With Mega Millions Jackpot At $900M, Sales Are Beginning To Soar

This is the sort of lottery momentum that was promised when Mega Millions shifted its price point from $2 to $5 in April.

The estimated jackpot sits at an even $900 million for Tuesday night, the eighth highest in the 23-year history of Mega Millions, with a lump-sum cash option of $415.3 million if some lucky customer snaps the streak of 38 consecutive rollovers and wins the top prize.

Sales figures were slow to gather steam early in the run, but over the last couple of weeks, “jackpot fever” has clearly been kicking in. Here are Lottery Geeks’ estimated ticket sales for each of the last five drawings:

• Oct. 24: 11 million
• Oct. 28: 11.5 million
• Oct. 31: 12.8 million
• Nov. 4: 13.9 million
• Nov. 7: 15.8 million

The exponential growth can most clearly be seen when looking at the percentage increases. Between the Oct. 24 and 28 drawings, sales rose by 4.5%. Between the Nov. 4 and 7 drawings, the increase was 13.7%.

The jackpot size went from $800 million last Tuesday to $900 million one week later, meaning two more rollovers would almost definitely push the top prize beyond $1 billion next Tuesday — and there’s an even an outside chance it gets to $1 billion after one more rollover for this Friday’s drawing.

More numbers, latest results

Over the course of this run, since the jackpot was last claimed on June 27 by a player in Virginia, there has been nearly $288 million awarded across all prize levels. Included among those winners are 17 second-tier prizes of $2 million or more, one of which came with the maximum 10x multiplier, making it worth $10 million (sold in California).

For the most recent drawing, last Friday, with winning numbers of 16, 21, 23, 48, 70, and gold Mega Ball 5, there were no Match 5 winners. The largest prize awarded was $100,000 to a customer who hit four white balls and the Mega Ball with the 10x multiplier.

Powerball, meanwhile, is on a noteworthy rollover run of its own, even if it’s not getting nearly the attention of Mega Millions.

Monday’s drawing, for an estimated top prize of $492 million, did not deliver any jackpot winners or million-dollar Match 5s on drawn numbers of 6, 28, 44, 48, 58, and red Powerball 23. That was the 28th straight drawing without a jackpot winner since the near-record Sept. 6 smash for almost $1.79 billion, split evenly between a winner in Texas and another in Missouri.

That latest rollover brings the estimated top prize for Wednesday night to $512 million, with a cash value of $239.1 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 is 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