option for Powerball, which impacts any prize won except the jackpot, for an additional $1. Mega Millions comes with an automatic multiplier for any prize except the jackpot.

Both Powerball and Mega Millions are legal in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets for both draw games are also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, customers can buy tickets for Powerball, but not for Mega Millions.

All-time biggest jackpots

Here is a list of the all-time top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $1.79 billion, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
3. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
4. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
6. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
7. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
8. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
9. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $1.22 billion, Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, won in California

Here’s the all-time top 10 by lump-sum cash value:

1. $997.6 million, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022, won in California
2. $983.5 million, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
3. $877.8 million, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
4. $820.6 million, Powerball, Sept. 6, 2025, won in Missouri and Texas
5. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
6. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
7. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
8. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
9. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
10. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon