Dreaming of $700 million powerball jackpot? The real prize money after taxes will leave you stunned

After no one won the big prize on Wednesday night, the jackpot grew to $700 million (estimated cash value of $316.3 million), according to the Powerball website. The numbers pulled in Wednesday night's drawing were: 31-59-62-65-68 Powerball 5. The Powerplay Multiplier was 2x.

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. The eventual winner will take home a much smaller payout after paying their taxes.

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When is the next draw for Powerball jackpot?

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.

The upcoming Powerball jackpot winner might secure the largest lottery prize of 2025 so far, surpassing the $526.5 million jackpot claimed by a California ticket holder in March. In comparison, the biggest Mega Millions win this year was $349 million, taken home by a lucky Illinois resident, also in March. For perspective, last year’s largest lottery payout was a staggering $1.326 billion Powerball jackpot, won by a player in Oregon.

The surprising fact is that 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 once had worse odds than Powerball, but earlier this year the game introduced major changes that slightly boosted players’ chances of winning both the jackpot and smaller prizes.

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How much will the winner take home?

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 jackpot winner could face a federal marginal tax rate of up to 37%, which would cut their lump-sum prize down to about $199.3 million.

If they choose the installment option, yearly payments of roughly $23.3 million would shrink to around $14.7 million after federal taxes.

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On top of that, state taxes may apply depending on where the winner lives. For instance, New York taxes lottery winnings at 10.9%, while states like Texas, Florida, and California impose no state tax at all.

Preliminary data from the Multi-State Lottery Association, which helps facilitate the Powerball lottery, shows Powerball sales are 40% higher than they were at this point last year.

"As the jackpot increases, we expect ticket sales to increase," the association said. While the size of the jackpot and the ticket sales have risen, the odds of winning the top prize have not. The chances of winnings the jackpot stand at about 1 in 292 million. The next drawing is set for Saturday night.