Mega Millions Jackpot Hits After 38 Drawings: Florida Ticket Takes $800M Prize

A single ticket sold in Florida matched all six numbers in Tuesday night’s drawing to claim an estimated $800 million Mega Millions jackpot, ending a four-month rollover streak.

A release from Mega Millions revealed that the ticket sold by the Florida Lottery matched last night’s winning numbers of 34, 48, 49, 59, 70, and the gold Mega Ball 12. The odds of a ticket hitting all six numbers are one in more than 292.2 million.

While the July 28 Mega Millions jackpot ranks 10th all-time, it pales in comparison to the game’s richest prize on record, a more than $1.6 billion prize that hit almost three years ago on Aug. 8, 2023, also in Florida.

During the 38 drawings that rolled over the jackpot to $800 million, Mega Millions says there were nearly 10.9 million winning tickets sold and total non-jackpot prizes of more than $273 million.

They included 18 second-tier prizes ranging from $2 million to $5 million, won in 10 different states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Mega Millions Tax Breakdown

Last night’s Mega Millions winner won’t actually receive $800 million paid out over 29 years or the one-time cash option of $344.2 million, as both amounts are before federal taxes.

Adding to the winner’s luck is that Florida is one of the nine states that do not tax lottery winnings, as Florida does not have a state income tax.

If the winner chooses the annuity, with an immediate payment followed by 29 annual disbursements, the total prize would amount to approximately $505.3 million after federal taxes of 37%. The cash option would be reduced from $344.2 million to about $216.8 million.

Last night’s winner benefits greatly from Florida’s lack of a state income tax. For comparison, New York, which has the highest state income tax applying to lottery earnings at 10.9%, would have slashed the annuitized haul to $418.1 million and the cash to $179.3 million.

New York, Illinois Tickets Win Big

Last night’s drawing also saw two tickets match all five white balls but miss the gold Mega Ball to claim second-tier prizes. One ticket sold in Illinois hit the 3x Multiplier to triple the prize to $3 million, while the ticket sold in New York landed on the 5x Multiplier to quintuple the payout to $5 million.

In total, 645,994 tickets won a prize last night, though 526,019 won $21 or less.

Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot was the game’s third jackpot won this year, with the jackpot hitting on March 10 ($536 million, winning ticket sold in Illinois) and on March 17 ($60 million, winning ticket sold in Ohio).