Draw times, prices, prize tiers and the real odds of every Mega Millions prize, calculated from the game's numbers and checked against official sources.
As of November 2026, Mega Millions is drawn every Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 PM Eastern Time (ET). You pick 5 numbers from 1 to 70 and 1 Mega Ball from 1 to 24; a play costs $5, multiplier included. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 290,472,336.
| Draw days and time | Every Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 PM Eastern Time (ET)source: megamillions.com |
|---|---|
| Where the draw takes place | The draw takes place at the WSB-TV studio in Atlanta, Georgia.source: megamillions.com |
| Numbers to pick | 5 numbers (1–70) + 1 Mega Ball (1–24)source: megamillions.com |
| Price per play | $5, with a random 2x–10x prize multiplier included.source: megamillions.com |
| Prize tiers | 9 tiers. Every prize except the jackpot is fixed, from $5 to $1,000,000 before the multiplier.source: megamillions.com |
| Jackpot | Starts at $50 million and rolls over until won.source: megamillions.com |
| How the jackpot is paid | As an annuity of 30 payments over 29 years, or as a lower one-off cash value.source: megamillions.com |
| Where you can play | 45 US states, Washington, D.C. and the US Virgin Islandssource: megamillions.com |
| Minimum age | Set by each state: 18 in most, 19 in Nebraska, 21 in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi.source: Louisiana Lottery |
| Odds | Jackpot 1 in 290,472,336 · any prize 1 in 23.07source: megamillions.com |
| Facts last checked | November 2, 2026 |
Every Mega Millions prize except the jackpot is a fixed base amount, multiplied by the multiplier printed on your ticket.
| Match | Odds: 1 in | Base prize | With the multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + MB | 290,472,336 | Jackpot | — |
| 5 | 12,629,232 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 – $10,000,000 |
| 4 + MB | 893,761 | $10,000 | $20,000 – $100,000 |
| 4 | 38,859 | $500 | $1,000 – $5,000 |
| 3 + MB | 13,965 | $200 | $400 – $2,000 |
| 3 | 607.17 | $10 | $20 – $100 |
| 2 + MB | 665.00 | $10 | $20 – $100 |
| 1 + MB | 85.81 | $7 | $14 – $70 |
| MB | 35.17 | $5 | $10 – $50 |
MB = Mega Ball. Each play gets one multiplier at random (2x: 1 in 2.13, 3x: 1 in 3.2, 4x: 1 in 8, 5x: 1 in 16, and 10x: 1 in 32). It multiplies every prize except the jackpot. In California, prize amounts are pari-mutuel (they depend on sales and on the number of winners).
There are 290,472,336 possible Mega Millions lines (C(70, 5) × 24 = 12,103,014 × 24). Exactly one of them wins the jackpot, so each line has a 1 in 290,472,336 chance.
Adding up the winning lines of all 9 prize tiers, the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 23.07.
Playing one line in every draw (104 draws a year), you would win the jackpot on average once every 2.8 million years.
No strategy changes these odds, including the filters on this site: every combination is equally likely in every draw. Our tools help you decide how to pick, not what will be drawn.
Draw times for the week of November 13, 2026. The US and Europe change their clocks on different dates, so for a few weeks each spring and autumn the gap moves by one hour.
| City | Local day and time |
|---|---|
| New York | Friday and Tuesday · 11:00 PM |
| London / Lisbon | Saturday and Wednesday · 4:00 AM |
| Paris / Brussels / Madrid | Saturday and Wednesday · 5:00 AM |
| Johannesburg | Saturday and Wednesday · 6:00 AM |
Our statistics only count draws played with the current numbers, so a number that was added later is not ranked "cold" just for being younger. Mega Millions number statistics →
The biggest Mega Millions jackpot is $1.602 billion, won by a single ticket in Florida on August 8, 2023.source: megamillions.com
Advertised Mega Millions jackpots are amounts before federal and state taxes. Each state sets its own deadline to claim a prize, between 90 days and one year after the draw.source: megamillions.com
Mega Millions is drawn every Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 PM Eastern Time (ET). The draw takes place at the WSB-TV studio in Atlanta, Georgia.
A play costs $5, multiplier included.
Just one: matching the Mega Ball alone wins $5 times your multiplier, so $10 to $50 (odds 1 in 35.17). Without the Mega Ball you need at least 3 white balls.
It rolls over to the next draw and keeps growing until a ticket matches all 5 white balls and the Mega Ball.
Official Mega Millions tickets are sold only by the official lotteries where the game is played (45 US states, Washington, D.C. and the US Virgin Islands), in their shops or on their own websites. Bets on the result taken by bookmakers are not Mega Millions tickets.
1 in 290,472,336. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 23.07. No strategy changes these odds.
You must be 18 or over to play Mega Millions in most states (19 in Nebraska; 21 in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi). Only spend what you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, free and confidential help is available:
Every fact on this page comes from an official source (the game's own website, a national or state lottery, or a tax authority), checked on November 2, 2026. The odds are calculated from the game's numbers.
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