Can you buy Power Play in North Carolina?

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 North Carolina?

Yes. For $1 your numbers go into a second drawing straight after the main one, with its own prize table topping out at $10 million. Every prize in it is fixed and none of them rolls, which makes it the one multi-state bet whose expected value is exact: about 53 cents per dollar. 30 of the 48 lotteries sell it.

How much tax does North Carolina take from a Mega Millions win?

North Carolina withholds 4.5%, on top of the 24% held back federally. On the cash value of the jackpot as it stands now that is about $7 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 North Carolina the same as the national prize chart?

Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in North Carolina, 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 North Carolina?

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

Where were the North Carolina 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 North Carolina ticket. The national analysis is here.

North Carolina Mega Millions (October 2026)

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

Latest draw · October 6, 2026 Drawn for all 47 jurisdictions

Advertised jackpot

$364 million

Jackpot odds

1 in 290,472,336

Any prize

1 in 23.07

A line here

The short version

North Carolina sells Mega Millions on the standard terms: the national prize chart is what you are paid, and both $1 add-ons are available. At the jackpot standing after the October 6, 2026 draw, one $5 ticket bought in North Carolina is worth $1.27 — 25 cents on the dollar once North Carolina's 4.5% withholding comes off the jackpot, against $1.29 before it.

What is different in North Carolina

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 — North Carolina does not adjust them for sales.
State withholding: 4.5%; Held back before the cheque is written, on top of 24% federal. What you finally owe is settled at filing.
Minimum age: 18; NC Education Lottery's own rule. Five jurisdictions set it higher.

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

What a North Carolina ticket is worth right now

The advertised jackpot is $364 million. The cash value is about $147 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 93% of the prize on average rather than all of it. Then North Carolina withholds 4.5% — about $7 million of that cash value — and the federal 24% comes off on top of that. What a North Carolina winner keeps after tax, beside every other state.

Ticket price

up to $4 with add-ons

Worth, before state tax

$1.29

the same in all 47 jurisdictions

Worth in North Carolina

$1.27

25c on the dollar

North Carolina keeps

4.5%

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 North Carolina hot number, only a Mega Millions one. Over 933 draws of the current 5/70 + 1/24 matrix, 10 has come up most (87 times against 67 expected) and 11 has waited longest, 57 draws.

10 has come up most often, 87 times. Each number averages about 67 over 933 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. 45 has come up least, 53 times.

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

North Carolina's own draw games

Mega Millions is the same everywhere. These are not — NC Education Lottery runs them, and we hold their full history.

Pick 3

Daily · 13,923 draws on file
Pick 4

Daily · 12,087 draws on file
Cash 5

Daily · 7,287 draws on file

All North Carolina lottery results →

North Carolina Mega Millions questions

Can you buy Power Play in North Carolina?: 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 North Carolina?: Yes. For $1 your numbers go into a second drawing straight after the main one, with its own prize table topping out at $10 million. Every prize in it is fixed and none of them rolls, which makes it the one multi-state bet whose expected value is exact: about 53 cents per dollar. 30 of the 48 lotteries sell it.
How much tax does North Carolina take from a Mega Millions win?: North Carolina withholds 4.5%, on top of the 24% held back federally. On the cash value of the jackpot as it stands now that is about $7 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 North Carolina the same as the national prize chart?: Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in North Carolina, 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 North Carolina?: 18. NC Education Lottery sets it, and a winning ticket has to be claimed in the jurisdiction where it was bought.
Where were the North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina-specific rules were read from powerball.com and NC Education 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.