ORLANDO, Fla. – Tonight’s Powerball drawing features a staggering $1.6 billion jackpot, marking it as the fifth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. While millions of Americans dream of what they’d do with the winnings, the odds of actually claiming that prize are more astronomical than you might think.
Like many hopeful players, local resident Ashley Johnson has already planned how she’d spend the windfall.
“Get my daughter a car, put some definitely back for my two younger ones that are in school still for college,” Johnson says, adding that her mother has already mapped out how she’d split the money with siblings and cousins.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot stand at 1 in 292.2 million. To put that in perspective, you’re far more likely to experience several other rare events. Being struck by lightning in your lifetime? Those odds are just 1 in 15,000. Getting hit by lightning twice in your lifetime comes in at 1 in 9 million. Even being hit by a meteorite, at 1 in 1.6 million, is far more likely than winning the jackpot. For comparison, rolling the same number on a die 10 times consecutively has odds of about 1 in 60 million – still significantly better than your chances of winning tonight’s drawing.
Despite the astronomical odds, Johnson remains optimistic.
“It’s a possibility. You know you have to have faith, hope, pixie dust,” she says. “It’s Christmas! You never know!”
Winners of tonight’s jackpot can choose between two payment options: A lump-sum payment estimated at $735.3 million or an annuitized prize of $1.6 billion. The annuity option includes one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year. Both options are subject to taxes.
Saturday’s drawing saw no winners match all six numbers, pushing the jackpot to its current level. For context, the largest U.S. lottery prize ever awarded was $2.04 billion in 2022, with the winner choosing a lump-sum payment of $997.6 million.
Powerball is available across 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Multi-State Lottery Association, a nonprofit group comprising state lotteries, oversees the game. Proceeds from ticket sales support public education and other services in participating states.
Tonight’s drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m.