Lottery odds calculator
Pick a game, see your odds of winning.
What are the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot?
1 in 292,201,338. You pick 5 numbers from 1–69 and a Powerball from 1–26: C(69, 5) × 26 = 292,201,338 combinations (powerball.com).
And Mega Millions?
Since April 8, 2025, Mega Millions draws 5 numbers from 1–70 and a Mega Ball from 1–24, so the jackpot odds are 1 in 290,472,336 (megamillions.com).
What are the odds of winning anything?
Powerball lists overall odds of about 1 in 24.87 and Mega Millions about 1 in 23; the smallest prizes, such as matching only the bonus ball, make up most wins.
Does buying more tickets help?
Each different ticket adds one combination. 10 tickets make the Powerball jackpot 1 in about 29.2 million — still extremely unlikely.
Can I calculate my state lottery?
Choose “Your game” and enter how many numbers are drawn, from how many, and the size of the bonus-ball pool (1 if there is none).
How are the odds for each prize worked out?
Count the ways to hit exactly the numbers a prize needs, then divide the total number of combinations by that count. In Powerball there are C(69, 5) = 11,238,513 sets of white balls and 26 Powerballs, so 292,201,338 tickets in all. To match exactly three white balls and miss the Powerball, you choose 3 of your 5 numbers (C(5, 3) = 10 ways), the other 2 white balls from the 64 that are not yours (C(64, 2) = 2,016 ways), and any of the 25 wrong Powerballs: 10 × 2,016 × 25 = 504,000 winning tickets. Then 292,201,338 ÷ 504,000 = 579.76, so the odds are 1 in 579.76, the same figure powerball.com publishes for its $7 prize.
Worked example: three Powerball prize levels
The smallest prize, matching the Powerball alone, has 7,624,512 winning tickets, so the odds are 1 in 38.32 (a $4 prize on powerball.com). Matching all five white balls but not the Powerball has 25 winning tickets: 1 in 11,688,053.52, the $1 million level. The jackpot has exactly one: 1 in 292,201,338. For Mega Millions, matching just the Mega Ball is 1 in 35.2, and one white ball plus the Mega Ball is 1 in 86; combining all the prize tiers on the Mega Millions chart gives about 1 in 23.1 for any prize. Mega Millions tickets cost $5 per play with a multiplier included, so the prize amounts depend on the multiplier drawn, not on the odds.
How many tickets would it take to have an even chance?
If every ticket has a 1 in 292,201,338 chance, the chance that at least one of t different tickets wins is 1 − (1 − 1/292,201,338)^t. That reaches 50% at t = ln 2 × 292,201,338, about 202.5 million tickets, which at $2 each would cost about $405 million. Also, buying the same numbers for many drawings does not improve the odds of any single drawing: each drawing is independent, so past results change nothing about the next.
Common mistakes with lottery odds
Believing a number is “due” because it has not come up: the balls have no memory, and every combination is equally likely, including 1-2-3-4-5. Confusing odds with expected return: a large jackpot raises the prize but not the chance of winning. Reading the overall odds of winning any prize as the odds of a big win: most of those wins are the small prizes at the bottom of the chart. Forgetting that the ticket price differs: Powerball’s odds are quoted for a $2 play and Mega Millions’ for a $5 play with a multiplier. And ignoring that a shared jackpot is divided among all winners.
Sources and related calculators
Sources: Powerball (powerball.com), prize chart and odds, $2 play; Mega Millions (megamillions.com), How to Play, number matrix, $5 play with multiplier and prize odds. The counts are standard combinatorics. Related: permutation and combination calculator, probability calculator, odds calculator and expected value calculator.