The Powerball jackpot will keep growing as the grand prize remains unclaimed after the Oct. 19 drawing.
Ahead of the Oct. 19 drawing, the jackpot topped $607 million, with a lump-sum payment of $255.7 million.
The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was Aug. 12, 2026, when a lucky winner won the $1.04 billion jackpot, with a cash value of $450.5 million. That jackpot became the eighth-largest in Powerball history.
Here are the winning numbers for the Aug. 10 Powerball drawing.
What were the winning Powerball numbers for 10/19/2026?
The winning numbers for the Oct. 19 drawing are 8, 31, 32, 42, 48, with the Powerball being 23 and the Power Play being 4x.
According to Powerball's website, no one won the $2 million Match 5 + Power Play prize, and one winner from Michigan won the $1 million Match 5 prize.
When is the next Powerball drawing?
The next Powerball drawing is Oct. 21, at about 10:59 p.m. ET/9:59 CT. Powerball has three drawings each week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Playing Powerball: These tools could give you an edge
How much is the Powerball jackpot now?
The jackpot ahead of the Oct. 21 drawing has reached an estimated $635 million, with a lump-sum payment of $267.5 million, according to powerball.com.
How much is the jackpot take-home?
Both the $635 million annuitized prize and the $267.5 million lump-sum cash payment amounts would be before taxes. If the winner chooses the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
The payout options are:
- Annuity: One immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments, with each payment being 5% larger than the previous one.
- Lump sum: A one-time payment equal to the full cash value of the jackpot prize pool.
Whether you should take the one-time payment or go with the annuity option depends on your goals, your age and what the lottery rules are for beneficiaries to continue receiving payments or if you’d likely squander a lump sum.
What are the odds of winning a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot?
The chances of winning big are pretty slim.
The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot — no matter the size — are around 1 in 292.2 million.
Powerball expanding to U.K.
Powerball has expanded its reach by allowing British lottery players to buy tickets for the first time in the game's history.
The expansion, facilitated by a partnership between the Multi-State Lottery Association and Allwyn UK, which operates the U.K. National Lottery, went into effect with the drawing on July 25. This marks the first time a non-U.S. lottery has added to the Powerball jackpot, a strategy officials say will accelerate jackpot growth as ticket sales increase.
For American players, however, the game itself is staying the same. Tickets will still cost $2, drawings will continue every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and the odds of winning the jackpot remain 1 in 292.2 million. What changes is the size of the player base, which officials say should help jackpots build more quickly between drawings.
How often does the lottery hit $1 billion or more?
Powerball and Mega Millions hitting the $1 billion mark is no longer as uncommon as it once was.
Since 2020, 13 Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots have exceeded $1 billion. Three of those happened in 2023, and two occurred in 2024 and 2025 each.
The highest lottery jackpot was won in November 2022, amounting to $2.04 billion. It was the second jackpot over $1 billion that year. Before that, the only other times a jackpot hit over a billion were in 2021, 2018 and 2016.
Top 10 highest Powerball jackpots
- $2.04 billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – California
- $1.817 billion – Dec. 24, 2025 – Arkansas
- $1.787 billion – Sept. 6, 2025 – Texas
- $1.765 billion – Oct. 11, 2023 – California
- $1.586 billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.326 billion – April 6, 2024 – Oregon
- $1.08 billion – July 19, 2023 – California
- $1.040 billion – Aug. 12, 2026 – Illinois
- $842.4 million – Jan. 1, 2024 – Michigan
- $768.4 million – March 27, 2019 – Wisconsin
Top 10 U.S. lottery drawing Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot results
Here are the nation's all-time top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, according to powerball.com:
- $2.04 billion, Powerball — Nov. 7, 2022; California
- $1.817 billion, Powerball — Dec. 24, 2025; Arkansas
- $1.787 billion, Powerball — Sept. 6, 2025; Missouri and Texas
- $1.765 billion, Powerball — Oct. 11, 2023; California
- $1.602 billion, Mega Millions — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
- $1.586 billion, Powerball — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
- $1.35 billion, Mega Millions — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions — July 29, 2022; Illinois
- $1.326 billion, Powerball — April 6, 2024; Oregon
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jordan.green@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Powerball jackpot tops $630M. See winning numbers, next drawing













