Powerball Jackpot Worth $1.09 Billion For Wednesday Drawing, Mega Millions Slowly Building Back Up

The streak of Powerball draws without a winner stands at 39, and millions of customers are hoping they hold the lucky ticket that prevents that number from reaching 40.

Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot stands at an estimated $1.09 billion, with a cash value of $527.3 million. If someone wins, it would be the ninth-biggest lottery jackpot claimed in U.S. history.

And if it goes unclaimed for a 40th time in a row, the prize will only climb higher, building massive anticipation for Saturday’s draw. 

After all, everyone wants to be as lucky as the player in New Jersey who won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions last Tuesday.

The Powerball drawing is scheduled for 10:50 p.m. ET, and ticket sales will remain open in most places until an hour or two before the draw time.

Tickets cost $2 (in some states, there’s a $1 option for the “Power Play” multiplier) and are sold in 45 states, plus Puerto, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.

The last Powerball jackpot to be claimed was back on Jan 1, with an annuity value of $842.4 million. A customer in Michigan had a perfect six-for-six ticket that netted them the grand prize.

Mega Millions goes unclaimed

There were no Mega Millions jackpot winners Tuesday night. The top prize is still up for grabs and is estimated to climb up to $67 million, with a lump-sum option of $31 million, Friday night.

Although it’s not an eye-popping amount like Powerball’s $1.09 billion since resetting to $20 million last week, it’s still life-changing money.

In Tuesday’s draw, not only did the jackpot go unclaimed, but there weren’t even any million-dollar winners matching all five white balls.

The biggest winners were the 10 people who matched four white balls and the gold Mega Ball for $10,000 — one of whom played the “Megaplier,” which turned out to be 3x, winning them $30,000.

All-Time Biggest Jackpots

As noted above, if there’s a winner, Wednesday’s $1.09 billion Powerball jackpot will be the ninth biggest score in U.S. history. Here’s the current all-time top 10:

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. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024, won in New Jersey
9. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California
10. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021, won in Michigan

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. $558.1 million, Powerball, July 19, 2023, won in California
10. $546.8 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021, won in Maryland