Bits & Odds

District of Columbia Lottery Numbers and Rules (September 2026)

Tonight's numbers, what a ticket costs in District of Columbia, which add-ons DC Lottery actually sells, and what all of that is worth — with the arithmetic shown.

At the jackpot standing after the September 16, 2026 draw, a $2 Powerball ticket bought in District of Columbia is worth $0.71, 36c on the dollar after District of Columbia's 10.75% withholding.

Multi-state games in District of Columbia

What is different in District of Columbia

Ticket price
$4 a line, all in
$2 base plus $1 each for Power Play and Double Play.
Power Play
On sale — $1
Multiplies every prize below the jackpot by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10. We make the extra dollar worth about 46c.
Double Play
On sale — $1
A second drawing of the same numbers, every prize fixed, top prize $10 million. Worth about 53c per dollar — the best-value dollar on the ticket.
Prize structure
Fixed, as the chart
The published amounts are what you are paid — District of Columbia does not adjust them for sales.
State withholding
10.75%
Held back before the cheque is written, on top of 24% federal. What you finally owe is settled at filing.
Minimum age
18
DC Lottery's own rule. Five jurisdictions set it higher.

Rules read from powerball.com and DC Lottery on 2026-09-22. Withholding rates and the calculator.

DC Lottery's own games

DC Lottery runs draw games of its own, and their results are not in our database yet — we publish a game only once two independent official sources agree on every draw in its history, and we have not built that for District of Columbia. Rather than republish a feed we have not checked, the page says so. DC Lottery publishes its own results here.

What is on this page instead is the part nobody else computes: what the multi-state games are worth under District of Columbia's rules, which is not what they are worth under anyone else's.

District of Columbia lottery tools

District of Columbia Mega Millions rules & valueDistrict of Columbia Powerball rules & value Mega Millions hot & coldPowerball hot & cold Check Mega Millions numbersCheck Powerball numbers Lottery tax calculator

District of Columbia lottery questions

What lottery games can you play in District of Columbia?
Mega Millions and Powerball, plus DC Lottery's own draw games and scratch tickets. We publish the multi-state analysis and the District of Columbia rules; DC Lottery's own draw games are not in our database yet.
Does District of Columbia sell Power Play and Double Play?
Both. Each costs $1 a play on top of the $2 ticket, so a full District of Columbia line is $4. We price Power Play at about 46 cents per dollar and Double Play at about 53 cents.
How much tax does District of Columbia withhold from lottery winnings?
10.75%, held back before the cheque is written and on top of 24% federal withholding. Withholding is not the final bill. The calculator works out what you would actually keep.
Which District of Columbia lottery game has the best odds?
Mega Millions, at 1 in 23.07 of winning something — though the prizes are correspondingly smaller, and winning often is not the same as winning much.
Where do these District of Columbia numbers come from?
The multi-state games are cross-checked against several official sources before we publish them. Every source is listed here. The District of Columbia rules on this page were read from powerball.com and DC Lottery on 2026-09-22.

About the DC Lottery

DC Lottery sells Powerball and Mega Millions alongside its own games. You must be 18 to buy a ticket, and a winning ticket has to be claimed in the jurisdiction where it was sold. dclottery.com

Every jurisdiction is listed on the lottery hub — including Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah, which run no lottery at all.