No big winner: Mega Millions jackpot grows to $825 million
(NEXSTAR) — The Mega Millions jackpot is still growing.
No one won big Tuesday night, with the grand prize growing to $825 million ($382.2 million if you take the cash option). A Match 5 plus Megaplier winner was drawn in North Carolina. Match 5 winners were drawn in California (2), Louisiana and Oklahoma.
The current jackpot has been brewing since September when a ticket sold in Texas landed an $800 million jackpot, the seventh-largest payout in the game’s history.
The last time a massive jackpot was up for grabs in the days before Christmas was in 2013 when tickets in California and Georgia split a $648 million prize.
That prize ranks as the tenth-largest in Mega Millions history. Today's jackpot is the seventh-largest.
- $1.602 billion: Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.537 billion: Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.348 billion: Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion: July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.128 billion: March 26, 2024; New Jersey
- $1.050 billion: Jan. 22, 2021; Michigan
- Est. $825million (Current jackpot)
- $800 million: Sept. 10, 2024; Texas
- $656 million: Mar. 30, 2012; Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland
- $648 million: Dec. 17, 2013; California and Georgia
The new total still doesn't crack the list of the largest jackpots in Mega Millions and Powerball history:
- $2.04 billion (Powerball): Nov. 7, 2022; California
- $1.76 billion (Powerball): Oct. 11, 2023; California
- $1.602 billion (Mega Millions): Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.586 billion (Powerball): Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.537 billion (Mega Millions): Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.348 billion (Mega Millions): Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion (Mega Millions): July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.326 billion (Powerball): April 6, 2024; Oregon
- $1.128 billion (Mega Millions): March 26, 2024; New Jersey
- $1.08 billion (Powerball): July 19, 2023; California
Regardless of where the Mega Millions jackpot ranks, a winner (or winners) will receive far less after taxes, depending on where they live.
Where you live will also impact how late you can purchase tickets, and whether you can buy them online.
Your odds of winning the jackpot are slim at 1 in 302,575,350. Odds of winning any prize while playing Mega Millions are much better, at 1 in 24.
Your odds of winning remain the same everywhere in the country, but New York and California have sold the most Mega Millions jackpot-winning tickets at 42 and 36, respectively, based on game data. Twenty states have yet to sell one.
Tickets cost $2, plus an additional $1 if you opt for the Megaplier (available in most participating jurisdictions). The next drawing will be held at 11 p.m. ET on Friday.