Topline
The Powerball jackpot shot up to $1.3 billion—the biggest lottery prize since April 2024—after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Monday night, although the eventual winner will likely take home a much smaller payout after paying their taxes.
The six numbers drawn on Monday night were 8, 23, 25, 40, 53, and red Powerball 5.
If a winner emerges in the next draw, they can choose between taking the $1.3 billion prize spread over 30 annualized payments or a one-time lump sum cash payout of $589 million—the preferred choice for most winners.
If the lump sum payment is chosen, the winnings will drop to around $447.6 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
Depending on their taxable income, the winner could face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, which would further reduce their winnings to $371 million.
If the winner chooses the installment route, their annual payments of around $43.3 million would drop to $27.3 million if the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
The winner may also face additional taxes based on their state of residence, as some, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at a rate of 10.9%, while others, including Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
To win the jackpot, a Powerball ticket buyer will have to overcome astronomical odds of 1 in 292.2 million. This is slightly worse than the Mega Millions jackpot, which has odds of 1 in 290.4 million. The Mega Millions used to have even worse odds than the Powerball lottery, but the competition implemented significant changes earlier this year that slightly improved the odds of winning both the jackpot and smaller prizes.
The next draw for the Powerball jackpot will take place on Wednesday night, and if a winner fails to emerge once again, the jackpot prize will likely eclipse the biggest one of 2024. The next drawing for the Mega Millions lottery is scheduled for Tuesday, and the current jackpot amount stands at $302 million.
The eventual winner of the Powerball jackpot will claim the biggest lottery prize of the year so far, beating out the $526.5 million prize won by a Powerball ticket buyer from California in March. They will also take home the largest jackpot since April last year, when a ticket buyer from Oregon won a $1.326 billion prize.