Topline
The Powerball jackpot rose to $567 million—the second biggest lottery prize of the year so far—after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Monday night, although the eventual winner will take home a much smaller payout after taxes and deductions.
Key Facts
The six numbers drawn on Wednesday night were 2, 9, 44, 53, 59 and Red Powerball 8.
If there’s a winner in the next draw, they will get to choose between taking the $567 million split across 30 annual installments or a one-time cash prize of $251.8 million—the preferred option for most winners.
If the cash payout is picked, the winnings will first drop to around $191.4 million after a mandatory 24% federal withholding tax is applied.
The winner would likely face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, depending on their taxable income, further reducing the winnings to around $158.6 million.
If the installment option is chosen, the winner’s annual payouts of around $18.9 million will drop to around $11.9 million after the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
Depending on where they reside, the winner could face additional taxes, as some states, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, such as Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
What To Watch For?
The next Powerball drawing is set to take place on Wednesday night. Before that, on Tuesday night, Mega Millions is set to hold its next drawing for a jackpot that has swollen to $707 million.
Big Number
1-in-292.2 million. Those are the astronomical odds a Powerball ticket buyer will need to overcome to win the jackpot. This is even worse than the Mega Millions jackpot’s already poor odds of 1-in-290.4 million.
key background
This is only the second lottery prize to cross the $550 million mark so far this year, behind only the ongoing Mega Millions jackpot. Of the prizes that have been claimed so far, the biggest of the year is a $533 million jackpot won by a Mega Millions ticket buyer from Illinois in March. The biggest completed Powerball jackpot of the year so far is a $250.8 million prize won by a lottery player from Arkansas.
