The giant Mega Millions® jackpot continues to climb, now standing at an estimated $1.22 billion annuity, $549.7 million lump-sum option, for tonight’s drawing.
The Mega Millions jackpot is now the 5th-largest prize in the history of the game and the 9th-largest jackpot in any U.S. lottery game.
The current Mega Millions jackpot has been growing for nearly 4 months. It was last won on Sept. 10. The game’s drawings are held at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Winning Numbers, Iowa Sales & Prizes
Iowa Lottery players won a total of 30,927 prizes in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing. The winning numbers that night were: 11-14-38-45-46 and Mega Ball 3. The Megaplier® number was 3.
Three Iowa tickets were just 1 number away from having at least a share of that night’s jackpot and won $10,000 each. They matched 4 of the 5 white balls and the Mega Ball.
The $10,000-winning tickets were purchased at:
- Smokin’ Joe’s, 1606 W. Locust St. in Davenport
- Hy-Vee, 812 S. First Ave. in Iowa City
- Casey’s, 516 Rossville Road in Waukon.
Iowa players bought more than $1.7 million in Mega Millions tickets for Tuesday’s drawing. But the average Mega Millions purchase in Iowa for the drawing remained about 3 plays, or $6 per ticket. Lottery officials were pleased that a lot of people had fun playing and didn’t go overboard.
Easy Picks vs. Your Own Numbers
The vast majority of tickets in games like Mega Millions are easy-pick plays, meaning that the lottery terminal assigns the numbers printed on the ticket. About 94 percent of the Iowa plays for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing were easy picks.
But players also can choose their own numbers. They choose five numbers from a pool of 1 to 70 for the white balls and 1 number from a separate pool of 25 for the yellow Mega Ball.
It HAS Been A While Since The Last $1 Billion+ Jackpot
If it seems like it’s been a while since we’ve seen a jackpot of more than $1 billion, that’s correct.
Prior to the current Mega Millions jackpot, it had been 8 months since the last time a U.S. jackpot topped the $1 billion mark. That Powerball® jackpot of $1.33 billion was won on April 6. The last Mega Millions jackpot to climb higher than $1 billion was a $1.13 billion prize won on March 26.
There were 4 U.S. jackpots of more than $1 billion in calendar year 2023, but the current jackpot is just the 3rd in 2024. And that’s the random nature of the games: You never know when the next big winner will hit!
12 U.S. Jackpots Of More Than $1 Billion
With the current Mega Millions jackpot included, there now have been a dozen U.S. jackpots of more than $1 billion, all in the Powerball and Mega Millions games.
The Deadline To Buy
Remember that the deadline in Iowa to buy a ticket for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing is 8:59 p.m. If you buy a ticket after that, it will be for an upcoming drawing and you won’t be in the running for tonight’s giant prize.
Play Healthy
At the Iowa Lottery, we remind everyone to play just for fun. You are gambling when you buy a lottery ticket and there is no guarantee that you’ll win.
As an additional resource, we keep Play Smart, Be Informed details on our website to help everyone have an accurate understanding of how the lottery works.
Hi, Bob. California did win last night's Mega Millions jackpot. And as the U.S. state with the highest population (California alone has more than 11 percent of the U.S. population), the numbers would say that California would win more jackpots simply because there are so many more people there buying tickets. Other states will certainly have winners, but we're all smaller in population than California! I can feel your frustration in your comments. Please take a break if playing the lottery is causing you stress or making you unhappy. Playing the lottery is something you should do just for fun, and if it's not working for you right now, it's OK to step away.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | December 28, 2024 at 10:39 AM
What do you know.. California wins it AGAIN
I’m beginning to realize it’s Completely Rigged!
…and strange how EVERY year around the holidays Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The jackpots get bigger…almost as if it’s….RIGGED!!!
The lottery has let us down, they take our money and don’t play fair!
Posted by: Bob | December 28, 2024 at 09:54 AM