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Mega Millions Hits Close to Billion-Dollar Payout

March 20, 2024

Lucille Barilla

Have you purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket yet? It might be time to consider it, as the current payout is close to $1 billion.

Per the official lottery website, the estimated payout is $977 after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night. Those winner numbers were 24, 46, 49, 62, and 66. The gold Mega Ball was 7.

A winner in Friday’s drawing could take home a one-time lump sum of $461 million or an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.


According to the Associated Press, there have been nine lottery jackpots that have reached over $1 billion in the U.S. The highest lottery win ever was a Powerball hit on Nov. 8, 2022, worth $2.04 billion in California. On Oct. 11, 2023, a California winner won the second-highest prize of $1.765 billion.

A Mega Millions prize of $1.602 billion was won in Florida on Aug. 8, 2023. In fourth place was a jackpot of $1.586 billion, where three winners hit on tickets purchased in California, Florida, and Tennessee on Jan. 13, 2016.

Fifth place went to a lucky South Carolina Mega Millions winner of $1.537 billion on Oct. 23, 2018. In sixth is a Maine jackpot winner who took home $1.348 billion.


Seventh place belongs to a Mega Millions winner from Illinois, who, on July 29, 2022, won $1.337 billion. This was followed by a $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot winner in California on July 19, 2023, and a $1.05 billion Mega Millions winner from Michigan whose lottery dream came true on Jan. 22, 2021.

Wrapping up the current top 10 biggest jackpots in the U.S. is the lowest prize, but still a significant win. A Powerball ticket purchased in Michigan was worth $842.4 million on Jan. 1, 2024. However, once someone wins the current Mega Millions jackpot, it will join the top 10.

The lottery website explains how the game is played. It reads, “Five white balls are drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 through 70; one gold Mega Ball is drawn from a set of balls numbered 1 through 25. You win if the numbers on one row of your ticket match the numbers of the balls drawn on that date. There are nine ways to win a prize, from $2 to the jackpot. If no one wins the jackpot, the money is added to the jackpot for the next drawing. Overall chances of winning a prize are 1 in 24.”

Mega Millions drawings are weekly. They are held on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. EST. 

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