The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.1 billion ahead of tonight’s drawing.
The massive jackpot is the third-largest Mega Millions prize, and the fifth-largest lottery prize of any kind, in U.S. history.
The longer no one wins the top prize, of course, it keeps getting larger.
The last time someone overcame the odds of 1 in 302.6 million and won the top prize was on Oct. 14. Since then there have been 24 straight drawings without anyone snagging the jackpot.
Here is a look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:
1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
2. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
3. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
4. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
5. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
6. $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
7. $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)
8. $731.1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021 (one ticket, from Maryland)
9. $699.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 4, 2021 (one ticket, from California)
10. $687.8 million, Powerball, Oct. 27, 2018 (two tickets, from Iowa and New York)
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The credit for the recent big prizes is actually due to math — and more difficult odds.
In the fall of 2017, lottery officials approved changes to Mega Millions that significantly lengthened the odds from one in 258.9 million to one in 302.6 million. They made similar changes to Powerball in October 2015, worsening the odds from one in 175.2 million to one in 292.2 million.
The idea was that by making jackpots less common, ticket revenue could build up week after week, creating giant prizes that would attract attention and pull in more players who had grown blasé about $100 million or $200 million top prizes.
In August 2021, Powerball also added a third weekly drawing, which enabled the jackpot to roll over and grow even more quickly as people had more chances to play, and lose. Mega Millions has stuck with the two weekly drawings.
Thanks to those moves, nine of the top 10 largest lottery prizes have been won since 2017.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
