Bits & Odds

Washington 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
$4

The short version

Washington 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 Washington is worth $1.29 — 26 cents on the dollar, and Washington withholds nothing from it.

What is different in Washington

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 — Washington does not adjust them for sales.
State withholding
None
No income tax on lottery prizes. Federal withholding of 24% applies on top, everywhere.
Minimum age
18
Washington's Lottery's own rule. Five jurisdictions set it higher.

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

What a Washington 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. Washington withholds nothing, so only the federal 24% comes off. What a Washington winner keeps after tax, beside every other state.

Ticket price
$5
up to $4 with add-ons
Worth, before state tax
$1.29
the same in all 47 jurisdictions
Worth in Washington
$1.29
26c on the dollar
Washington keeps
Nothing
no state withholding

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 Washington 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.

Washington Mega Millions questions

Can you buy Power Play in Washington?
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 Washington?
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 Washington take from a Mega Millions win?
Washington withholds nothing — no income tax on lottery prizes. The 24% federal withholding still applies, and your federal bill is settled at filing. The calculator does the arithmetic.
Are Mega Millions prizes in Washington the same as the national prize chart?
Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in Washington, 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 Washington?
18. Washington's Lottery sets it, and a winning ticket has to be claimed in the jurisdiction where it was bought.
Where were the Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington-specific rules were read from powerball.com and Washington's 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.