Topline
The Mega Millions jackpot jumped to an estimated $1.05 billion for its next drawing on Tuesday, tying the lottery’s mark for its fourth-largest prize ever—-though the winner could receive less than half that amount after paying required taxes.
The Mega Millions jackpot hit $1 billion on Saturday.
Key Facts
The winning ticket holder—who faces odds of 1 in 302.6 million—has the option to receive the $1.05 billion in 30 annual payments over 29 years, or as an up-front lump sum of $527.9 million.
A 24% federal tax withholding would reduce the lump-sum jackpot to $401.2 million, and a federal marginal tax rate as high as 37%—depending on the winner’s taxable income—could cut the winnings down to $332.5 million.
Lottery winnings are also subject to taxes in several states, from as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($13.1 million) to as high as 10.9% in New York ($57.5 million), though some states—California, Florida and Texas, among others—don’t tax lottery winnings.
Five tickets won at least $1 million in Friday’s drawing, according to the lottery, including one ticket that won $5 million in Pennsylvania.
Surprising Fact
The jackpot is also tied for the seventh-largest ever, trailing a $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot won earlier this month. The largest jackpot ever was $2.04 billion, which was won in November.
Big Number
3,157,597. That’s how many winning tickets were sold for Friday’s drawing, according to the lottery. Of those, 14 won $50,000 and 78 won $10,000.
Key Background
Four other Mega Millions jackpots have eclipsed the $1 billion mark over the last five years, including another $1.05 billion prize won in 2021. Tuesday’s drawing trails a $1.33 billion jackpot won last year for the lottery’s third-largest prize ever, which is just behind a $1.34 jackpot won in January. The lottery’s largest prize ever was a $1.5 billion jackpot in 2018. A jump in record-breaking jackpots follows a decision by both the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries to increase the pool of white balls to choose from.
Further Reading
Here Are The Top Lottery Jackpots Of All Time—As Mega Millions Reaches $910 Million (Forbes)
