Mega Millions® Jackpot Hits Top Five Territory

RELEASE DATE: 7/19/2023

Just four previous times in Mega Millions® history has the jackpot surpassed the $700 million mark. All four times the rolls continued, taking those jackpots past $1 billion. Will it happen again as the jackpot reaches an estimated $720 million ($369.6 million cash) for the next drawing on Friday, July 21?

Only time will tell, but for now the jackpot run continues after no ticket matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing – the white balls 19, 22, 31, 37 and 54, plus the gold Mega Ball 18. Friday’s drawing will be the 27th in this current roll, which began after the jackpot was last won in New York on April 18.

As the jackpot grows, so does the number of winning tickets at all other prize levels. In the July 18 drawing alone, there were a total of 2,302,375 winning tickets across the prize tiers. Eight tickets matched all five white balls to win the game’s second-tier prize. One of them, sold in Maryland, included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase). With the 4X Megaplier drawn Tuesday night, that Maryland ticket is worth $4 million. Another Maryland ticket won the standard $1 million second-tier prize, as did tickets sold in Florida, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island, plus two in California.

Across the country, 46 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Eight of those tickets are worth $40,000 each, because they also included the optional Megaplier; the other 38 win the standard $10,000 each.

Since the last jackpot was won on April 18, there have been a total of more than 18.2 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels, ranging from $2 up to $4 million. These include 31 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 18 different jurisdictions from coast to coast: California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

This year started out with six jackpot winners in less than four months – a number far more typical of a full year! The first was a big one – $1.348 billion won in Maine on January 13, the second-largest prize awarded in Mega Millions history. That was followed by three quick wins. The very next drawing, on January 17, produced a $20 million win in New York. Two drawings later, $33 million was won in Massachusetts on January 24, and just two drawings after that, Massachusetts repeated with another jackpot win, this time at $31 million. Then came two more wins in New York, at $483 million on April 14 followed by $20 million on April 18. That was the first time in Mega Millions history that two jackpots have been won in the same state in consecutive drawings.

See the complete Mega Millions jackpot history.

Mega Millions is the only lottery game that has awarded four jackpots exceeding $1 billion – one each in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each; in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.

Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold, where the money supports designated good causes and retailer commissions.

The top Mega Millions jackpots to date: