Mega Millions is a 5 of 70 white balls plus 1 of 24 gold Mega Balls draw game, held every Tuesday and Friday. As of the latest update its advertised jackpot is $113M (a cash value of about $48.3M), and the odds of matching all six numbers are 1 in 290,472,336. Run the real expected-value math and a $5 ticket is worth about 16.2¢ per dollar at this jackpot — meaning roughly 84¢ of every dollar is the house edge. Among the three national games, that is currently the second-best value. Like every lottery game it is a negative-expected-value bet by design; these figures show which is least bad, and by how much.
Latest winning numbers
5, 19, 30, 38, 59 MB 12
Most recent draw. Next drawing: August 21, 2026.
How Mega Millions works
Mega Millions is one of America's two biggest multi-state jackpot games. You pick 5 of 70 white balls plus 1 of 24 gold Mega Balls; match every number and you win the jackpot — about 1 in 290,472,336. The jackpot starts at a set minimum and rolls higher every drawing it goes unwon, which is how it climbs into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and a handful of times past a billion. A winner chooses a 30-year annuity or a smaller one-time cash value, currently about $48.3M; it is drawn Tuesday and Friday at $5 a play.
Below the jackpot, several fixed prize tiers hit far more often for smaller amounts — all listed in the prize table above. NumbersIntel ranks Mega Millions against the other national games by expected value per dollar: the cash value times its jackpot probability, plus every lower tier, after an assumed tax, divided by the ticket price. That figure is always well under a dollar — the lottery is negative-expected-value by design — but it shows how much of each dollar tends to come back, and how the three national games compare.
Our archive holds 919 Mega Millions draws going back to 2017, which powers the number-frequency statistics — the most and least common numbers, current hot and cold streaks, and the longest-overdue numbers. Those describe what has already happened; because each draw is independent, no number is ever truly ‘due.’
Mega Millions by the numbers
"Value per $1" is the expected value: every prize tier times its probability, after an assumed tax haircut, divided by ticket price. Always below $1 — the lottery is negative-EV by design.
Mega Millions prize tiers & odds
| Match | Prize | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | $1M | 1 in 12,629,232 |
| 4+MB | $10,000 | 1 in 893,761 |
| 4 | $500 | 1 in 38,859 |
| 3+MB | $200 | 1 in 13,965 |
| 3 | $10 | 1 in 607 |
| 2+MB | $10 | 1 in 665 |
| 1+MB | $7 | 1 in 86 |
| MB | $5 | 1 in 35 |
Will the Mega Millions jackpot be won or split?
From the number of lower-tier winners in recent draws, we estimate about ~5 million tickets are in play at the current jackpot — roughly a 1.7% chance someone wins, and a 0.9% chance it is split if hit. Estimates from past draws of a similar size, not predictions; every draw is independent. See the full split-risk breakdown →
Recent Mega Millions results
| Draw date | Numbers | Jackpot |
|---|---|---|
| August 18, 2026 | 5, 19, 30, 38, 59 MB 12 | $100M |
| August 14, 2026 | 3, 23, 27, 46, 60 MB 11 | $90M |
| August 11, 2026 | 1, 20, 30, 46, 68 MB 17 | $80M |
| August 7, 2026 | 17, 20, 32, 54, 57 MB 23 | $70M |
| August 4, 2026 | 14, 21, 51, 55, 65 MB 21 | $60M |
| July 31, 2026 | 4, 18, 26, 43, 51 MB 4 | $50M |
| July 28, 2026 | 34, 48, 49, 59, 70 MB 12 | $800M |
| July 24, 2026 | 2, 5, 42, 44, 60 MB 1 | $743M |
| July 21, 2026 | 25, 37, 59, 68, 70 MB 10 | $707M |
| July 17, 2026 | 22, 34, 45, 48, 55 MB 14 | $672M |
| July 14, 2026 | 2, 4, 10, 48, 56 MB 22 | $637M |
| July 10, 2026 | 2, 39, 44, 46, 56 MB 23 | $604M |
A rolling window of recent draws. Number-frequency charts are on the interactive Mega Millions page.
About this data
Every figure here comes from official lottery sources (the number matrix is 5 of 70 white balls plus 1 of 24 gold Mega Balls), refreshed after each drawing. We compute the odds from the game's published rules and, where the prize structure allows, the expected value of a ticket. See our methodology page for the full method, and the guides on expected value, how the odds work and whether hot numbers win.
NumbersIntel is independent and informational only — not financial, legal or gambling advice. The lottery is a negative-expected-value game; play for entertainment, never as an investment. You must be 18+ (21+ in some states). If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call 1-800-GAMBLER.