Topline
The Powerball jackpot touched $700 million—the biggest lottery prize of 2025 so far—after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Wednesday night, although the eventual winner will take home a much smaller payout after paying their taxes.
The Powerball jackpot rose to $700 million after Wednesday night’s drawing.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Key Facts
The six numbers drawn on Wednesday night were 31, 59, 62, 65, 68, and red Powerball 5.
If a winner emerges in the next draw, they will have to choose between taking the $700 million spread over 30 annualized payments or a one-time lump sum cash payout of $316.3 million—usually the popular choice.
If the cash payout is chosen, the winnings will drop to $240.4 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
The winner could then face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, depending on their taxable income, further slashing their winnings to $199.3 million.
If the winner picks the installment route, their annual payments of around $23.3 million would drop to $14.7 million if the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
The winner may also face additional taxes based on their state of residence, as some, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, such as Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
What To Watch For
The next draw for the Powerball jackpot will take place on Saturday night. The next drawing for the Mega Millions lottery is set to take place on Friday, and the jackpot amount currently stands at $234 million.
Surprising Fact
The eventual winner will have to overcome astronomical odds of 1 in 292.2 million to win the Powerball jackpot. This is slightly worse than the Mega Millions jackpot, which has odds of 1-in-290.4 million. The Mega Millions used to have even worse odds than the Powerball lottery, but the competition implemented significant changes earlier this year that slightly improved the odds of winning both the jackpot and smaller prizes.
Key Background
The eventual winner of the Powerball jackpot will claim the biggest lottery prize of the year so far, beating out the $526.5 million prize won by a Powerball ticket buyer from California in March. The biggest Mega Millions jackpot of 2025 so far was a $349 million prize won by an Illinois resident in March. Last year’s biggest lottery prize was also a Powerball jackpot worth $1.326 billion, won by an Oregon resident.
Further Reading
Powerball Jackpot Nears $650 Million—Here’s How Much The Winner Could Take Home (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/08/21/powerball-jackpot-rises-to-700-million-heres-how-much-the-winner-could-take-home-after-taxes/
