Bits & Odds

West Virginia 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
$3

The short version

Power Play is on sale in West Virginia; Double Play is not, so a West Virginia ticket tops out at $3 a line. At the jackpot standing after the September 18, 2026 draw, one $5 ticket bought in West Virginia is worth $1.20 — 24 cents on the dollar once West Virginia's 6.5% withholding comes off the jackpot, against $1.22 before it.

What is different in West Virginia

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 — West Virginia does not adjust them for sales.
State withholding
6.5%
Held back before the cheque is written, on top of 24% federal. What you finally owe is settled at filing.

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

What a West Virginia 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 West Virginia withholds 6.5% — about $8 million of that cash value — and the federal 24% comes off on top of that.

Ticket price
$5
up to $3 with add-ons
Worth, before state tax
$1.22
the same in all 47 jurisdictions
Worth in West Virginia
$1.20
24c on the dollar
West Virginia keeps
6.5%
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 West Virginia 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.

West Virginia Mega Millions questions

Can you buy Power Play in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia?
No. 30 of the 48 Powerball lotteries offer Double Play and West Virginia is not one of them, so a West Virginia ticket tops out at $3 a line. powerball.com publishes the list, and says more lotteries may add it later.
How much tax does West Virginia take from a Mega Millions win?
West Virginia withholds 6.5%, on top of the 24% held back federally. On the cash value of the jackpot as it stands now that is about $8 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 West Virginia the same as the national prize chart?
Yes. Every prize below the jackpot is a set cash amount in West Virginia, 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 West Virginia?
West Virginia Lottery sets the minimum age and we could not read it off their site on 2026-09-22, so we would rather send you there than guess. Most jurisdictions are 18; Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi are 21 and Nebraska is 19.
Where were the West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia-specific rules were read from powerball.com and West Virginia 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.