Topline
The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $619 million, the 10th-largest in its history after no winning tickets were drawn Friday night, while a lucky winner—facing one-in-302-million odds—could take home less than one-third of that amount after paying required taxes.
The prize is the 10th-largest in the lottery’s history.
Key Facts
A ticket holder that matches all five white balls and one “megaball” for the jackpot can choose between a payout over 30 annual installments or a one-time lump sum of $297.7 million.
That payout would be reduced to $226.2 million after a mandatory 24% federal tax withholding, but a federal marginal rate as high as 37%—depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions—could cut the winnings down to $187.5 million.
Annual installments would pay an average of $12.9 million with a 37% federal rate.
Lottery winnings are also subject to taxes in some states, with rates as high as 10.9% in New York ($32.4 million) and as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($7.4 million), though other states like California or Texas don’t tax winnings.
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What To Watch For
The next drawing for the Mega Millions jackpot is on Tuesday night. Powerball will hold its next drawing Saturday night for a $260 million jackpot. That grand prize includes a $125.5 million lump sum option, which would be reduced to $95.3 million after a 24% mandatory tax withholding or to $79 million with a federal marginal rate as high as 37%.
Surprising Fact
The jackpot is the 10th-largest in Mega Millions history. The fifth- ($1.1 billion) and seventh-largest ($810 million) were drawn this year in March and September, respectively.
Big Number
1 million. That’s how many non-jackpot-winning tickets were drawn Friday night, including four that won $20,000 prizes. Across the 25 drawings for the current jackpot, more than 15.3 million tickets have been sold and 38 have won $1 million prizes.
Key Background
A Mega Millions ticketholder from Texas won a $800 million jackpot, the second-largest prize won this year after a ticketholder in New Jersey won $1.1 billion in March. Mega Millions announced in October it would update its lottery to provide players with “bigger jackpots, better odds” and new rewards. The new changes include removing one of the “megaballs” from the drawn, improving odds from one-in-25 to one-in-24, starting with a larger jackpot, implementing a “randomized” multiplier for non-jackpot prizes and no break-even prizes, meaning if a player matches a “megaball” they would win at least $10.
