WASHINGTON — A huge Mega Millions jackpot is currently sitting at $1.1 billion, and you may be wondering if some numbers are "luckier" than others.
The short answer: All combinations have the same tiny odds at winning. The chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302.6 million. The odds of winning smaller prizes, ranging from $1 million to $2, are significantly better.
Players often wonder if there's a strategy to it. Some numbers have been drawn a bit more often than others, but your chances remain the same for any combination.
Are some lottery numbers luckier?
Statistics professor Rong Chen said in a Q&A article from Rutgers University that any combination has the same odds. Being selected in the past doesn't mean a combination is more or less likely to win: "Those numbers have the same chance of winning as any other number today."
Chen said combinations that other players are less likely to pick, like strong patterns or numbers that are too high to be a birthdate, might reduce your chances of having to share the jackpot. That doesn't make you any more likely to actually win, though.
So even though the odds are the same, we wanted to take a look at the "luckiest" numbers in Mega Millions' recent history. These totals are from the last six years — from Oct. 31, 2017 to last Friday's drawing — according to lottery statistics site lottonumbers.com.
Most common main numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers to be drawn on the five white balls for the past several years.
- 10: Drawn 55 times
- 14: Drawn 55 times
- 3: Drawn 54 times
- 17: Drawn 54 times
- 46: Drawn 54 times
- 31: Drawn 52 times
- 64: Drawn 52 times
- 8: Drawn 52 times
- 15: Drawn 52 times
- 38: Drawn 52 times
Most common Mega Millions numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers for the Mega Ball in the last six years.
- 22: Drawn 34 times.
- 11: Drawn 31 times
- 9: Drawn 30 times
- 18: Drawn 28 times
- 25: Drawn 28 times
- 19: Drawn 28 times
- 4: Drawn 28 times
- 13: Drawn 28 times
- 24: Drawn 28 times
- 17: Drawn 27 times
The 'loneliest' numbers
The main number that has been drawn the least number of times during the last seven years is 49. That number has only been drawn 28 times and has not been seen since early April.
As for the Mega Ball, one number holds the least-drawn spot: 8, drawn just 16 times in the past seven years. It's been more than 220 days since 8 was drawn as the Mega Ball.
We make a great pair!
Since two is better than one, we'll look at the most common pairs for main numbers in Mega Millions.
- 10 and 17: Drawn 9 times
- 4 and 64: Drawn 8 times
- 17 and 27: Drawn 8 times
- 8 and 10: Drawn 7 times
- 6 and 46: Drawn 7 times
- 37 and 46: Drawn 7 times
When is the Mega Millions drawing?
Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern.
What are the largest Mega Millions jackpots?
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.348 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- EST. $1.1 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 1, 2023
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $656 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets, from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland)
- $648 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013 (two tickets, from California and Georgia)
- $543 million, Mega Millions, July 24, 2018 (one ticket, from California)
- $536 million, Mega Millions, July 8, 2016 (one ticket, from Indiana)
- $533 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2018 (one ticket, from New Jersey)
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won?
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.35 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- EST. $1.1 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 1, 2023
- $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)
- $758.7 million, Powerball, Aug. 23, 2017 (one ticket, from Massachusetts)