Mega Millions Jackpot Over $500 Million Mark For First Time Since Price Hike To $5

The billion-dollar and multi-billion-dollar jackpots promised or at least predicted when Mega Millions raised the cost of a ticket from $2 to $5 in April have not yet materialized.

But a half-billion-dollar jackpot is a solid step in that direction and, for Friday night’s drawing, Mega Millions is set to cross that barrier for the first time this year.

The estimated jackpot amount for Friday is $520 million, or $240.1 million as a lump-sum cash payout.

It’s been a slow, steady climb to this point since a customer in Virginia won the $348 million jackpot on June 27, causing it to reset to $50 million. Since then, there have been 27 rollovers — most recently Tuesday night, when the winning numbers were 4, 8, 27, 37, and 63, and a gold Mega Ball of 14. One player in California hit all five white balls and won $2 million, but nobody had a perfect 6-for-6 ticket.

That the jackpot has only increased a little over 10x in more than three months without a winner speaks to the fact that ticket sales have remained flat even as the jackpot has grown.

By Lottery Geeks’ calculations, over the last six drawings, estimated Mega Millions ticket sales have been 7.9 million, 7.9 million, 7.8 million, 7.3 million, 7.2 million, and on Tuesday 7.6 million.

This is not a fair comparison, of course, but when the Powerball jackpot reached $1.787 billion in September, estimated sales were over 250 million for a single drawing.

We’ll see if “jackpot fever” begins to kick in if and when the top prize nears $1 billion, but for now it is fair to say that the $5 price point has served as a deterrent to some portion of the Mega Millions customer base.

As Lottery Now Head of Operations Erik Swett recently told Lottery Geeks, the courier company tends to see sales begin to spike when jackpots reach $800-$900 million.

Powerball building back up

Since two customers split that enormous Powerball jackpot on Sept. 6, there have been 10 straight drawings without a winner, bringing the top prize to an estimated $174 million (cash value: $80.7 million) for Wednesday night.

In the most recent drawing, on Monday, with winning numbers 1, 3, 27, 60, and 65 and a red Powerball of 16, four players — in Florida, Illinois, New York, and Washington — hit the Match 5 for an even $1 million.

Tickets for Mega Millions cost $5, while 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