Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches $1 Billion For Christmas Eve Drawing—Here’s How Much The Winner Could Take Home After Taxes

Topline

The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $1 billion for a drawing on Christmas Eve, marking the seventh-largest prize in Mega Millions’ history, though a lucky winner—facing one-in-302-million odds—taking the lump sum would take home less than one-third of that amount after paying required taxes.

Key Facts

A ticket holder matching all five white balls and one “megaball” for the jackpot can select a payout over 30 annual installments or a one-time lump sum of $448.8 million.

The lump sum would be reduced to $341 million after a mandatory 24% federal tax withholding, while a federal marginal rate as high as 37%—depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions—would cut the prize to $282.7 million.

Annual installments would pay an average of $21 million with a 37% federal rate.

Some states tax lottery winnings, including rates as high as 10.9% in New York ($48.9 million) and as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($11.2 million), though other states like California and Texas don’t tax winnings.

What To Watch For

The next Mega Millions drawing after Tuesday’s will be held Friday night. Powerball will hold its next drawing Wednesday night for a $117 million jackpot. That grand prize includes a $53.4 million lump sum option that would be reduced to $40.5 million after a 24% mandatory tax withholding or to $33.6 million with a federal marginal rate as high as 37%.

Surprising Fact

The jackpot is the seventh-largest prize in Mega Millions history, trailing six other jackpots that also eclipsed $1 billion. One of the top prizes—a $1.1 billion jackpot—was won in March, while two were won last year, including the largest-ever jackpot of $1.6 billion. The Mega Millions jackpot has only been won once on Christmas Eve, though the $68 million prize in 2002—the lottery’s first year—eventually went unclaimed, according to the lottery.

Big Number

2 million. That’s how many non-jackpot-winning tickets were drawn last Friday night (the most recent drawing), including five tickets that matched all five white balls to win $1 million.

Key Background

Mega Millions announced rule changes to the lottery in October that it said would provide players with “bigger jackpots, better odds” and new rewards. One of the “megaballs” was removed from the draw as part of the changes, improving odds for matching it from one-in-25 to one-in-24. The lottery also starts with a larger jackpot, implemented a “randomized” multiplier for non-jackpot-prizes and eliminated break-even prizes, meaning a player now wins at least $10 if they match a “megaball.”

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