Powerball vs Mega Millions
With one play, the Powerball jackpot has a chance of 1 in 292,201,338 and the Mega Millions jackpot 1 in 290,472,336. Powerball is only 0.6% harder: almost the same.
How this works
- What it does
- This page puts two lotteries side by side: the chance of the top prize and of any prize, the price, what a play pays back on average, and what a year of playing costs.
- How to use it
- Nothing to type. Read across each row; the game names lead to the full odds page of each.
- How to read the result
- A harder jackpot is not always the worse deal and an easier one is not a good one: look at the chance for the same money and at the payback. Both lose on average.
Side by side
| Item | Powerball | Mega Millions |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 5 of 69 + 1 of 26 | 5 of 70 + 1 of 24 |
| Price of a play | $2 | $5 |
| Draws a week | 3 | 2 |
| Top prize, with one play | 1 in 292,201,338 | 1 in 290,472,336 |
| Top prize, per $1 | 1 in 584,402,676 | 1 in 1,452,361,680 |
| Any prize | 1 in 24.87 | 1 in 23.07 |
| Wait for the top prize, one play every draw | 1.9 million years | 2.8 million years |
| A play pays back on average | $0.388 (19%) | $1.29 (26%) |
| Jackpot at which a play pays back its price | $491 million | $1.13 billion |
| A year of one play every draw | $313 | $522 |
The payback is at the smallest jackpot of $20 million in Powerball and the smallest jackpot of $50 million in Mega Millions, before tax. A larger jackpot raises it; each game's "is it worth it?" page shows it for any amount you type. A dash means a game with no jackpot.
What it means
For the same money, Powerball gives 2.5 times the chance of the top prize. The price of a play counts as much as its odds.
In neither game does a play pay back its price on average, unless the jackpot reaches the amount in the table, and even then a shared jackpot pulls it back down. The likeliest result, in every draw of both, is that you win nothing.
Checked against the official figures
Every figure is the one on each game's odds page, worked out from the official rules and checked against the operator's figures. The sources, and the date they were read, are listed there.