Can you buy Power Play in Illinois?

Yes. It costs $1 a play on top of the $2 ticket and multiplies every prize below the jackpot by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 — the 10 only when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less. We price that extra dollar at about 46 cents at a large jackpot and 50 cents when the 10× ball is in the drum.

Is Double Play available in Illinois?

No. 30 of the 48 Powerball lotteries offer Double Play and Illinois is not one of them, so a Illinois ticket tops out at $3 a line. powerball.com publishes the list, and says more lotteries may add it later.

How much tax does Illinois take from a Mega Millions win?

Illinois withholds 4.95%, on top of the 24% held back federally. On the cash value of the jackpot as it stands now that is about $6 million to the state alone. Withholding is not the final bill — what you actually owe is settled when you file. Run your own number through the calculator.

Are Mega Millions prizes in Illinois the same as the national prize chart?

Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in Illinois, exactly as the national chart prints it. Only California pays pari-mutuel instead.

How old do you have to be to play Mega Millions in Illinois?

18. Illinois Lottery sets it, and a winning ticket has to be claimed in the jurisdiction where it was bought.

Where were the Illinois Mega Millions numbers drawn?

In Tallahassee, Florida, like every Mega Millions drawing — one drawing serves all 47 jurisdictions. The numbers on this page are the same numbers as everywhere else; what the page adds is what they are worth to a Illinois ticket. The national analysis is here.

Illinois Mega Millions (September 2026)

Tuesday · Friday · $5 a play · Power Play on sale here

Latest draw · September 18, 2026 Drawn for all 47 jurisdictions

Advertised jackpot

$244 million

Jackpot odds

1 in 290,472,336

Any prize

1 in 23.07

A line here

The short version

Power Play is on sale in Illinois; Double Play is not, so an Illinois ticket tops out at $3 a line. At the jackpot standing after the September 18, 2026 draw, one $5 ticket bought in Illinois is worth $1.20 — 24 cents on the dollar once Illinois's 4.95% withholding comes off the jackpot, against $1.22 before it.

What is different in Illinois

Ticket price: $5 a line; Every $5 Mega Millions ticket has carried a built-in multiplier since April 2025; there is no separate add-on to buy.
Prize structure: Fixed, as the chart; The published amounts are what you are paid — Illinois does not adjust them for sales.
State withholding: 4.95%; Held back before the cheque is written, on top of 24% federal. What you finally owe is settled at filing.
Minimum age: 18; Illinois Lottery's own rule. Five jurisdictions set it higher.

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

What an Illinois ticket is worth right now

The advertised jackpot is $244 million. The cash value is about $122 million, because the headline is a 30-year annuity and nobody takes it. At that jackpot our sales model puts the chance of having to share a win at enough that a winning ticket is worth 95% of the prize on average rather than all of it. Then Illinois withholds 4.95% — about $6 million of that cash value — and the federal 24% comes off on top of that.

Ticket price

up to $3 with add-ons

Worth, before state tax

$1.22

the same in all 47 jurisdictions

Worth in Illinois

$1.20

24c on the dollar

Illinois keeps

4.95%

of a jackpot cash option

The withholding only comes off the jackpot term here, not off the whole figure. Nearly all of a ticket's non-jackpot value sits in the $4.00 and $7.00 tiers, which no state withholds on; taxing those too would push the number down in a way that happens to flatter our own conclusion, so we do not. The draw-by-draw chart behind this is on the Mega Millions page.

Hot and cold numbers

The drawing is national, so the frequencies are too — there is no Illinois hot number, only a Mega Millions one. Over 928 draws of the current 5/70 + 1/24 matrix, 10 has come up most (86 times against 66 expected) and 11 has waited longest, 52 draws.

10 has come up most often, 86 times. Each number averages about 66 over 928 draws, and whichever number happens to lead normally finishes around 19 ahead. 10 is 20 ahead, so this is an ordinary spread rather than a streak. 51 has come up least, 52 times.

Mega Millions hot & cold, with the significance test Check your numbers against every draw Every past draw Odds & payouts

Illinois Mega Millions questions

Can you buy Power Play in Illinois?: Yes. It costs $1 a play on top of the $2 ticket and multiplies every prize below the jackpot by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 — the 10 only when the advertised jackpot is $150 million or less. We price that extra dollar at about 46 cents at a large jackpot and 50 cents when the 10× ball is in the drum.
Is Double Play available in Illinois?: No. 30 of the 48 Powerball lotteries offer Double Play and Illinois is not one of them, so a Illinois ticket tops out at $3 a line. powerball.com publishes the list, and says more lotteries may add it later.
How much tax does Illinois take from a Mega Millions win?: Illinois withholds 4.95%, on top of the 24% held back federally. On the cash value of the jackpot as it stands now that is about $6 million to the state alone. Withholding is not the final bill — what you actually owe is settled when you file. Run your own number through the calculator.
Are Mega Millions prizes in Illinois the same as the national prize chart?: Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in Illinois, exactly as the national chart prints it. Only California pays pari-mutuel instead.
How old do you have to be to play Mega Millions in Illinois?: 18. Illinois Lottery sets it, and a winning ticket has to be claimed in the jurisdiction where it was bought.
Where were the Illinois Mega Millions numbers drawn?: In Tallahassee, Florida, like every Mega Millions drawing — one drawing serves all 47 jurisdictions. The numbers on this page are the same numbers as everywhere else; what the page adds is what they are worth to a Illinois ticket. The national analysis is here.

Where these facts come from

The winning numbers are cross-checked against more than one official source before they go up — every source and every correction is listed. The Illinois-specific rules were read from powerball.com and Illinois Lottery on 2026-09-22, and bao draws jurisdictions re-reads the published lists on every run and fails if either has moved. How the expected values are computed.