The jackpot is the top prize: match all five white balls and the Mega Ball and it's yours, or shared with anyone else who matched them. It starts at $50 million, grows every time nobody wins and has no cap. In August 2023 it reached a record $1.602 billion.
What the jackpot is
The jackpot is the prize for the first tier, 5 white balls + the Mega Ball. It's the only prize that rolls over: if no ticket matches all six numbers, the money set aside for it carries into the next drawing, and new ticket sales add to it.
It's also the only prize the multiplier doesn't touch. Every other tier pays a fixed amount times the multiplier on your ticket, as explained in Mega Millions prizes.
Starting at $50 million
Since April 2025, every new jackpot run starts at $50 million. When someone wins it, the next drawing goes back to $50 million and the cycle begins again.
It's the highest starting jackpot in the game's history. It was $12 million before the October 2013 changes, $15 million after them and $40 million from October 2017. In April 2020, with sales slowing during the pandemic, it was lowered to $20 million, where it stayed until the $5 game arrived. The whole story is in Mega Millions historical changes.
How it grows
Each drawing without a jackpot winner makes the next jackpot bigger, because a share of every ticket sold goes into the jackpot prize pool. The bigger the jackpot, the more people play, and the faster it grows: the jumps between drawings are much larger at $800 million than at $80 million.
There's no upper limit, so a jackpot can keep rolling for months. When it announced the $5 game, the Mega Millions consortium said it expected jackpots to grow faster and estimated that the average jackpot won would be more than $800 million.
How the advertised jackpot is estimated
The figure you see before a drawing is an estimate. The lotteries work it out from each state's sales forecasts and the rate on 30-year U.S. Treasuries, because the advertised amount is the value of the annuity bought with the money in the prize pool.
That's why the final jackpot can end up above or below the estimate: sales and interest rates can change up to drawing day. You'll always find the estimated jackpot for the next drawing on our home page, and the actual amounts in results.
Annuity or cash option
A jackpot winner chooses how to be paid:
- Annuity: the full advertised amount, paid as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments. Each payment is 5% bigger than the one before. If the winner dies before receiving them all, the rest go to their beneficiary or estate.
- Cash option: a single lump-sum payment equal to all the cash in the jackpot prize pool. It's much lower than the advertised figure. The record $1.602 billion jackpot, for example, had a cash value of $794.2 million.
When and how you choose depends on the state where you bought the ticket, and some states give you less time to take the cash than to claim the prize. In Florida, for example, you have 180 days to claim a Mega Millions prize, but only 60 days from the drawing to choose the lump sum.
When there's more than one winner
The jackpot is shared equally among all the tickets that match the six numbers, whatever state they were bought in. On March 30, 2012, for example, the $656 million jackpot, then the largest in the world, was split three ways between tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.
The biggest jackpots
Mega Millions has paid seven jackpots of more than $1 billion. The record is $1.602 billion, won in Florida on August 8, 2023, followed by $1.537 billion in South Carolina (2018), $1.348 billion in Maine (2023) and $1.337 billion in Illinois (2022). The full list is in the biggest Mega Millions jackpots.
What's left after taxes
Jackpots are taxable income. The lottery withholds 24% for federal taxes when it pays you, but a jackpot puts you in the top federal bracket, currently 37%, so you'll owe the difference when you file. Depending on the state, you may also owe state tax, which ranges from nothing to more than 10%. The details are in how to claim a Mega Millions prize.
If you win the jackpot
- Sign the back of the ticket and keep it somewhere safe. Take a photo of both sides.
- Don't post it anywhere and think carefully about who you tell.
- Talk to a financial advisor and a tax professional before deciding between the annuity and the cash option.
- Check your state's rules: the claim deadline, the deadline to choose the cash option and whether winners' names are made public.
- Contact your state lottery through its official website to arrange your claim.
Frequently asked questions
What is the starting Mega Millions jackpot?
$50 million. It's the amount every jackpot run starts from, including the drawing right after someone wins.
Is there a limit to how big the jackpot can get?
No. The Mega Millions jackpot has no cap and keeps growing until someone wins it. The record so far is $1.602 billion, in August 2023.
Why is the cash value so much lower than the advertised jackpot?
Because the advertised jackpot is the total of 30 annuity payments spread over 29 years. The cash option is the money actually in the prize pool today, which is roughly what it would cost to fund those payments.
Why doesn't the final jackpot match the estimate?
Because the estimate is based on sales forecasts and interest rates. The final amount depends on actual sales and rates, so it can be higher or lower.
Does the multiplier apply to the jackpot?
No. The multiplier on your ticket applies to every prize except the jackpot.
Last reviewed: . Independent information: official results are published by the lottery that runs the game.