The Powerball jackpot rose to $484 million—the biggest lottery prize of the year so far—after no tickets matched the six numbers drawn on Monday night, although the eventual winner will likely take home a much smaller amount after paying their taxes.
Powerball play tickets on display at Blue Bird Liquor in Hawthorne, CA.
The six numbers drawn on Monday night were 6, 23, 35, 36, 47 and red Powerball 12.
If a winner emerges in the next draw, they can choose between receiving the $484 million jackpot spread over 30 annualized payments or a one-time cash payout of $228.1 million—usually the popular choice.
If the lump sum prize is chosen, the winnings will drop to $173.35 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
The winner could then face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, depending on their taxable income, further slashing their winnings to $143.7 million.
If the winner goes the installment route, their annual payments of around $16.1 million would drop to $10.2 million, if the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
The winner could also face additional taxes depending on their state of residence, as some states like New York tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others like Texas, Florida, and California don’t.
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To win the jackpot a Powerball ticket buyer will need to overcome astronomical odds of 1-in-292.2 million. This, however, is slightly better than the even more abysmal 1-in-302.6 million odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot.
The next drawing for the Powerball lottery is set for Wednesday night. A draw for the Mega Millions jackpot is set to take place later on Tuesday night. A jackpot of $344 million is at stake in Tuesday night’s draw—putting it on track to be at least the second biggest prize of the year so far.
The biggest lottery prize of the year so far was a $328.5 million Powerball jackpot, won by a single-ticket buyer from Oregon. Last year’s biggest lottery prize—a Powerball jackpot worth $1.326 billion—was also won by an Oregon resident. Two other lottery prizes crossed the billion dollar mark last year—both Mega Millions jackpots worth $1.13 billion and $1.27 billion respectively.
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