Powerball odds: every prize, exactly

A Powerball ticket wins the jackpot 1 in 292,201,338: five white balls from 1 to 69 and the red Powerball from 1 to 26. Some prize comes 1 in 24.9, and most of those are the smallest tier.

Odds of every prize

Exact odds for one standard ticket, from the game's format. Source of the format: www.powerball.com
You matchOddsChance
5 numbers + Powerball1 in 292,201,3380.000000%
5 numbers, without Powerball1 in 11,688,0540.000009%
4 numbers + Powerball1 in 913,1290.00011%
4 numbers, without Powerball1 in 36,5250.0027%
3 numbers + Powerball1 in 14,4940.0069%
3 numbers, without Powerball1 in 5800.17%
2 numbers + Powerball1 in 7010.14%
1 number + Powerball1 in 92.01.09%
0 numbers + Powerball1 in 38.32.61%

The jackpot needs all five white balls in any order and the Powerball. The second prize, all five white balls without the Powerball, comes 1 in 11,688,054. The most common win is matching the Powerball alone, 1 in 38.3: the red ball is drawn from only 26, so it lands far more often than any combination of white balls.

The optional Power Play multiplies non-jackpot prizes; it changes what a win pays, not how often it happens, so it does not appear in this table.

How long a jackpot takes

One draw a week, a different combination on every ticket. Powerball.
Tickets a weekYearsTickets in allChance of ever hitting the jackpot
1105200.00018%
1502,6000.00089%
10105,2000.0018%
105026,0000.0089%
1001052,0000.0178%
10050260,0000.0889%

Even a hundred tickets every week for fifty years leaves the jackpot far more likely missed than won. Buying more changes how much you spend much faster than it changes the odds; do more tickets help? works through it.

Questions

What are the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot?

Exactly 1 in 292,201,338 per ticket per draw: the number of ways to choose 5 balls from 69, times 26 for the Powerball.

What are the odds of winning anything in Powerball?

1 in 24.9, adding up all nine prize tiers. The smallest prize, the Powerball alone, accounts for most wins.

Do some numbers come up more often?

Over a long history some numbers appear a little more than others, exactly as chance predicts. Every combination has the same chance in every draw; see our myths page.

Odds are exact for one standard ticket and come from the game's published format; prize amounts and ticket prices change and are not shown here. See the methodology. Playing should stay fun: free help.

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