Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches Its Highest Value In Five Months

We’re beginning to enter into rarefied air with the size of the Mega Millions jackpot.

For Tuesday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot is $575 million (cash option: $285.5 million). And it may go up; last Friday’s jackpot was initially estimated at $527 million before that was elevated on the day of the drawing to $535 million.

If won at $575 million Tuesday, this would be the ninth-largest Mega Millions score in the 22-year history of the game.

It’s the highest the jackpot has gotten in five months, since someone in New Jersey won $1.13 billion on March 26. And it’s the richest either the Mega Millions or Powerball grand prize has become since April 6, when the Powerball jackpot hit for $1.326 billion in Oregon.

Winless streak growing, sales growing

In Friday’s drawing for a potential $535 million, the winning numbers were 28, 30, 44, 66, and 69, with a gold Mega Ball of 2. One player in Tennessee matched all five white balls and played the Megaplier — which was 3x — to earn a pre-tax prize of $3 million. Another ticket sold in Texas matched all five white balls without the Megaplier and won $1 million.

But nobody went six-for-six, the 23rd Mega Millions drawing in a row to roll over because the jackpot was not claimed.

By Lottery Geeks’ estimates, 24.6 million tickets were sold for Friday’s drawing, the highest estimated sales figure of this 23-draw run. (That’s no surprise, as growing jackpots bring in growing numbers of ticket purchases, and Friday drawings typically attract more business than Tuesday draws.)

Size matters

Powerball, meanwhile, has been overshadowed due to a surprising frequency of wins this year and a far smaller jackpot amount.

On Saturday, for an estimated jackpot of $35 million, the winning numbers were 5, 15, 21, 24, and 43, with a red Powerball of 17. Nobody hit the grand prize, but two players — one in Washington state and one in Michigan — matched all five white balls and won $1 million each.

Lottery Geeks estimates about 10.8 million tickets were purchased for the Saturday Powerball.

Powerball draws again Monday night, with an estimated jackpot of $44 million (cash value: $21.9 million). This was the exact size of the jackpot one week ago when a player in California won.

Tickets for either Mega Millions or Powerball cost $2, with the option in most states to play the Megaplier or Power Play multiplier for an extra $1.

Both lotteries are available in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Tickets are also sold in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and — for Powerball only — Puerto Rico.

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. $1.76 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
3. $1.6 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
4. $1.59 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016, won in California, Florida, and Tennessee
5. $1.54 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018, won in South Carolina
6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
7. $1.34 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
8. $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California

And 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. $794.2 million, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023, won in Florida
5. $780.5 million, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, won in Illinois
6. $776.6 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan
7. $774.1 million, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023, won in California
8. $723.5 million, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023, won in Maine
9. $621 million, Powerball, April 6, 2024, won in Oregon
10. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California