Topline
The Powerball jackpot rose to $629 million—the third 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 taxes and deductions.
The Powerball lottery prize rose to $629 million after Wednesday’s drawing.
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Key Facts
The six numbers drawn on Wednesday night were 10, 31, 49, 51, 68 and red Powerball 19.
If a winner emerges in the next draw, they can pick between taking the $629 million prize spread over 30 annual installments or a one-time cash payment of $294.5 million—the preferred choice for most winners.
If the lump-sum option is chosen, the winnings will first drop to around $223.8 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
The winner would likely face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, depending on their taxable income, further reducing the winnings to around $185.5 million.
If the winner chooses the installments route, the winner’s annual payments of around $21 million would fall to $13.2 million after the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
Depending on their home state, the winner could face additional taxes, as some states, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, such as Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
Big Number
1 in 292.2 million. Those are the astronomical odds a Powerball ticket buyer has to overcome to win the jackpot. This is even worse than the Mega Millions lottery’s already poor jackpot winning odds of 1 in 290.4 million.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/11/20/powerball-jackpot-rises-to-629-million-heres-what-the-winner-could-take-home-after-taxes/
