The last Mega Millions jackpot offered in July will be a massive one, as the estimated prize for the next drawing on Friday, July 28, is a whopping $910 million ($464.2 million cash). The jackpot is on the verge of $1 billion, a level it has surpassed four times in the past, most recently last January.
The big prize rolls after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 3, 5, 6, 44 and 61, plus the gold Mega Ball 25. Friday’s drawing will be the 29th in this current roll, which began after the jackpot was last won in New York on April 18.
While everyone looks forward to the eventual jackpot win, we remind players that there are eight other prize tiers, so check your tickets! In the July 25 drawing alone, there were a total of 2,519,403 winning tickets at all prize levels. Two tickets matched all five white balls to win the game’s second-tier prize. One, sold in Texas, is worth $4 million because it included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 4X on Tuesday night. The other was sold in Maryland and wins the standard $1 million prize.
Across the country, 54 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Seven of those tickets are worth $40,000 each, because they also included the optional Megaplier. The other 47 win the standard $10,000 each.
Since the last jackpot was won on April 18, there have been a total of more than 23.2 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels, ranging from $2 up to $4 million. These include 41 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 20 different jurisdictions from coast to coast: California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, 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:
| Amount | Date | Winning Tickets |
| $1.537 billion | 10/23/2018 | 1-SC |
| $1.348 billion | 1/13/2023 | 1-ME |
| $1.337 billion | 7/29/2022 | 1-IL |
| $1.050 billion | 1/22/2021 | 1-MI |
| $910 million (est) | 7/28/2023 | ? |
| $656 million | 3/30/2012 | 3-IL, KS, MD |
| $648 million | 12/17/2013 | 2-CA, GA |
| $543 million | 7/24/2018 | 1-CA |
| $536 million | 7/8/2016 | 1-IN |
| $533 million | 3/30/2018 | 1-NJ |
