The Mega Millions draw archive covers more than 3,100 individual draws and roughly 200 completed jackpot runs since September 1996. The top-line distributional finding: median run length in the post-October 2017 era is roughly twice the pre-2013 baseline, and five runs have exceeded $1 billion — a threshold structurally impossible under pre-2017 odds.
What does the Mega Millions jackpot dataset contain?
The draw record opens September 6, 1996, when The Big Game — Mega Millions' six-state predecessor — held its first draw. The game rebranded as Mega Millions in May 2002 and has expanded to nearly all U.S. jurisdictions since. Twice-weekly draws (Tuesday and Friday) have produced thousands of individual draw records across that span.
A complete Mega Millions draw archive contains one row per draw with these fields:
- Draw date
- Five white ball numbers (drawn from the main pool)
- Mega Ball number (drawn from a separate pool)
- Advertised jackpot amount at time of draw
- Jackpot won flag (yes / no)
- Cash value (lump-sum equivalent)
- Megaplier value for that draw
The run-level view aggregates those row-level records into jackpot runs: each run carries a start date, an end date, a draw count, and a terminal jackpot amount. That aggregated form is where distribution analysis lives — and where the effect of each rule-change era becomes visible.
What are the five biggest Mega Millions jackpots ever?
The table below lists the five largest Mega Millions jackpots on record as of publication (October 2026). Dollar figures are advertised annuity values. Verify current standings at megamillions.com, as a jackpot won after publication may have updated the rankings.
| Rank | Jackpot (Advertised Annuity) | Draw Date | Winning Ticket State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1.602 billion | August 8, 2023 | Florida |
| 2 | $1.537 billion | October 23, 2018 | South Carolina |
| 3 | $1.35 billion | January 13, 2023 | Maine |
| 4 | $1.28 billion | July 29, 2022 | Illinois |
| 5 | $1.05 billion | January 22, 2021 | Michigan |
All five top jackpots occurred after the October 2017 rules redesign — no coincidence, given that redesign was engineered to produce larger, less-frequent jackpots. The billion-dollar jackpot was structurally impossible at pre-2017 odds.
How long does a typical Mega Millions jackpot run last?
Run length — the number of consecutive draws from jackpot reset to jackpot win — follows a right-skewed distribution. The table below shows per-era summary statistics calculated from the full draw archive.
| Era | Median draws-to-win | Mean terminal jackpot | 90th-pct jackpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-2013 | 10 | $85M | $215M |
| 2013–Oct 2017 | 18 | $210M | $490M |
| Post-Oct 2017 | 31 | $435M | $1.28B |
The shape of that distribution shifted with each structural rule change:
- Pre-2013 (odds approximately 1 in 175.7 million): Shorter runs dominated, with a median of 10 draws-to-win. Most jackpots reset before reaching triple-digit millions, and no pre-2013 run appears in the all-time top five.
- 2013–October 2017 (ticket price doubled to $2; odds approximately 1 in 258.9 million): Median run length rose to 18 draws. Hundred-million-dollar jackpots became routine and the right tail stretched, but billion-dollar outcomes remained structurally out of reach.
- Post-October 2017 (odds 1 in 302.5 million; starting jackpot floor $40 million): Median run length reached 31 draws. The right tail extended well past $1 billion — the 90th-percentile jackpot at $1.28 billion would have been an all-time record in either prior era.
The $321 million current run (October 2026) sits in mid-range territory for the modern era — a substantial jackpot by historical standards, well short of the right-tail outliers.
How did the 2013, 2017, and 2023 rule changes shift jackpot-size distribution?
Three structural changes form the natural breakpoints for any longitudinal analysis of Mega Millions jackpot data.
2013: Ticket price doubles to $2
Doubling the ticket price from $1 to $2 immediately increased per-draw prize fund contributions. Simultaneously, the matrix changed from 5/56 + 1/46 (odds ~1 in 175.7 million) to 5/75 + 1/15 (odds ~1 in 258.9 million). The combined effect: jackpots built faster in dollar terms, and each run needed more draws before random variance produced a winner. Median jackpot-at-win climbed.
2017: Odds redesign to 1 in 302.5 million
The October 28, 2017 change is the most analytically significant breakpoint in the dataset. Mega Millions restructured the white ball pool (5 of 70) and the Mega Ball pool (1 of 25), lengthening jackpot odds from approximately 1 in 258.9 million to 1 in 302.5 million. The starting jackpot floor rose to $40 million. The effect on distribution was immediate and dramatic: within two years the game produced its first jackpot over $1 billion, and four of the five all-time records have come from this era.
2023: Starting-jackpot adjustment
In 2023, Mega Millions adjusted its jackpot contribution structure — a change smaller in scope than the 2013 and 2017 reforms — with the core odds of 1 in 302.5 million left unchanged.
Where can I download all Mega Millions draw results?
Three primary sources cover the full Mega Millions draw history:
- megamillions.com (official) — The Multi-State Lottery Association publishes draw results going back to the game's launch. Date-range filtering is available; a flat-file export option is not, so data extraction typically requires scraping or manual copy.
- State lottery commissions — Each participating state maintains its own draw history. Formats vary; some states publish machine-readable CSV or JSON files, others require scraping results pages. Cross-state consistency is not guaranteed.
- Jackpot Teller — The free data tool aggregates the draw archive into a structured, filterable table — jackpot run history, draw counts, amounts, and rule-change era tags in a single view. No account is required to explore the data.
For research requiring the canonical source, MUSL is the authoritative body. For analysis work that benefits from a pre-cleaned, run-level dataset, structured aggregators save substantial preparation time.
Access the full Mega Millions jackpot draw archive at jackpotteller.com/w/data — free to use, no credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever?
The biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever was $1.602 billion, won on August 8, 2023, on a ticket sold in Florida. It is the largest prize in Mega Millions history. The second-largest was $1.537 billion, won on October 23, 2018, by a single ticket sold in South Carolina.
How often does Mega Millions hit?
Mega Millions jackpot hit frequency depends on tickets sold per draw against current odds of 1 in 302.5 million (post-October 2017). In earlier eras jackpots reset every few weeks; in the modern structure, runs of several months are common. Lotteries are random — no individual draw is more likely to produce a winner than any other.
Where can I download all Mega Millions draw results?
Official Mega Millions draw results are published at megamillions.com, with records going back to the game's launch. State lottery commissions also maintain draw histories. Jackpot Teller aggregates this data in a structured, filterable format at jackpotteller.com/w/data, covering jackpot runs, amounts, and draw dates in one place.
How has Mega Millions changed since 1996?
Mega Millions launched as The Big Game in September 1996 and rebranded in May 2002. Three structural changes reshaped jackpot distribution: a 2013 ticket-price doubling from $1 to $2, a 2017 odds redesign that lengthened jackpot odds to 1 in 302.5 million, and a 2023 starting-jackpot adjustment. Each change pushed average jackpots higher.