Powerball jackpot passes $700M. See winning numbers, next drawing
See which states are the luckiest in the lottery
USA TODAY’s Fernando Cervantes shares which states have claimed the most Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots wins.
- The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $707 million after no one won the July 29 drawing.
- The winning numbers for the July 29, 2026, drawing were 30, 36, 40, 42, 57, with a Powerball of 2.
- Powerball has expanded to allow players in the United Kingdom to buy tickets for the first time.
Although the race for the Mega Millions jackpot ended, Powerball is continuing its journey toward becoming one of the largest in history.
Ahead of the July 29 drawing, the jackpot reached a high of $668 million with a cash value of $292.5 million.
The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was Dec. 24, 2025, when a lucky winner got the ultimate Christmas gift in the form of a $1.817 billion jackpot, with a cash value of $834.9 million. That jackpot became the second-largest in Powerball history.
Here are the winning numbers for July 29, 2026.
What were the winning Powerball numbers for 7/29/2026?
The winning numbers for the July 29 drawing are 30, 36, 40, 42, 57, with the Powerball being 2 and the Power Play being 2x.
No one won the jackpot or the $2 million Match 5 + Power Play prize, but one lucky person in Maryland did win the $1 million Match 5 prize, according to Powerball’s website.
When is the next Powerball drawing?
The next Powerball drawing is Aug. 1, at about 10:59 p.m. ET/9:59 CT. Powerball has three drawings each week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
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How much is the Powerball jackpot now?
The jackpot ahead of the Aug. 1 drawing has reached an estimated $707 million, with a lump-sum payment of $309.7 million, according to powerball.com.
How much is the jackpot take-home?
Both the $707 million annuitized prize and the $309.7 million lump-sum cash payment amounts would be before taxes. If the winner chooses the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
The payout options are:
- Annuity: One immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments, with each payment being 5% larger than the previous one.
- Lump sum: One-time payment equal to all of the cash in the jackpot prize pool.
Whether you should take the one-time payment or go with the annuity option depends on your goals, your age and what the lottery rules are for beneficiaries to continue receiving payments, or if you’d likely squander a lump sum.
What are the odds of winning a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot?
The chances of winning big are pretty slim.
The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot — no matter the size — are around 1 in 292.2 million.
Powerball expanding to U.K.
Powerball has expanded its reach by allowing British lottery players to buy tickets for the first time in the game’s history.
The expansion, facilitated by a partnership between the Multi-State Lottery Association and Allwyn UK, which operates the U.K. National Lottery, went into effect with the drawing on July 25. This represents the first time a non-U.S. lottery has added to the Powerball jackpot, a strategy that officials claim will accelerate jackpot growth as ticket sales increase.
For American players, however, the game itself is staying the same. Tickets will still cost $2, drawings will continue every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and the odds of winning the jackpot remain 1 in 292.2 million. What changes is the size of the player base, which officials say should help jackpots build more quickly between drawings.
How often does the lottery hit $1 billion or more?
Having Powerball or Mega Millions hit the $1 billion mark is no longer as uncommon as it once was.
In the last five years, there have been eight jackpots between Mega Millions and Powerball that have gone over the $1 billion mark. And three of those happened in 2023, and two occurred in 2024.
The highest lottery jackpot was won in November 2022, amounting to $2.04 billion. It was the second jackpot over $1 billion that year. Before that, the only other times a jackpot hit over a billion were in 2021, 2018 and 2016.
Top 10 highest Powerball jackpots
While the current Powerball jackpot is not among the top 10, there is still a significant amount of money to be won.
- $2.04 billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – California
- $1.817 billion – Dec. 24, 2025 – Arkansas
- $1.787 billion – Sept. 6, 2025 – Texas
- $1.765 billion – Oct. 11, 2023 – California
- $1.586 billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.326 billion – April 6, 2024 – Oregon
- $1.08 billion – July 19, 2023 – California
- $842.4 million – Jan. 1, 2024 – Michigan
- $768.4 million – March 27, 2019 – Wisconsin
- $758.7 million – Aug. 23, 2017 – Massachusetts
Top 10 U.S. lottery drawing Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot results
Here are the nation’s all-time top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, according to powerball.com:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball — Nov. 7, 2022; California
- $1.817 billion, Powerball — Dec. 24, 2025; Arkansas
- $1.765 billion, Powerball — Oct. 11, 2023; California
- $1.602 billion, Mega Millions — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.586 billion, Powerball — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.35 billion, Mega Millions — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions — July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.326 billion, Powerball — April 6, 2024; Oregon
- $1.3 billion (est.), Powerball — Sept. 3, 2025
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jordan.green@commercialappeal.com.
This content is sourced from www.commercialappeal.com and is shared for informational purposes only.
